This month, the Colorado Plateau Chamber Music Society (CPCMS) brought classical music to communities on the Western Slope with concerts in Carbondale and Fruita. The new spring concert series marked a milestone for the young ensemble, which was founded just last year and recently achieved official nonprofit status.
At their Mother’s Day performance in Carbondale, CPCMS filled a sunlit room at the Third Street Center with the elegant sounds of piano quartets by Mozart and Gabriel Fauré. The group selected Mozart’s Quartet No. 1 in G minor and Fauré’s Quartet No. 1 in C minor to reflect a wide range of musical emotions. The interplay of strings and piano evoked feelings of springtime and renewal—fitting for a concert held on Mother’s Day weekend.
CPCMS is composed of four accomplished musicians: violinist Camille Backman and cellist Sarah Graf, both from Carbondale; violist Charles Hebenstreit of Grand Junction; and pianist Tamara Goldstein of Boulder.
Backman began playing violin at age six in her home state of Utah. She earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory and later studied in Belgium at the Conservatoire Royale de Bruxelles, where she received a master’s degree in classical and contemporary performance.
Graf, the ensemble’s cellist, also serves as executive director and co-music director of the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra. She holds a bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music. Graf is drawn to the fusion of musical styles and performs on baroque cello and viola da gamba in addition to modern cello. She is an active performer in ensembles across Colorado.
Hebenstreit, the group’s violist, is a prominent figure in regional symphonies. He serves as principal viola of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra and also performs with the San Juan Symphony. His chamber music experience includes training with renowned ensembles such as the Takács Quartet, the Manhattan String Quartet, and the New York String Quartet.
Goldstein travels from Boulder to play piano with CPCMS. She has a long connection with the Roaring Fork Valley, having performed here since the 1990s. Goldstein was a member of the collaborative piano faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 1999 to 2022. She also taught at the University of Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado.
CPCMS is committed to making classical music accessible to more people across the Western Slope. Their concerts operate on a donation-only basis, inviting attendees to contribute what they can. The ensemble values both the joy of making music together and the opportunity to build community through live performance.
“As a musician, nothing compares to the joy of playing chamber music with friends and colleagues and then getting to share that experience live with an audience,” said Graf.
The Mother’s Day concert lasted just over an hour. After playing the graceful, three-movement Mozart quartet, the musicians introduced the Fauré piece, highlighting the French composer’s distinctive musical influences and unconventional style. The group described the quartet as “sonorous and sublime,” noting its emotional depth and genre-defying structure.
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