Arborio DUo

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The Arborio Duo was co-founded in 2023 by violinist, Colleen Jennings and pianist, Sophie Lippert. The two met in Amherst, MA and connected over their shared studies at Rice University, and their passion for researching and performing works by underexposed composers, especially women. These two things together were the inspiration for the name of their duo. Their duo provides an Arbor for these works to come out of the shadows and into the light of the concert stage. The carefully curated programs the two create bring context for these works to reach their audiences in a direct and meaningful way. They perform regularly in New England and champion works by such composers as Amanda Maier, Ethyl Smyth, Germaine Tailleferre, Grażyna Bacewitz and Elisenda Fabregas to name a few.

 Violinist, Colleen Jennings was formerly an Artist in Residence and Co-Artistic Director at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music and second violinist in the Apple Hill String Quartet. During the regular concert season, in conjunction with Apple Hill’s Playing for Peace program, the Quartet performed concerts and conducted residencies locally in New Hampshire, nationally in major U.S. cities, and internationally around the globe. They performed in venues as diverse as the Ketermaya refugee camp outside of Beirut, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in Lima, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and UCLA in California. The quartet made two recordings which featured works by living composers, Meredith Monk, Philip Glass, premieres by contemporaries and fellow Oberlin alumni, Dana Lyn and Geoff Hudson, forgotten works by Pavel Haas and Ahmet Adnun Saygun, and classics by Haydn and Purcell. In recognition of their work, the organization won the 2016 CMAcclaim award from Chamber Music America.

Prior to this appointment, she was a member of the Kammerorchester Basel in Switzerland under the direction of Christopher Hogwood and toured extensively throughout Western Europe. Also while in Switzerland, she co-founded the Ex Luce Ensemble, with the early music soprano, Ana Arnaz. The group seeks to bridge early, contemporary and traditional music in its varied programs and has performed on concert series in France, Spain, Germany, and the USA. More recently, Colleen co-founded the Arborio Duo with pianist, Sophie Lippert. The group has toured New England since their founding in 2023 creating curated programs showcasing the great wealth of music written for Violin and Piano by underrepresented composers, largely female.

Colleen currently teaches violin and coaches chamber music at the University of Massachusetts and at Greenwood Music Camp. She also teaches privately and runs a chamber music class from her home studio, Up! Music. Her teaching uses the Alexander Technique as a foundation to help students understand their innate sense of kinesthesia which leads to more effortless technique, resonant sound and optimal listening potential. Colleen holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Rice University and from the Schweizerischer Musikpädagogischer Verband in Basel, Switzerland. Her principal teachers include Sergiu Luca, Marilyn McDonald and Antonio Pellegrini.