BMC Connects! series brings you news and stories about those talented students BMC has encouraged on their way to musical excellence. In our first article, we are reaching across the country to Colin Wheatley, violist, teacher, conductor, and three-time BMC high school strings award winner from 2006 through 2008.
Colin started violin lessons when he was four years old. Bellingham strings teacher Betsy Stuen-Walker introduced him to the viola at age 10. The Bellingham High School and Seattle Youth Symphony orchestras gave him a solid foundation, and with encouragement from BMC, Colin went on to earn multiple performance and teaching degrees at Oberlin Conservatory and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Fast forward through progressive teaching posts, chamber music programs, and his recent marriage to violinist Josie Davis: Colin now leads elementary-level string instruction and upper-grade orchestra direction for the Waterville School District in Maine. He and Josie devote their summers to the Envision Chamber Music program. Perhaps most satisfying for Colin and Josie, is their musical teamwork in the environmentally-focused Halcyon String Quartet, along with Josie’s sister, violinist Sophie Davis, and cellist Ju-Young Lee.
Which brings us to their gift to you! Colin and his mother, BMC member Kathryn Wheatley, have provided a musical update, in the form of two remarkable Halcyon performances on YouTube! Click on these links and enjoy superb ensemble music-making! Dvořák: String Quartet, Op.12 (the American Quartet), IV: Finale and Piazzola: Oblivion (Tango).
You can be proud that your BMC support has spread through the years and across the country, helping performers and teachers like Colin keep the dream alive for other young musicians!
Halcyon String Quartet: violinists Josie and Sophie Davis, cellist Ju-Young Lee, and violist Colin Wheatley.