Harumi Rhodes
Harumi Rhodes is the second violinist of the internationally renowned Takács Quartet, performing 80 concerts a year worldwide. Acclaimed by the New York Times as a “deeply expressive violinist”, Rhodes has gained recognition as a multi-faceted musician with a distinctive musical voice. She is Associate Professor of Violin, Artist in Residence and Ralph E. and Barbara L. Christoffersen Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Rhodes combines her performing career with a passionate commitment to guiding young instrumentalists, composers, and chamber ensembles.
Rhodes has a vision for commissioning and programming contemporary music: her partnerships with composers of today have resulted in over 100 premieres. This season Clarice Assad wrote a three-movement suite for violin and piano Constelación that she recorded with Rhodes for Yarlung Records. With composer Gabriela Lena Frank, Rhodes co-directed the inaugural 2021-22 season of the Virtual Artist Partnership Program (VAPP). This collaboration between the Rhodes violin studio at CU-Boulder and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Creative Academy of Music (GLFCAM) resulted in 8 new solo works for violin. Jungyoon Wie composed a new violin duo Dan Poong for Rhodes and Edward Dusinberre. Recent concerto performances include Joseph Bologne Violin Concerto No 9 and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante (with violist Richard O’Neill) with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra Colorado, as well as Florence Price Violin Concerto No. 2 with the West Texas Symphony.
As a member of the Takács Quartet, Rhodes has shaped the Graduate String Quartet Residency at the University of Colorado. At the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, Rhodes leads an intensive summer string quartet seminar with the Takács Quartet. For the 23-24 season Rhodes is coordinating a partnership between Takács and El Sistema Colorado, working closely with its chamber music education program in Denver. Rhodes serves as Artistic Director of the Denver/Boulder branch of “If Music Be The Food…”, a concert series designed to build partnerships through music in order to raise awareness for food insecurity in local communities.
Originally from New Jersey, Rhodes was born into a family with Japanese, American, Russian and Romanian roots. After studying at the Juilliard School and the New England Conservatory, she co-founded the Naumburg Award-winning ensemble Trio Cavatina, served as artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and performed extensively with Music from Copland House, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Musicians from Marlboro.