Celebrated Cellist Rhonda Rider Named Chair of the Strings Department

Celebrated cellist Rhonda Rider, whose musicianship has been called “extraordinarily expressive and inventive” by The Boston Globe, has been named chair of the string department at Boston Conservatory.

“This is an exceptional honor. I’m humbled to be given the chance to lead a department of such innovative and brilliant faculty and extraordinarily talented students,” said Rider, founding cellist of the renowned Lydian Quartet, which has won the Naumburg Award for Excellence in Chamber Music, as well as the Evian, Banff and Portsmouth festival prizes.

Rider, a member of the cello and chamber music faculty, most recently served as the Conservatory’s coordinator of chamber music. Acclaimed violinist Judith Eissenberg, another founding member of the Lydian String Quartet, will assume that role.

“We are delighted that Rhonda is bringing her talent and passion to building and growing our strings department,” said Joe Bennett, the Boston Conservatory’s vice president for academic affairs. “She is both a gifted instructor and a phenomenal artist in her own right.”

Rider currently performs as part of the Triple Helix Piano Trio, which earned recognition as “Artists of the Year” from The Boston Globe. She has made 30 recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Centaur, New World, CRI and Nonesuch record labels and has earned multiple Grammy nominations, "Critic's Choice" awards fromThe New York Times and several awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

In addition to her position at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Rider performs and teaches during the summer months at the Asian Youth Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival and Music from Salem.