Kairos Immersive

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.

Tim Betts, viola