Press Release: Young accordionist Rachael Xu to support the International Music Council
Paris, 9 February 2021
Rachael Xu has announced her decision to donate the entire income of her forthcoming Summer Asian Tour to the International Music Council. The tour is set to start in July 2021 and will bring the musician across China, Japan, Korea and Singapore.
11-year old Rachael Xu was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Influenced by her father Lin Xu, an accordion virtuoso himself and former champion of the American Accordionists’ Association Competition, Rachael started playing the accordion at the age of 7 and has soon demonstrated exceptional talent by passing the highest level (level 10) of the Provincial Music Proficiency Examination in the Accordion category, ranking her the youngest person ever to pass the exam on such level.
Her talent has caught the attention of many great musicians such as Grayson Masefield, five times World Accordion Champion who is also currently serving as vice-president of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, a long-standing IMC member organization.
Under the tutelage of Mr. Masefield, Rachael quickly expanded her repertoire and has been competing and performing nationally and internationally, participating in an average of 30 events per year.
Among her latest accomplishments, she got the first prizes in all U9 categories at the 80th American Accordionists' Association Competition (2018), the gold medal at the 14th Singapore Zhongsin International Music Competition (2019), the first prizes at the South Pacific International Accordion Championship U12 (2019) and at the U13 Australian International Championship in 2020 (Open and Original category). She was recently appointed Youth Artist by the renowned Italian accordion manufacturer TITANO.
Besides music, Rachael enjoys baking, ballet and Chinese calligraphy and she wishes to study arts management and law when going to college.
“I am glad to put my music and my talent to the benefit of the International Music Council and its core values, the Five Music Rights. I’m still very young but my wish is to influence and help under-privileged children globally through music education. I hope to bring positive change and inspire others to do the same”.
The International Music Council (IMC), founded in 1949 by UNESCO, is the world's largest network of organizations and institutions working in the field of music. The International Music Council promotes access to music for all and the value of music in the lives of all peoples. Through its members and their networks, IMC has direct access to over 1000 organisations in some 150 countries and to 200 million persons eager to develop and share knowledge and experience on diverse aspects of musical life.
IMC President Alfons Karabuda expressed his appreciation: “I’m truly impressed to see how relevant the Five Music Rights can be and how they can mobilize people of any background all around the world. In times where the music ecosystem is slowly trying to recover, this young, brilliant musician takes such generous inititiave! I am honoured and, on behalf of IMC and all its members, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Rachael. I am sure this will be the start of a longstanding cooperation.”
