Chamber Music in the Cascade Mountains featuring internationally acclaimed
pianist, Dr. Stephen Beus
The Kairos Chamber Music Festival is an intense educational experience for intimate groups of serious high school and college level string players and pianists, selected for their playing ability and desire to develop their collaborative skills. In addition to a rigorous musical schedule, young artists (age 15+) will also experience and participate in masterclasses, reading sessions and related activities.
Festival students will receive coachings and masterclasses from the artist faculty and free tickets to Festival Artist concerts. The nine-day festival will conclude with a concert featuring performances of the young artists. Through focused chamber music collaboration, participants will strengthen their ensemble skills, musical independence, and connections with their peers—qualities essential to future music-making. Special consideration will be given to preformed groups.
Together in the inspiring natural setting of Icicle Creek, we will celebrate learning, creativity, and the joy of making music together!
- Application Form and Recordings due by March 15, 2026.
- Please include two contrasting pieces representative of your present playing ability. Provide links to your online videos or to shared video files at the bottom of the application form
Room, board and tuition for the Icicle Creek & Kairos Chamber Music Festival residency is $1200. Fees are lower than the actual costs, due to the generosity of our donors. If you have financial need, please indicate this in the comments field of your application form.
Icicle Creek students will usually lodge four to six in a semi-private cabin according to age and gender on the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts or Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort campus. Meals will be provided.
Cancellation Policy:
Icicle Creek and Sleeping Lady are no-smoking facilities. Smoking on the grounds, illegal drugs or under-age drinking are grounds for immediate expulsion. Detailed rules and regulations will be sent upon accepted application.
TYPICAL DAILY SCHEDULE
8:00 Breakfast
8:45 to 10:45 Practice
11:00-12:00 Chamber Rehearsal
12:00 Lunch
1:30-3:30 Rehearsal and/or coaching
6:00 Dinner
7:00-8:00 Practice
8:30-9:30 Masterclass, Sightreading or Free
Learn from the pros
Kairos
The ensemble Kairos, violinist Carrie Rehkopf Michel and John Michel, holds the chamber music residency at Central Washington University, where they have been professors for 35 years.
In 1993 Kairos joined another married couple to form the Kairos String Quartet. They helped found the Icicle Creek Music Center and served as the ensemble-in-residence. In 1998, Kairos initiated the endowed chamber music residency at Central Washington University. Kairos has performed in Italy, Taiwan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada and across the United States. Committed to educating new generations of chamber musicians, Kairos teaches at numerous summer festivals and holds a weekly chamber seminar at CWU. Kairos has introduced the great quartet repertoire to new listeners, employing a number of strategies including CWU courses such as Introduction to Music classes and a ‘Ten Quartets’ weekly series for the Douglas Honors College. In addition to traditional concerts, Kairos attracts new fans of classical music through energetic live performances and juxtaposing great music with dance and visual art.
Kairos was a string quartet for 24 years and now highlights the rich piano trio and piano and strings repertoire. Violinist Carrie Rehkopf Michel and cellist John Michel are joined by world- renowned pianists Stephen Beus, Duane Funderburk, Eduard Zilberkant, Tatjana Rankovich, Roderigo Robles de Medina, violinists Kathryn Votapek and David Perry and violist Michelle Rahn. Enticing new audiences through unique collaborations, choreographer Shauna Goddard Barger, storytellers Claudia Solti, Moon Hi Hanson, Gillian Coldsnow and visual artists Rachel Hall Kirk, and Mellasenah Nicole join Kairos to stimulate imaginations.
The Michels met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and have been professors at Central Washington University since 1990. They have guided several generations of musicians in their study of chamber music and their instruments. Their three sons spent idyllic childhood summers here at Icicle Creek.
Stephen Beus
Stephen Beus has gained prominence through an impressive series of achievements, including winning first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and the Vendome Prize International Competition, as well as receiving the Max I. Allen Fellowship from the American Pianists Association.
He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and has played with numerous orchestras worldwide, including the Gulbenkian Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco. Notably, he has performed at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Salle Gaveau, and Carnegie Hall, and has given recitals across the globe.
Raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Mr. Beus began piano lessons at age 5 and achieved significant recognition early on, praised for his unique and effortless playing style. He holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University. A Steinway Artist, he currently teaches at Brigham Young University. He and his wife Alainna have six children.