Charlene Kluegel

Hailed for her “unsentimental verve, musical feeling and great technical skill” (New York Classical Review), violinist Charlene Kluegel is known for her versatile artistry that transcends the traditional boundaries of Classical music genres. 

 

A chamber musician and soloist “with aplomb” (Chicago Classical Review) on modern and Baroque violin, her engagements have taken her to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Banff Centre, Chicago Symphony Hall, Orchestra Hall Detroit, the Ravinia Festival, and the Music Center at Strathmore.  She has collaborated with members of the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, Cuarteto Casals, Third Coast Percussion, members of Brentano Quartet, Jason Vieaux, Robert McDuffie, and the Music of the Baroque, Washington Bach Consort, Elizabeth Fields, Cynthia Roberts, and Dorian Bandy. As a featured soloist she has appeared under the baton of Gemma New, Lee Mills, Kemal Akçag, and with the Baltimore Baroque Band and Cornell Symphony Orchestra. 

 

As the violinist and co-founder of Duo FAE, she tirelessly promotes the sonata repertoire as the most intimate expression of chamber music. Dedicated to the performance of new music, she has premiered works by Dan Visconti, Julia Adolphe, Stacy Garrop, Steven Snowdon, Xi Wang, Osamu Katsuki, and Austin Wintory, and has upcoming commissions by composers including Iranian-American composer Sepehr Pirasteh. Formerly the violinist of acclaimed Fifth House Ensemble, she has recorded on Cedille and Dynamic Catholic labels and has appeared regularly on radio broadcasts. Always curious to expand her musical horizons, Ms. Kluegel collaborated on Patois’s explorative CD of Latin Jazz “Canto America” which was nominated for a GRAMMY - Best Latin Jazz Album in 2016. 

 

Charlene Kluegel’s commitment to the advancement of emerging artists has taken her to education residencies and masterclasses at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, the University of Texas at Austin, Bowling Green State University, Roosevelt University, and Lawrence University. Her primary research is in the practical intersection between pedagogy and performance practice and has published a pedagogical handbook on style and tempo considerations in orchestral violin excerpts. She continues her dedication to research through her tenure on the Editorial Board of the American String Teacher Journal. She has previously taught at the Peabody Institute of Music and Fresh Inc Festival and currently serves on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago. 

 

Prior to graduating from Cornell University, Ms. Kluegel studied at the Hochschule der Künste Bern, Switzerland. She holds a Masters of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of Music and, as a recipient of the Indiana University Artistic Excellence Award she received her Doctor of Music from Indiana University. She studied under Pamela Frank, Jorja Fleezanis, Susan Waterbury, Stanley Ritchie, and Monika Urbaniak-Lisik.

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Charlene Kluegel is honored to receive string sponsorship from Larsen Strings A/S.