Chamber music

Below, we invite you to learn more about our faculty and graduate student chamber music ensembles in residence at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!

Takács Quartet

The world-renowned Takács Quartet is now entering its 50^th anniversary season! Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill (viola) and András Fejér (cello) are excited about projects including a new concerto for them and the Colorado Music Festival orchestra by Gabriela Lena Frank. In November the group will release its latest Hyperion project—“Flow” by Nokuthula Ngwenyama. A new album with pianist Marc Andre Hamelin will be released in the spring featuring works by Florence Price and Antonín Dvořák. The Takács maintains a busy international touring schedule. In 2025 the ensemble will perform in South Korea, Japan and Australia. The Australian tour is centered around a new piece by Kathy Milliken for quartet and narrator. As Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall, the group will present four concerts featuring works by Haydn, Britten, Ngwenyama, Beethoven, Janáček and two performances of Schubert’s cello quintet with Adrian Brendel. During the season the ensemble will play at other prestigious European venues including Barcelona, Budapest, Milan, Basel, Bath Mozartfest and Bern. The group’s North American engagements include concerts in New York, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Lajolla, Berkeley, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Tucson, Portland and Princeton, and collaborations with pianists Stephen Hough and Jeremy Denk. The members of the Takács Quartet are Christoffersen Fellows and Artists in Residence at the University of Colorado Boulder. During the summer months the Takács join the faculty at the Music Academy of the West, running an intensive quartet seminar. MORE

Graduate chamber music ensembles

Koa String Quartet
Graduate String Quartet in Residence

Koa String Quartet is comprised of violinists Kisa Uradomo and Leah Pernick, violist Tommy Chafe and cellist Heewon Lee. The members of the Koa String Quartet are from diverse backgrounds, but have intertwined musical careers, having studied at overlapping schools during their education. Kisa Uradomo is from Maui, Hawaii, and studied at Eastman School of Music and University of Michigan; Leah Pernick is from Southeast Michigan and studied at the University of Michigan; Tommy Chafe is from Annapolis, Maryland, and studied at Oberlin Conservatory and University of Michigan; Heewon Lee is from O'ahu, Hawaii, and studied at Oberlin Conservatory and Eastman School of Music. 

The group is invested in fostering musical engagement with students and presenting high-quality classical music for community audiences. They play a diverse repertoire of music, including film scores, pop covers and folk music, while also continuing the classical music repertoire together. During their time as a quartet, they have worked to prioritize their goals by participating as the quartet in residence at the Hana Hou Music Program, and presenting free concerts at concert halls and public spaces throughout Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

The name “Koa” comes from the tree in the Hawaiian Islands, and the wood symbolizes strength and courage. 
Photo: Johnette Martin

Juniper Winds
Graduate Woodwind Quintet in Residence

Formed in 2022 at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music, the Juniper Winds Quintet is the college’s current Graduate Woodwind Quintet in Residence. Hailing from Minnesota, China, New Jersey, Arkansas and Alabama, members of the quintet serve as teaching assistants and mentors for our flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn studios. The ensemble performs two recitals each year, as well as community outreach programming. Coached by Professor of Bassoon Yoshi Ishikawa and other woodwind faculty, the group comprises flutist Lauren Flaten, oboist Sophie Maeda, clarinetist Yi Dong, bassoonist J.T. Holdbrooks and hornist Derrick Rassinier. ​

Ensemble Flatirons
Graduate Brass Quintet in Residence

Ensemble Flatirons is the Graduate Brass Quintet in Residence at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Quintet members—coached by Professor of Horn Michael Thornton—are all DMA candidates hailing from California, Hawaii, Montana, Texas and Wisconsin. Ensemble Flatirons regularly performs a variety of music at the College of Music and throughout the greater Boulder/Denver area.