Colorado Quartet Shares Musical Expertise with UConn Students

Half the members of this award-winning chamber quartet teach in the School of Fine Arts.

The Colorado Quartet with, from left, Julie Rosenfeld, D. Lydia Redding, Marka Gustavsson, and Katie Schlaikjer. (Murat Eyubogln Photo)

The Colorado Quartet with, from left, Julie Rosenfeld, D. Lydia Redding, Marka Gustavsson, and Katie Schlaikjer. (Murat Eyubogln Photo)

Editor’s note: The performance scheduled for Oct. 27 was canceled because of a power outage and will be rescheduled. For information, call the Jorgensen Box Office: 860-486-4226.

The Colorado Quartet with, from left, Julie Rosenfeld, D. Lydia Redding, Marka Gustavsson, and Katie Schlaikjer. (Murat Eyubogln Photo)
The Colorado Quartet with, from left, Julie Rosenfeld, D. Lydia Redding, Marka Gustavsson, and Katie Schlaikjer. (Murat Eyubogln Photo)

When the Colorado Quartet takes the stage at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday evening, the group will be doing more than showcasing its considerable musical talent. Two of the participants in the all-Beethoven program, violinist Julie Rosenfeld and cellist Katie Schlaikjer, will also be demonstrating to their students in the School of Fine Arts that a love of music can be expressed in a variety of personal and professional ways.

“Whenever I hear people say, ‘Those who can, do, and those who cannot, teach,’ I know they don’t know what they’re talking about,” says Rosenfeld. “As musicians mature and grow in their performance careers, they have so much to give back in the classroom. It’s all about sharing the experience with young musicians who are just deciding what they want to do with their futures.”

Rosenfeld has been first violinist of the Colorado Quartet since 1982. She joined the School of Fine Arts in 2009 as professor of violin-in-residence. Schlaikjer is been a member of the Quartet since 2009; she came to UConn a year ago to teach cello. Together, they make up half of the quartet that has gained international recognition for the passion and finesse that characterize their performances.

Among the many awards won by the group are the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award.

The quartet has an active recording career and a review in Fanfare Magazine said, “Colorado plunges the musical scalpel in ‘till Beethoven’s very soul is laid bare. The range of colors they discover … simply does not exist in others’ recordings.”

In addition to concerts and recording sessions, the musicians’ commitment to teaching is reflected in their residencies at schools such as the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the New School in Philadelphia. They have given master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and The Banff Center, among others.

In an active day preceding their appearance at the Jorgensen, the quartet will engage UConn students in a variety of settings. In the morning, they will participate in a First Year Experience class taught by Rod Rock, director of the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. In the afternoon, they will teach a convocation class for students in the Department of Music. That evening, at 6:45 p.m., Rosenfeld and fellow violinist Deborah Lydia Redding will give a pre-concert talk at the Jorgensen, during which they will share insights into the Beethoven quartets, including one of Rosenfeld’s favorites, Opus 132.

“The third movement of Opus 132 is particularly meaningful,” Rosenfeld says, “because Beethoven was very sick for a long time, and when he recovered he wrote this opus as a song of thanks; it’s spiritually uplifting and truly profound, no matter what a listener’s background.”

Other works that will be performed in concert include the master’s Opus 95 for String Quartet in F Minor and Opus 18, No. 6 for String Quartet in B-flat Major.

Catherine Jarjisian, professor of music education and head of the department of music, says that having one-half of the Colorado Quartet as faculty members is a definite plus. “Not only are Julie and Katie providing outstanding studio instruction to our students,” she says, “but their forte is chamber music, which is a specialty of the Department of Music. UConn students ‘do’ chamber music, and to have the rehearsals and performances of professional ensembles like the Colorado and Orpheus so accessible expands their learning incomparably. We could not be more grateful [to have them].”