About The Kairos
Kairos Player Biographies
Heather Netz
The Players
Carrie Rehkopf, violin
Heather Netz, violin
Tim Betts, viola
John Michel, cello
Residency The Kairos Quartet is the resident ensemble of Central Washington University. The members are faculty in the CWU Music Department.
Carrie Rehkopf has maintained an active career as performer and teacher. In Washington, she has soloed with the Everett, Olympia, Wenatchee and Yakima Symphonies, as well as given the world premiere of Maria Newman's violin concerto, which she subsequently recorded at Capitol Records. Ms. Rehkopf has also performed on chamber music concerts at the Tanglewood, Banff and Norfolk festivals. Having served as the violin professor at Central Washington University in Ellensburg since 1990, her students have received many awards and are immediately employed upon graduation. In 2004 she received the Outstanding College String Teacher award from the Washington ASTA chapter. For more information see her website.
Violinist Heather Netz was invited to Athens, Greece to give a series of solo performances with the Greek contemporary company, QuasiStellar Dance Theater. Performing the music of Xenakis, she played for the athletic welcoming ceremonies in the Olympic Village during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, and since returned to Greece to perform music by Paganini. She received a Post-Graduate Diploma of Orchestral Performance with Distinction from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland, where she won the first prize of the Ian D. Watt Award, a competition of the Sonata and Chamber works by Claude Debussy. Alongside her classical education, she studied Scottish fiddle with Pete Clark and was featured on Clark's album Mackintosh at Murthly- The Music of Robert Mackintosh. Ms. Netz received her Master of Music and Bachelor's Degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Currently she plays in the Kairos String Quartet and teaches violin at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.
Mr. Betts has been a Lecturer of Music at Central Washington University since 2005 teaching viola, chamber music, and music theory and performing as part of the Kairos String Quartet, Tim Betts has established himself as an enthusiastic and sensitive performer, collaborator, teacher, and clinician. His frequent performances and educational activities with the Kairos String Quartet, as well as with many other of the region’s musical organizations, make him a regular presence throughout the northwest. Mr. Betts also serves as the Executive Director of the Kairos Lyceum, a summer chamber music institute for advanced high school and college-age string players. Prior to his appointment at CWU, Mr. Betts was active as a musician in New York where he earned a Masters Degree in Viola Performance and served as teaching assistant to Debra Moree at Ithaca College and as teaching assistant to Patricia McCarty at the Meadowmount School of Music. He also holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota where he pursued performance studies with Korey Konkol.
John Michel, cello professor at Central Washington University, enjoys performing chamber music, recitals and concertos including in the past Elgar's Concerto with the Everett Symphony. He was solo artist at the First Kobe International Cello Festival, Japan in 2001. At the World Cello Congress III, he premiered Maria Newman’s Solo Sonata, which you can hear at johnmichel.com. In 1996, the ASTA Washington chapter named him Outstanding College String Teacher. He is also founder of the Internet Cello Society (cello.org). For more information see his website johnmichel.com
Carrie Rehkopf
Tim Betts
John Michel
