About Us
Enchanted String Quartet
6
Julia Frantz
Violin
Julia has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral violinist throughout North America and Europe. A native of Eugene, she is Assistant Principal 2nd Violinist with the Eugene Symphony and is also a member of the Portland Opera Orchestra, Oregon Mozart Players, and a principal player with Orchestra Next. Julia completed her Bachelor of Music at Rice University and her Master of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park. Julia has participated in music festivals throughout the United States and Europe, including the Astoria Music Festival, Sunriver Music Festival, Round Top International Festival-Institute, National Repertory Orchestra, and AIMS Institute in Austria. Equally comfortable outside the realm of classical music, Julia has played fiddle since the age of five and regularly performs with country, rock, and hip hop groups throughout the Northwest. In 2021, she joined acclaimed Eugene-based folk band, Mood Area 52, and as a fiddler, she has shared the stage with country legends Mark O’Connor and Ray Price. Julia maintains a thriving private violin studio and is also the Violin Instructor at Corban University in Salem.
Alwyn Wright
Violin
Alwyn’s career in the entertainment industry began when she was seven years old after being selected with four other ballerinas from Marin County, California to dance in a nationally aired television commercial for Oscar Meyer. The decision to buy a piano with the royalties had a huge impact on Alwyn’s future as a musician. Alwyn loved the piano immediately, and enjoyed playing it throughout her school years, but chose to focus on formally studying the violin as her primary instrument. After achieving notoriety as a promising young violinist in the San Francisco Bay area Alwyn was encouraged to study in Los Angeles, where she received a full scholarship at University of Southern California. While in college, Alwyn began working professionally in the Los Angeles music scene, and before graduating she won positions with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and the Long Beach Symphony. Her television appearances include episodes of CSI New York, the Agency, the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen DeGeneres, Good Morning America, and the Grammy and Academy Awards, and she has appeared on screen in many films, including the Soloist, Get Smart, and the Jonas Brothers Concert Experience. Alwyn has toured Europe, Asia and South America extensively with Josh Groban, Ben Harper, Gnarls Barkley, Kelly Clarkson and the Jonas Brothers and has been the solo violinist along with a cast of 10 figure skaters in “Strings! A World Adventure on Ice”. Alwyn recorded her first solo album, “Passages”, in 2009. Alwyn joyfully moved to Eugene in June of 2019 with her family and is now a member of the Eugene Symphony, the Eugene Concert Choir Orchestra and the founder of the Wright Davies Community Music School.
Kimberlee Uwate
Viola
Giving “performances from the heart” with “matchless precision” (Daniel Buckwalter, Eugene Scene), violist Kimberlee Uwate creates musical experiences rooted in connection, reflection, and growth. As the violist of the Delgani String Quartet, she has been building community in Oregon since 2015 through projects like “How We Remember.” This trifold experience in early 2020 included origami paper-crane-folding community events among Delgani listeners; a commissioned work by composer Elena Ruehr (recording released on Icarus. Avie 2502, 2022); and an immersive concert honoring the children of World War II. Each season, Delgani programs concerts with its audience in mind, continually pushing the edge while deepening connections to music that is both familiar and new. Kim has taught on the faculty of Willamette University and Millikin University; and she works with students through Delgani’s summer String Quartet Academy, Adult Amateur Workshops, Deep-Dive Seminars, and Classical Spark program in third-grade classrooms. With audience-centered programs, she has lectured on a wide range of topics from critical listening skills to the historical context of the string quartet literature. Kim also performs around Oregon in solo recitals and with the Eugene Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival, and Candelight Concerts. She trained at the Manhattan School of Music, University of California at Davis, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kim received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree with the completion of her dissertation, Toward a Business History of the String Quartet: How the String Quartet Became a Career Path in the United States (2019), about American string quartet ensembles and the economic systems that have supported them. She plays a late eighteenth-century viola named Abby.
Kathryn Brunhaver
Cello
Cellist Kathryn Brunhaver currently lives in Eugene, OR where she is a member of the Eugene Symphony and Elsewhere Ensemble. She also performs with microphilharmonic, the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, as well as many other orchestral and chamber music collaborations. Kathryn enjoys exploring innovative ways of playing the cello and has earned a reputation for specializing in new music, which has included premiering works for singing cellist, as well as composing works for herself and others. This interest in new music extends across genres and has led her to join the regionally acclaimed americana band Satori Bob. Kathryn teaches as Artist Associate of Cello at Willamette University and also maintains a large studio of private students in Eugene. She holds a DMA from the University of Oregon, MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and BM from the Peabody Institute.