Rachel Buchman is a native New Yorker. Her performance career has brought her to stages and diverse venues throughout the United States, Europe and Israel, from New York’s Lower Eastside to Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival to La Mama Experimental Theatre; the Kennedy Center to Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C.; from Jones Hall to Infernal Bridegroom in Houston, from the barn loft to the concert stage on Orcas Island.
SHEPHERD SCHOOL OF MUSIC, RICE UNIVERSITY
The Young Children’s Division
Rachel Buchman is a Certified Teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics and was a lecturer in music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music from 2000-2023. She founded and was Head of the Young Children’s Division of the Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Program. She was invited by the former Dean Michael Hammond to create the program in 2000. She trained graduate student recipients of the Brown Fellowship to teach music to young children and she taught children’s Eurhythmics classes herself. The Young Children’s Division was the only Eurhythmics program for children in Houston. Offering only 60 places, there were 500 families on the waiting list to join the program. In addition, Ms. Buchman coached Shepherd School students in careers in music and pedagogy techniques.
Family Concerts
For 19 years, from 2004-2023, Rachel collaborated annually with Larry Rachleff, music director of the Shepherd School Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, in the Shepherd Society’s Family Concert. You can listen to audio recordings of these concerts here: LINK
These concerts brought concert music into the lives of thousands of families in the greater Houston area. Her interactive, intelligent scripts follow in the footsteps of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, leading audiences to a greater love for and understanding of orchestral music. The concerts presented all kinds of music, from Peter and the Wolf, with an entirely original introduction, to Sensemayá by Silvestre Revueltas. Ms. Buchman staged the Houston premier of Jon Deak’s Annie O., performed by The Shepherd School of Music Brass Ensemble in collaboration with trumpet player, Marie Speziale. She has collaborated with conductors Cristian Măcelaru, Thomas Hong, and Daniel Myssyk.
JUMP!- Just for U Music Program
Through JUMP!, a student run chamber music outreach program, she coached Shepherd School students in the art of creative, eloquent and effective communication, giving them the skills to innovate contemporary approaches to performing diverse audiences. For 20 years, this program served thousands of children and seniors throughout the greater Houston area. (GALLERY LINK)
Coaching
She has mentored Shepherd School students who have won jobs with Tales & Scales, and have started outreach groups such as Windsync (LINK) (winner of the Fischoff Gold Medal) and The Sustain Music Project (LINK) and 47 Strings. Ms. Buchman coaches musicians in the art of speaking and acting while playing, a skill increasingly in demand for musicians performing contemporary compositions. Under her direction, with oboist Bob Atherholt, The Kodan Quintet performed Jon Deak’s, Bremen Town Musicians; their performance won them semi-finalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music competition, 2nd place in the Coltman competition, and 3rd prize in the New Orleans ChamberFest. LINK. She is on the board of Vision Possible Charity Concerts, founded by Shepherd School graduate, Jarod Yap. (LINK)
RECORDINGS
Ms. Buchman has recorded seven albums. Rachel Buchman’s Homemade Band was released in 2010. Her previous six albums, on Rounder Records and A Gentle Wind labels, include: Shine Little Candles – a Grammy Awards semi-finalist (2001); Sing a Song of Seasons – named one of Six Best Recordings by Sesame Street Parents Magazine (1997); and Hello Everybody! Playsongs and Rhymes from a Toddler’s World – winner of The American Library Association, Parents’ Choice and Oppenheim Toy awards (1986). She was invited to contribute to the composite album, Hear and Gone in 60 Seconds, with Ella Jenkins and other artists. That album won more than 8 awards and was a Grammy Awards semi-finalist (2003). Ms. Buchman’s songs have been used in the Seattle Symphony Serenade concerts; her rhymes are used on Scholastic’s “Circle Time Sing-Along.” Her songbook, Jewish Holiday Songs for Children, was published by Mel Bay (1997). (LINKS)
NARRATIONS, THEATRE, DOCUMENTARIES
Ms. Buchman has been a sought after narrator. Her performance of The Snowman with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in December 2004, Carlos Prieto conducting, broke new ground in audience participation. In the spring of 2007, she narrated the world premiere of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree,” music by Dan Sedgwick, with the Keene Chamber Orchestra conducted by Eric Schmacher. LINK? Her 2008 family chamber concert, Owl and Friends, included four pieces based on well-known children’s books, composed by Dan Sedgwick and Marji Gere for Ms. Buchman to narrate and sing. (LINK) The concert included puppetry and songs by Alec Wilder and Moondog, and an appearance by Jacob Barton, inventor of the utterly new Udderbot. She created the chamber music performance, Elephants and Other Large Friends, (May 2009) directing, narrating and choreographing Poulenc’s The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff and staging Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf/music by Alan Ridout. In 2011, Ms. Buchman was invited to narrate the Leo Lioni tale, Swimmy, with music by Karim Al-Zand. In 2023, she recorded Al-Zand’s “The Tale of Parizade and the Singing Tree.” (LINK) Other chamber performances include John Cage’s Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs; fifteen of Cage’s 62 Mesostics re Merce Cunningham; narrating Rudyard Kipling’s “How the Whale Got His Throat,” and “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin” with original music composed by percussionist Matt McClung. She performed with the new music ensemble, Barmusic, in its opening concert (June 2003).
