What do Respighi, Rutter, Vivaldi, Bloch and La La Land pieces have in common? In addition to the obvious musicality and composition, these composers were featured in the CMU Orchestra’s Fall Strings Concert. 

Assistant Professor of music in upper strings Brian Krinke conducted the strings orchestra through pieces by these composers in the concert on Oct. 13. 

“I hadn’t realized Respighi wrote string pieces,” Krinke said. “I knew he had lots of choral pieces, but I just found this strings piece he wrote, so I had to use it.”

Students majoring in music fields at CMU, as well as students who simply have a passion for music performance, played in the concert. Violin major and First Chair in the strings orchestra Violet Spang has played since she was three years old, and has loved doing so ever since. 

“My favorite piece has to be the one we are doing with Kelly Latshaw,” Spang said. 

On the night of the concert, crowds from around Grand Junction gathered in Asteria Theatre. As many listened, the final pieces were performed with solos from the Principal Flutist in the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra Kelly Latshaw. 

Krinke has been teaching orchestra at CMU for nine years now, and has seen the program grow exponentially since his start. 

“The string orchestra has grown from six to 36 students, ” Krinke said. 

This past spring, the symphony orchestra had the chance to play at the Colorado Music Educators Association at The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs. The strings orchestra was also recently featured in the CMU “String Day” which is a string instrument workshop that happens each fall. 

Krinke has been known for his hard work in developing not only CMU’s orchestra programs, but also the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra (GJSO). 

Krinke is the Concert Master of CMU’s Orchestra, and plays a crucial role in the their success. He has devoted himself to teaching all ages, from grade school to collegiate level, through his free tutoring sessions.