Adornamento String Quartett

The Adornamento Quartett,  from left: Charlotte Tauber, Natalia Helbig, Filip Kowalski and Alexander Kress. With great affection (and advanced age), we called them "the kids," though their talents are anything but kid-like! 

Four musical artists joined the Chorale to provide the strings accompaniment to five works that we performed:  Jesu meine Freude by Felix Mendelssohn; The Ground and Luminous Night of the Soul by Ola Gjeilo; Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre; and In Virtute Tua by Grzegorz Gorczycki. We didn't meet or rehearse with this quartet until our first morning in Warsaw when we immediately knew (goosebumps!) we were performing with true artists and professionals who were going to make us look really good! Oh, what rapturous music they create together!

We grew very fond of these young musicians, and were in awe of their talents and performance skills that they produced with grace, charm and focus.  They were delightful co-travelers, they laughed at our jokes, smiled readily, and taught us much about their countries and why they love what they do.  How lucky we were to have shared this tour with them. They are assured that if they want to visit Colorado, there are 50-plus homes ready to welcome them!

From Mike:

When we arrived at our hotel in Warsaw, we got the opportunity to meet our string quartet for the tour and rehearse with them.   These young players were amazing!  Each played with gorgeous tone quality and our singers immediately welcomed them into our family as their "adoptive children".  I'm sure the members of the quartet did not plan on receiving so much personal attention from the singers with whom they'd be working.  At the conclusion of the tour, everyone wanted pictures with the quartet and I know that email addresses and plans for future meetings were exchanged.

 
Meet...

Charlotte Tauber

Charlotte Tauber, violinist, put this group together after being contacted by Maury (Tour Resource Consultants).  She claims it was easy choosing the members since they were all friends from their days studying Music and performing in Leipzig.

Charlotte was born in Cologne and lived in Bavaria for some years. She will be  celebrating her  10-year-Leipzig-anniversary this year and says that Leipzig truly is her home.  She received her first violin at age three when her godfather gave her a tiny violin "so it was kind of settled then" (that the violin would be her instrument), but she was too young to play at that time.  Three years later,  at six, she was ready to play.  "Though I had already outgrown the tiny violin, I still kept it."

As a child, Charlotte studied privately and at several music schools until she began her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig.  (This school is not only named after Mendelssohn, he was also the first director of the school).  Charlotte is still a student at the school,  studying musicology and violin. She has studied baroque violin and also plays  in multiple different orchestras and chamber music groups in and around Leipzig. 

"I loved spending time with the Larimer Chorale and Voices West," said Charlotte.  "Everybody was so kind and attentive and it was such a pleasure to be with you all! I already knew Wrocław, Leipzig and Dresden but Kraków was a real delight for me. I would have never imagined that it would be that beautiful although Natalia told me before. I'm definitely coming back! And I found the Wieliczka Salt Mines very impressive."

Filip Kowalski, viola, who grew up in Poland, began playing violin at 6 years old.  He picked up viola when he was 16 and, at 18, graduated from his music school in Gdansk with two diplomas: one for violin performance and one for viola.  His lessons up until that point were all through his school. He then came to Leipzig for further music education at the Felix Mendelssohn School for Music and Theater, graduating in 2008.  After returning home for two years, Filip became a member of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, an impressive (though not surprising!) achievement and he now calls Istanbul home.  How lucky we were for him to take the time to return to his home country of Poland and to Leipzig to accompany us!  Filip also translated Mike's greetings to the Polish audiences, they so happy to know that two members of the quartet (Natalia, also) were from their homeland.

When asked about his experience with the Chorale tour, he broke into his gorgeous smile and said "Super!"  It was the first time he had spent time with Americans, and I guess we did well since he was very positive about it all.  His favorite part of the concerts was performing the Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre.  "I liked the use of Hebrew and the modern harmonic structures.  It gave respect to the old times."

Though we've all extended invitations to these marvelous people, perhaps some of us should consider traveling to Istanbul in the future and hear the Borusan Orchestra which was discerning enough to accept this excellent musician and wonderful human being!