In 2009, Ms. Buchman played Mrs. Peachum in Brecht and Weil’s The Threepenny Opera, directed by Leslie Swackhammer, music director Cristian Măcelaru, in a production that featured a newly developed script from the Brecht Foundation. In February 2007, she played the role of Razi in the world premiere of the musical, A Talmud Tale, by David Schechter, at the Jewish Community Center of Houston. As a young actor she played Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth,” Titania in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” The Girl in “The Fantasticks,” the Nurse in “Medea,” Tand among many other roles.nShe wrote and narrated a radio program exploring the repertoire of Suzuki Violin Book I for KUHF, Houston’s National Public Radio and classical music station. (LINK to listen) Ms. Buchman has collaborated several times with documentary filmmaker, Brian Huberman. (LINK) She performed songs for his film, Ray Hill – Citizen Provocateur. She researched and recorded music for Alligator-Horses, about racism and misogyny and the Davy Crockett Almanacs of the 1830’s. As a young director she worked with Alan Schneider and Liviu Ciulei. Her diverse directing experience ranged from the musical, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” to “Waiting for Godot.” She corresponded with Samuel Beckett during preparations for this production. In addition to her music and theatre career, Ms. Buchman performs voice-overs on radio, television, anime, film and industry. (LINK to PBTalent)
IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
For decades Ms. Buchman gave lecture performances of Jewish folk songs in Yiddish and Hebrew in New York, Boston, Houston and other cities, at synagogues, Jewish Community Centers and private homes. She continued her work in the Jewish community creating worship services for families with young children in collaboration with Rabbi Brian Strauss at Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, TX. Rachel taught music at the Becker Early Childhood Center of Temple Emanu El for 12 years. Her work there lead to her two successful recordings of Jewish music on Rounder Records, Jewish Holiday Songs for Children and Shine Little Candles – Chanukah Songs for Children, which was a Grammy short list nominee. (LINKS)
TEACHING AND WORKSHOPS
Ms. Buchman has taught music to young people, from toddlers to doctoral students, of every social and ethnic background, across the United States, in Europe and Israel. She has presented teacher workshops nationwide for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Houston Grand Opera, Project Grad, Young Audiences, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Bureau of Jewish Education, TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) and other organizations. She has researched the neurological effects that making and moving to music have on the brain.
ORCAS ISLAND CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
From 2010-2018, Ms. Buchman was a Teaching Artist with the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. In addition to writing a family chamber music concert each summer, she worked closely with Orcas Island teachers guiding them in bringing more music into the lives of the island’s families. She has performed with the Gryphon Trio, Jackie Parker, Aloysia Friedmann, composer Jake Heggie, the Kostov-Valkov duo and other festival musicians. She coached OICMF musicians, and community musicians, in the art of performing for young people.
AT PRESENT
Rachel is teaching music to children in Title One public schools in Houston, TX, and mentoring the next generation of teaching artists through The Hope Project. LINK. Since 2015, Rachel has taught music/eurhythmics at The School for Young Children, a school for children ages 6-13 with language related learning differences. LINK. Rachel is a certified teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, a method of teaching music through joyful physical experiences, singing, improvisation, rhythm games, aural skills and emotional connection. LINK
PERSONAL LIFE
Ms. Buchman practices Iyengar yoga, rides and trains horses, and dances. These physical practices based on energy awareness, alignment, strength and grace, inform her approach to teaching and performance. She is an avid grandmother, gardener, and human companion to dogs, cats and horses. She lives in Houston, Texas.
FORMAL EDUCATION
B.A., Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa (1978) Vassar College; Dalcroze Certificate (2013) Longy School of Music of Bard College