Jeri Jorgensen

Violinist Jerilyn Jorgensen is a member of the performance faculty of Colorado College and has been adjunct faculty in violin and chamber music at the Lamont School of Music of the University of Denver. From 1980-2004 she was first violinist of the Da Vinci Quartet, and as a member of that ensemble she has performed throughout the United States, been a prizewinner in the Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition and finalist in the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition, and appeared on PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Her recordings appear on the Naxos label. Her performances with the quartet have been praised as “…abundant in feeling and fire” (Milwaukee Journal), “taut, confident playing, brimming with thrust and color” (Los Angeles Times), and as exhibiting “ease, authority, and thoroughgoing excellence” (San Francisco Chronicle).

Concerts from 2014-2017 included the complete Beethoven Sonatas in Colorado Springs and Denver with pianist Cullan Bryant, as well as appearances in New Mexico, Potsdam, NY, Boston, and elsewhere in Colorado. As a performer of historically informed concerts on original instruments, she has appeared with Mr. Bryant at the Frederick Collection of Historic Pianos in Ashburnham, MA and at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. She and Mr. Bryant are currently at work recording the complete Beethoven sonata on period instruments at the Frederick Collection.

Ms. Jorgensen has given master classes in violin and chamber music at the University of California at Davis, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Sam Houston State University, Kansas State University, Simon’s Rock College, the University of Northern Colorado, and Colorado State University. She is in demand as a pre-college teacher, counting among her present and past students several winners of regional competitions, including the MTNA senior string competition. She is on the faculty of the Lamont Pre-College Academy summer program and is the Artistic Development Coordinator for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association, where her responsibilities have included curriculum design and teacher training for the Mozart Strings Project and sectional coaching and coaching oversight for four orchestras. She is currently director of chamber music for the organization, managing coaching and community performances throughout the year for student chamber ensembles. From January through May 2018 she served as visiting associate professor of violin at the State University of New York in Potsdam, NY.

Ms. Jorgensen holds bachelor of music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, and a master of music degree from Juilliard. Her major teachers have included Zvi Zeitlin, Joseph Fuchs, and Leonard Sorkin. She has also worked with Burton Kaplan. Ms. Jorgensen plays a beautiful violin from 1728 made by Sanctus Serafin.