Carrie Rehkopf has crafted an exciting career blending the best of the worlds of performing and teaching.  An enthusiastic teacher, she has served as the violin professor at Central Washington University in Ellensburg since 1990. Her students are immediately employed upon graduation, and teach across the United States as well as in Hong Kong and Japan.  Former students serve in principal positions of many orchestras, as well as receive awards as outstanding teachers in the public schools, private studios and higher education. In 2004 she received the Outstanding College String Teacher award from the Washington ASTA Chapter.

As first violinist of the Kairos Quartet, she has toured North America over the past 20 years. She founded and was director of the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Institute from 1995-2004, and of the Kairos Chamber Music Lyceum in 2005-6.  Her Kairos colleague Tim Betts continues as director of the Kairos Lyceum and the quartet serves as faculty. Ms. Rehkopf has also performed on chamber music concerts at the Tanglewood, Banff and Norfolk festivals. 

In addition to numerous solo recitals and concerto performances with youth orchestras and the CWU Symphony Orchestra, she has soloed with the Everett  Symphony and Philharmonic, and the Olympia, Wenatchee, Yakima, Southwest Washington and Lake Sammamish Symphonies. She especially enjoyed having a flash mob join her on the cadenza of Mozart's G Major Concerto in Everett!  She gave the world premiere of Maria Newman's violin concerto, which she subsequently recorded at Capitol Records. 

Before her position in higher education Ms. Rehkopf performed with various professional orchestras, including serving as Associate Principal Second of the Honolulu Symphony. Professor Rehkopf began violin at age 4 in the Suzuki Method, and had a week of lessons with Dr. Suzuki in 1976. She received her degrees from University of Michigan on a full tuition scholarship, studying with Camilla Wicks.  She studied further in London with David Takeno. 

She and her cellist husband John Michel have three rambunctious boys. Despite possessing a variety of other interests, these poor children were also forced to practice their stringed instruments.  They can now read Beethoven quartets with their unrepentant parents.