Natalia Helbig, violinist, was born in Poland to Polish parents, but she was raised in Germany. She began playing the violin at the age of 6.

"My mom is a pianist and she was convinced that I would like to play piano, too, because that is what mommy is playing," Natalia recalls.

"Someone in the music school asked me which instrument I would like to play (my mom was there with me), violin or piano.  I answered straight away: violin. I will never forget how surprised my mom was! I had to learn the piano for my Bachelor degree, so I play the piano too, but believe me, it was the way better decision to play the violin..."

Natalia began her musical education at the JS Bach Music School in Leipzig. "I had a wonderful teacher (Mrs. Sieglinde Fenner) there, for 10 years, and it was probably the most important part and time for beginning my musical development," she said.

Both of Natalia's parents are musicians, so she was raised in a very musical environment.  But there were other experiences that sealed her resolve to study music. At the young age of 8 she performed chamber music in a little string quartet, then moved on to small string orchestras and the youth symphony orchestra.  "Those are all experiences which are priceless and made me passionate about music  -- so I decided to study it."

When she was sixteen, Natalia met Professor Carolin Widmann from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Leipzig and entered the "youth class" for two years. After completing her A-levels, she continued studying with the same Professor until last year when she completed her Bachelor degree.

"I've had just two teachers, but very good, very inspirational ones," Natalia said. " I feel very blessed, because it is not always the case. My parents were and still are very important for my musical education, because they, too, are musicians."

Natalia is currently studying for her Master's degree in Weimar, Germany, but she is also a substitute in the Staatskapelle Halle (symphony orchestra), located in Dresden, Germany.  Coincidentally, the music director of the Staatskapelle Halle, Josep Caballé Domenech, is also Music Director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and has been part of the Aspen Music Festival in the past.

"It was so great to do that tour with you," Natalia said about her time with our traveling chorus.  "I did not know some of those composers before and I also never played in that formation of string quartett plus chorale, so it was an amazing experience.

"You guys are such wonderful people, so all the 12 days were one by one memorable. But when we were on our way to Germany and at the last stop, right before the border, you wanted Filip and me to stand up and you sang the Polish national anthem just for us! That just made me love you all!"

 Natalia Helbig and her good friend and fellow violinist, Charlotte Tauber at our good-bye feast.

Cellist Alexander Kress got some special treatment on our bus travels in Poland and into Germany.  Two seats were always reserved for him, and for his cherished 200-year-old cello.  His respect for the instrument and his dedication to his art as a cellist was clearly and immediately apparent when we first heard his gorgeous solo introduction to Ola Gjeilo's Luminous Night of the Soul -- and continued for every accompanied piece throughout the tour. 

Alex is from Leipzig. He started playing cello at age 6. 

"My grandfather played cello as well and I always loved it when he played for me," Alex said.  "That's why I chose the cello and now I m playing the actual instrument of my grandfather."

Alex also spent years playing piano, but it was not his first love as cello is.  He admits "I was lazy at practicing," which we all find hard to believe -- that he would be lazy at anything!  At each stop on the tour, he took his practice pretty seriously.  

 

Alex received his first music education at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Leipzig, which is also where he met the other three members of the quartet.  "It was a great time, being with so many good friends."

These days he works as a freelance musician, playing as a substitute in various orchestras of Saxony and Thuringia.  He also performs solo in many chamber music and orchestra concerts.

Reflecting on his time with the Adornamento Quartett , he said: "It was the first time that we played together in this formation as a quartet. We know each other very well and we studied together in Leipzig. I had often played chamber music together with Charlotte and Filip, but in this formation it was the first time.

"I really enjoyed the time together with all of you," he continued. "It was so friendly and alive. I remember with pleasure our concerts and many great moments, the impressions of the beautiful cities and the good food we had together in Poland. I hope to see all of you again!"

Cellist Alexander Kress (left) and violist Filip Kowalski (right) celebrate a successful tour at our farewell dinner in Leipzig.

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