Tess Padilla

A classically trained violinist and graduate of the Indiana University School of Music, (now called the Jacobs School of Music), Tess graduated with a Bachelor of Violin Performance and extensive training in chamber music. Formerly the concertmaster of the Pueblo Symphony, she has over thirty years experience as a liturgical and secular soloist and chamber musician performing for various organizations and celebrations in and around the community. Currently, Tess is the first violinist of the Raphaeli string trio and also runs an independent private teaching studio for violin and viola students of all ages, beginner through advanced. She is a member of Southern Colorado Music Teacher's Association (local chapter of CMTA and MTNA) and the American String Teacher's Association. (ASTA) and is currently employed by the Diocese of Pueblo at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart as the business and finance manager.

As adjunct faculty at CSU-Pueblo Tess taught applied violin and viola to beginning through advanced students ranging in age from teens to adults as well as cello and bass instruction. Besides applied string lessons, she also was the director of the University Chamber Orchestra and taught string pedagogy to all music education majors at the University.

Since her prior teaching experience was with older students, she completed coursework in conducting and in the music instruction of younger students aged pre-K through elementary in order to round out her teaching abilities to better serve students of any age.

 While at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Tess had the privilege of studying with numerous well-known performers and pedagogues of the time. Her applied violin technical studies were in the studio of Mr. Tadeusz Wronski who was the head of the Frederic Chopin Conservatory in Warsaw, Poland. He was a master of violin technique and his teaching method was able to correct any technical problems a violinist might have had in playing. In addition to her solo studies, Tess studied and performed extensively in small chamber ensembles coached by various respected artists including Mr. James Buswell (Lincoln Center Chamber Society), Mr. Rostislav Dubinsky (founding 1st violinist of the Borodin Quartet), Mr. Peter Marsh (1st violinist in the Lenox Quartet), Mr. Stanley Ritchie (leading exponent of baroque and classical violin performance), and Dr. Joseph Rezits (pianist, soloist, and esteemed pedagogue).

 

Norah Joy Clydesdale comes from a family of musicians originating in Glasgow, Scotland. Her grandfather, Mr. Robert Clydesdale, was an orchestra conductor and cellist who immigrated to New York State in 1932. He sailed on a cruise ship with his family across the Atlantic performing trios aboard, and proceeded to continue his career as a cellist and teacher in upstate New York. Ms. Clydesdale’s parents were Stuart and Joyce Clydesdale. Stuart played the piano, while Joyce sang professionally in opera productions in California’s Bay Area. Norah started playing the piano at five years of age and the cello at eight. Cello soon emerged as her main instrument of study. Norah studied with Colin Hampton of the Griller Quartet and Andor Toth, Jr. of the Hungarian Quartet at the San Francisco Conservatory. She then traveled south to study with Gabor Reijto and Bernardo Segall at USC before culminating her training at Boston University. Ms. Clydesdale studied for seven years with world-renowned concert cellist and pedagogue George Neikrug. Ms. Clydesdale has participated in Masterclasses with Isaac Stern, Walter Trampler and Eugene Lehner of the Kolisch Quartet. She played professionally in the Boston area -  principally as a chamber musician performing the entire Beethoven Quartets Cycle with the Artaria Quartet before moving to Paris, France. In France, she was an active educator, teaching cello. Violin and the love of music to children and adults in Paris. Ms. Clydesdale also developed the string department at the Lycee Ombrosa in Lyon. France. Speaking French and Italian fluently, Ms. Clydesdale rounded out her career teaching music to young school children in Milan, Italy. Norah recently returned from Europe and is now an active performer and educator in Colorado. She has performed with the Grace String Quartet, as Assistant Principal of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, and was Principal Cello of the Pikes Peak Philharmonic for three years. Norah performed with the Pueblo Symphony for ten years and was a founding member of the CSU-Pueblo Faculty Piano Trio – The Prometheus Trio. Ms. Clydesdale was Cello Instructor and String Techniques pedagogue as well as teaching at the Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs. Ms. Clydesdale is currently expanding the Clydesdale Music and Art Studio in downtown Pueblo and is the cellist in the newly formed Raffaeli String Trio with upcoming concerts in view.

 

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Dan Masterson is a graduate of Colorado State University – Pueblo with a degree in Public Relations and Humanities. At CSU-P he was the Assistant Director and Personnel Manager of the Pueblo Symphony and the Colorado Music Fest.  He served as the Director of Performing Arts at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center for five seasons. Dan is a former member of the Pueblo Symphony Orchestra, playing in both the violin and viola sections for thirty years. He has also performed with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs and the Broadmoor Pops Orchestra.  His chamber ensembles include the Bella String Trio, Tempus Strings and the Aspen String Quartet.