Welcome to the Cobb Symphony Orchestra (CSO)

2009-2010 GYSO Guest Artists Previous Seasons
Charae Krueger, cello
Judy Cole, piano
Brett Bawcum, composer

Charae Krueger received her training in cello studies at the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied with Laurence Lesser and Colin Carr and received a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance. She also holds an Artist Diploma from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. Ms. Krueger received her chamber music training with Eugene Lehner of the Kolisch Quartet, as well as with Robert Mann and Samuel Rhodes of the Juilliard String Quartet. She has also coached with such artists as Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio, Louis Krasner, Felix Galimir and Leon Kirchner. She has played in masterclasses with Aldo Parisot, Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Banff School for the Arts.

Since moving to Atlanta five years ago, Ms. Krueger has been appointed principal cellist of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. She also performs frequently with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee, where she will be featured as soloist this season. She enjoys playing chamber music with various ensembles throughout the city, performing with the Amadeus String Ensemble, the Musica Da Camera, the Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the Lyra String Quartet. Ms. Krueger was recently appointed cello professor at Kennesaw State University and is a member of the faculty string quartet in residence there as well.

While living in Boston, Ms. Krueger was principal cellist for ten years with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and also performed with the Vermont Symphony, Nashua NH Symphony and the New England Chamber Orchestra. She was a founding member of the Arden String Quartet, a nationally managed group who, in 1996, succeeded the Borromeo and Ying Quartets by receiving the Arthur W. Foote Emerging Artist award. The Quartet was formed under the sponsorship of the Longy School of Music, where they were in residence from 1993-1996. As a member of the Arden Quartet, Ms. Krueger performed up and down the eastern U.S., playing in such venues as Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Rockefeller University, Brown University, the Seaside Institute, MIT, Harvard Musical Association, Tufts University and NEC's Jordan Hall. She has given U.S. premieres of works by Elliot Carter, Gunther Schuller, Herschel Garfein, Victor Ullman and Alexander Mnatsekanyan. She has also enjoyed playing chamber music in such groups as the Boccherini Ensemble, Trillium (a flute-oboe-cello trio) and the Speakeasy String Quartet (a jazz string quartet).

Ms. Krueger plays on a cello made by Abraham Prescott in Concord, N.H. in 1830.

Judy Cole is considered by local area colleagues to be one of the most versatile pianists and accompanists in the Atlanta commercial music scene. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying with Marvin Blickenstaff. After taking a year off from school, during which she toured the United States playing in a show band, she was invited to attend the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she earned her Master of Music degree in Accompanying, with a concentration in Musical Theatre and Chamber Music. Her teachers included Olga Radosavlovich at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Dr. Robert Evans, Babbette Effron and Dr. Kelly Hale at CCM.

Judy has worked professionally and made a successful career over the last 30 years as a free-lance pianist and commercial musician playing in a variety of settings. To quote J. Lynn Thompson, founding Artistic Director of the Atlanta Lyric Opera, “Judy Cole is one of those rare artists who can move effortlessly between styles ranging from opera to Broadway, jazz to rock and roll. She is a conductor’s and singer’s dream of a pianist.” Judy has been featured on numerous recordings both as an accompanist and as a soloist, including her own CD “By Request”, and has two solo recordings in process at this time.

In addition to local performances, Judy travels routinely to accompany classical, instrumental, vocal, and religious Jewish music concerts throughout the US where she is known for her ability to arrive, rehearse and perform demanding concert material all within a space of several hours. She has collaborated with many of the top Cantors and musicians in the Jewish music world, including Naftali Herstik, Asher Hainovitz, Simon Sargon, Bonia Shur, Michael Isaacson, and Debbie Friedman.
Previously an accompanist and Advanced Placement Theory teacher at Pebblebrook High School’s Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts, Judy is now an Adjunct Professor of Music Theory and History at Kennesaw State University. In addition to teaching academic classes, Judy accompanies for recitals and workshop classes. She is the staff accompanist for both The Temple in Atlanta and Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell, and is the Holy Day Conductor at Temple Emanu-el in Dunwoody. She is still an active commercial musician, playing both as a soloist and as a keyboardist/vocalist with the Alan Knieter Entertainment Group. She is a Mom to daughters Katy and Rebekah, and now son-in-law Richard, and is very happily married to Cantor Herb Cole.