Jennifer Kloetzel

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Jennifer Kloetzel, cello
Assistant Professor
Strings Program
jennifer.kloetzel@gmail.com

Office Location: 

Music Building 2323

Website: 

jkcello.com

Specialization: 

Cello
Area Head, Strings Program

Bio: 

A graduate of The Juilliard School and a Fulbright Scholar, cellist Jennifer Kloetzel has concertized throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a soloist and chamber musician. A founding member of the San Francisco-based Cypress String Quartet (1996-2016), Ms. Kloetzel has toured the globe and performed at such renowned venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Chautauqua Institute and the Ravinia Festival, the Lobkowicz Palaces in both Vienna and Prague, as well as prominent colleges and conservatories worldwide.
 
Ms. Kloetzel is noted for her elegant playing and her vibrant tone. She is a sought-after recitalist, performing recent concerts for San Francisco Performances and on WQXR in New York. Strad Magazine hailed, “Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel is impressively passionate…” A fervent champion of new music, she has received the Copland Award for her work with living American Composers and has commissioned and premiered nearly forty works, including five concertos written specifically for her. In the past few seasons, premieres included a Cello Suite by Daniel Asia and a Cello Concerto, “Cloud Atlas” and unaccompanied cello work “Lift,” which were both written for her by MIT composer Elena Ruehr. The San Jose Mercury News proclaimed, “Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel shines in premiere” and called her a “terrific soloist…with a robust and earthy sound.” Ms. Kloetzel has recorded the Ruehr Cello Concerto with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, which was released to critical acclaim in October 2014. “Lift” is the title track of an all-Ruehr disc, released on the Avie label, and was included on Keith Powers’ 13 Best Classical Music Recordings of 2016. Ms. Kloetzel will be the featured cellist on a 2018 Albany Records release of music by Richard Aldag, and will premiere Lee Actor’s Cello Concerto, written for her in 2017. In the 2018-19 season, she will also give world premieres of sonatas written for her by composers Richard Aldag, Joseph Landers and Elena Ruehr.
 
Ms. Kloetzel is winner of The Juilliard School’s top award, the “Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Leadership and Achievement in Music,” and a Presser Music Award, as well as a Fulbright Grant to England. In 2004 she was honored with the McGraw-Hill Companies’ “Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and Community Outreach” in recognition of years of outreach work in schools and community centers.  She has appeared at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota and Aspen Music Festivals, the Britten-Pears School, the Prague Mozart Academy, and performed as cellist of the Cassatt Quartet during the 1995-96 season. From 2003-2009, Ms. Kloetzel taught cello and chamber music at San José State University, where the Cypress String Quartet was Ensemble-in-Residence. She has given master classes at The Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory and at universities throughout the U.S.
 
Growing up near Baltimore, Ms. Kloetzel began her cello studies at age six. Her teachers included Aldo Parisot, William Pleeth, Harvey Shapiro, Stephen Kates and Paula (Virizlay) Skolnick, as well as members of the Juilliard String Quartet, the Amadeus Quartet and the Cleveland Quartet. After performing with pianist André Previn at the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, Ms. Kloetzel was invited to appear as one of his select “Rising Stars” for two seasons at the Caramoor Festival in New York.
 
Ms. Kloetzel has been featured regularly on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and her performances have been broadcast on radio stations from coast to coast. She has recorded 25 CDs including the entire cycle of Beethoven Quartets and Brahms Sextets on the Avie label. She performed as principal cellist of the Concert Artists of Baltimore, the Baltimore Opera and the Juilliard Orchestra under Maestro Kurt Masur. In addition, she is a frequent soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, performing concertos by Beethoven, Bloch, Brahms, Dvořák, Elgar, Haydn, Lalo and Shostakovich.
 
To learn more about Ms. Kloetzel, please visit jkcello.com.

 

Publications: 

Brahms: String Sextets (2017, Avie Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet with Barry Shiffman (viola) and Zuill Bailey (cello)

House of Cards: Season 4 (2016, Varese Sarabande)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet / Jeff Beal, composer

 

Beethoven: The Late String Quartets (2016, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Beethoven: The Early String Quartets, Op. 18 (2016, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Lift: Chamber Music by Elena Ruehr (2015, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Irina Muresanu, violin / Ethan Filner, viola / Sarah Bob, piano

Beethoven: The Middle String Quartets (2014, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet
 

House of Cards: Season 2 (2014, Varese Sarabande)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet / Jeff Beal, composer

Elena Ruehr: O'Keeffe Images (2014, BMOP)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose, conductor
Elena Ruehr: Six String Quartets

Elena Ruehr: Six String Quartets (2018, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet / Borromeo String Quartet / Stephen Salters, baritone

 

Schubert: String Quintet, “Quartettsatz” (2014, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet with Gary Hoffman (cello)

The Winds of Lyon (2013, Monima Music)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / various artists

Dvořák: The Cypresses, String Quartet No. 13, Op. 106 (2013, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

The American Album (2013, AVIE Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

The 15th Anniversary Album (2011, Cypress Performing Arts)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

 

How She Danced: String Quartets of Elena Ruehr (2010, Cypress Performing Arts)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Benjamin Lees: String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 & 6 (2009, NAXOS)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

 

Lori Carsillo: Lullabies for Little Dreamers (2008, Tru Blu Lu Records, LLC)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Lori Carsillo / various artists

Jay Cloidt: Spectral Evidence (2007, Starkland)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Johnny Helm: divide (2006, Johnny Helm Music)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Johnny Helm / various artists

Jennifer Higdon: Piano Trio / Voices / Impressions (2006, NAXOS)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Debussy, Suk & Cotton (2006, Cypress Performing Arts)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Trilogy: Chamber Music of Daniel Asia (2004, Summit Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Michael Franti & Spearhead: Everyone Deserves Music (2003, iMusic)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Michael Franti & Spearhead / various artists

Julia Wolfe: The String Quartets (2003, Cantaloupe Music)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Julia Wolfe / various artists

 

Haydn, Ravel & Schulhoff (2002, Cypress Performing Arts)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Cypress String Quartet

Michael Franti & Spearhead: Stay Human (2001, Six Degrees)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Michael Franti & Spearhead / various artists

Julia Wolfe: Arsenal of Democracy (1996, Polygram Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Julia Wolfe / various artists

Groovelily: Inhabit My Heart (1994, QMR Records)

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello / Groovelily / various artist