Rachel Young

Appointed Fall 2023

In addition to her position with the National Symphony Orchestra, cellist Rachel Young enjoys a diverse career as a founding member of the Last Stand Quartet, cellist for the 21st Century Consort and teacher at the University of Maryland School of Music.  Before joining the National Symphony, she served as Principal Cellist of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. Ms. Young has appeared in solo and chamber performances at the Kennedy Center, Jackson Hole Chamber Music, Garth Newel Music Center, Strathmore Music Center, the White House, with the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society as well as on radio broadcasts across the country.  

Ms. Young has premiered chamber and solo works by David Froom, Mark Kuss, Paul Moravec, Eugene O’Brien, James Primosch, Paul Schoenfield, Hilary Tann, Augusta Reed Thomas and Wang Jie.  Recording collaborations include releases on the Dorian, Centaur, Regent and Smithsonian labels.

Her work with the Last Stand Quartet includes a sold-out concert for the Kennedy Center’s Fortas Chamber Music Series, collaborative performances with the Shakespeare Theater and Kentucky Shakespeare, concerts throughout DC including at the Smithsonian Institute and DAR Constitution Hall and concert collaborations with pianist Christoph Eschenbach and actors Reiko Aylseworth, Andre Braugher, Rob Clare, and Liev Schreiber.  Ms. Young enjoys the challenge of stepping into new arenas such as her collaborations with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, songwriter Randy Barrett, movie producer Bill McKenna and saxophonist Al Regni. 

A Washington DC native, Young started cello at age 4 and knew immediately that she wanted to make it her life.  She began her studies in the studio of Sheila Johnson, and found her mentor, David Hardy, while in middle school.  A graduate of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Fellowship Program, Young has degrees from both the New England Conservatory and Peabody Institute of the John’s Hopkins University, where she studied with Stephen Kates and Laurence Lesser.  While at Peabody, coaches Earl Carlyss and Sylvia Rosenberg had a big impact on her musical development. Other formative experiences included playing in masterclasses for Mstislav Rostropovich and working with William Pleeth, both in London and at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Studies.  Now, Ms. Young enjoys her own work with young musicians through the National Symphony’s Youth Fellowship Program and Summer Music Institute and through her studio at the University of Maryland. Young lives in Maryland with her husband, the bassist Anthony Manzo, two teenagers, 3 cats, and a pandemic mouse named Moose.