Play-in Moderators

We will have a variety of local cello teachers facilitate some of our group play-ins, rehearsals and concerts. If you would like to join our group to help moderate sessions, please contact us.

Psyche Dunkhase, Play-in Moderator 
(Boulder, Colorado)

Psyche Dunkhase is a dynamic, dedicated and accomplished cellist and cello teacher. With over ten years of experience performing and teaching, Ms. Dunkhase is committed to providing unique musical experiences that inspire creativity, nurture self-expression and spark imagination. She is a registered Suzuki Cello Teacher, and an active member of both the local and national Suzuki communities and maintains a large popular cello studio (with a long waiting list!). She also teaches group classes as a faculty member of Boulder Suzuki Strings. Psyche holds a Master of Music in cello performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied with Judith Glyde 

Website: www.PsycheDunkhase.com 

Psyche moderates our Rock Band play-ins. 

Marcelo Sanches, Play-in Moderator
(Boulder, Colorado)

Dr. Sanches is a teacher, performer, composer and researcher. He is a faculty member of Flatirons Strings Academy, and has a private cello studio in Boulder, Colorado. Hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, he pursued his bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College, studying cello with Peter Rejto and composition with Randolph Coleman and Richard Hoffmann. Dr. Sanches finished his doctorate and master’s degrees at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was Prof. Judith Glyde’s teaching assistant for six years. He is principal of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, assistant principal of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and plays with Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, among others. One of Dr. Sanches greatest passions is writing and arranging music to fit the needs of his students, and future projects include the publication of didactic cello literature. Strings Magazine has published one of his articles on how to write your own cello étude, and his paper on Ginastera’s palindromes won the Fiske Writing Award this year. Additionally, he has performed extensively in South India, and founded and directed the Auroville Instrumental Ensemble and collaborated in the recording of a Carnatic-style music-therapy album in Chennai.

Adam Riggs, Play-in Moderator 
(Arvada, Colorado)

Photo: Crestina Photography

Adam Riggs knows that being a cellist is not reserved for a select few, but that anybody can become proficient at playing the cello with the right amount of work and dedication. Adam has been playing cello for over 27 years and has had the wonderful opportunity to play in many cello ensembles in Canada and the US and started and ran his own cello ensemble while an Artist Diploma Student at the Hartt School.  In 2014 Adam graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Colorado Boulder where he studied with Judith Glyde and András Fejér.  He has also studied with Mihai Tetel, Simon Fryer, Paul Pulford and Sally Gross.  He currently teaches at Parlando School for the Arts and privately in Arvada.  

Website: www.AdamRiggsCello.com

Rex Westen, Play-in Moderator
(Boulder, Colorado)

Rex began with piano at age five, and studied cello privately from age eight. He took a long break from cello after high school, and relearned the instrument studying with Charles Lee at the age of forty. Replacing the bad technique with good, and playing as an adult has been an experience of a lifetime for him. However, he can now more easily relate to many of our members who started playing cello as an adult. In the last twenty years, Rex has played chamber music and in jazz combos studying with Danny Meyer. He believes that jazz in particular makes the cellist more aware of the flexibility of the instrument, as bass, rhythm, accompanist, or soloist, often in a single tune. Rex has a passion for technique and novel articulations, and currently studies composition via Skype with Berklee College of Music Professor Eugene Friesen. Rex teaches cello privately, with his teaching focus on the process of playfulness in learning: the kinesthetic pleasure of relaxation and producing good sound, the fun of learning how to learn, the rich and subtle pleasures of differentiation, and the joy of “making things up.” He holds to the Baroque concept of a musician as someone who can play, write, and improvise music.

Rex will be moderating our Improvisation play-ins.  

Stephen Weidner, Play-in Moderator
(Aurora, Colorado)

Stephen Weidner is a retired Adjunct Professor, Director of Strings and Conductor at Colorado School of Mines. He teaches privately at his studios in Evergreen and Aurora and is a cellist with the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra. Stephen is a member of the Voice of the Wood Cello Quartet, which was founded in 2003. Originally comprised of the cello section from the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra in Evergreen Colorado, the cellists got together to rehearse and perform, locally, ‘Voice of the Wood – Concerto for 4 Cellos and Orchestra’ by composer Russell Peck. They enjoyed playing together so much they decided to make the commitment and perform as a group as much as possible. Stephen is also a certified and registered piano technician and owner of his own business, 88 hammers. 

Website: http://www.voiceofthewood.org

Becky Kutz Osterberg, Play-in Moderator
(Fort Collins, Colorado)

Becky Kutz Osterberg has been teaching and coaching cello for 20 years. In California she was on faculty at Bethesda Christian University where she taught Cello and Music History. Becky is a member of the chamber faculty and the cello instructor for the Western Chamber Music Institute at Western State College of Colorado in Gunnison and also coaches cello and chamber music for CSU’s Rocky Mountain Summer Music Camp. She has a well established private teaching studio in Fort Collins and is an active free-lance musician throughout Northeast Colorado. Becky received her Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Southern California as a student of Ron Leonard, former principal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She earned a Master of Music in Cello Performance and completed the coursework for a Master of Music History from the University of Akron in Ohio. She has performed in over 15 professional orchestras throughout the United States and is currently a member of the Fort Collins Symphony, the Greeley Philharmonic as Associate Principal Cello, and the Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra. 

Elle Wells, Play-in Moderator
(Boulder, Colorado)

Eleanor Wells (cello) graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts high school division in 1995 and went on to study at the University of Colorado at Boulder, as a full scholarship student with Judith Glyde. While at the University of Colorado, she received the Denes Koromzay Quartet Award and placed in the finals of the honors competition two years in a row. She also spent several summers at the Eastern Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival. Her teachers have included John Erhlich, Yehuda Hanani, Robert Marsh, and Charles Wendt. Elle received her Master of Music degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she studied with Geoffrey Rutkowski and was awarded first place winner of the Santa Barbara Performing Arts Competition. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder and performs with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, the Greeley Philharmonic, and the Central City Opera Orchestra.

Susan Crisfield, Play-in Moderator
(Denver, Colorado)

In the works... 

We realize there are many schools of thought for teaching cello, so we welcome all styles and are open to the different methodologies out there. 

If you're a teacher and would like to participate, please contact us at our Meetup.com site or email us at: info@BoulderCelloProject.com.

 

Become a Member!

Sign up to learn more about our group, including:

• Meetup locations
• Past meetup information  
  
• The password to our member's  login page to view pieces we will be playing during our next session
• Access to our discussion board to contact other cellists on cello-related topics
• The opportunity to "beta test" new pieces from arrangers
• The opportunity to play unpublished works by arrangers working with our group
• And of course, the opportunity to play with other Colorado cellists of ALL levels in a fun, relaxed environment! 

Select the Meetup icon below and following the instructions to become a member.