Rachel May Koppelman is a composer, musician and philosopher of music.
Her primary instrument is accordion, and she’s squeezed happily in a number of bands, including Ghorar Deem Express (which she co-led with Andrew Bergmann); Ensemble Minouchka (her own nine-piece project); Barvy Laky (Balkan); the Poludaktulos Orchestra (Greek & Macedonian brass band); and the Jumbo Knish Factory (Tufts University’s Klezmer ensemble). With these groups, Rachel has performed internationally in concert halls, including the Knitting Factory (NYC) and the Spitz (London), as well as alternative art/performance spaces, bars, universities, and parks.
As a composer, her music has been performed in venues around the northeast and the midwest, including at least four states to which she has never been.
Rachel has lots of experience on the other side of the stage, so to speak. She was the Head of Publicity at Powderfinger Promotions, a music promotions firm based in Framingham, MA. She co-founded and co-operated Floating Opera Records, a small record label that put out two albums, each of which garnered much favorable media attention. Rachel is also a published writer whose work has appeared in Boston’s Weekly Dig, the Big Ugly Review, Skope Magazine, and Shark (Amsterdam).
Inspired by her vast collection of tunes collected from her travels at home and abroad, Rachel set out to share these with people everywhere. To this end, she was a DJ for two years at the radio station of her alma mater, Tufts University, hosting two programs that each had a steady base of listeners worldwide.
