Rachel Ringelstein, a founding member of the Carmel Quartet, was born in Israel in 1977 and studied with the late Avigdor Zamir, Ora Shiran and Yair Kless. She graduated from the Tel Aviv Rubin Music Academy where she studied with Irena Svetlova and was the principal violinist of the Academy Symphony Orchestra. In 1998 she won first prize at the Tel Aviv Academy String Competition and second prize in the Chamber Music Competition. Rachel has performed as a soloist with the Tel Aviv Music Academy Chamber Orchestra, with the Tel-Aviv Soloists Ensemble and with the Haifa Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has participated in festivals in Israel and abroad, including the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in the USA, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Pablo Casals Festival in France and the "Classical Winter" Festival in Jerusalem. Rachel has participated in master classes with the late Isaac Stern, Miriam Fried and Zvi Zeitlin, and with members of the Borodin, Alban Berg and Amadeus Quartets.