Biography
November 12,- 1961 - January 20, 2023
Michaela Paetsch’s playing has been described as “gloriously charged…beguilingly velvety” (The Strad). Her captivating artistry was celebrated for the soaring vitality and the personal commitment she showed her audiences. She grew up in a musical family on a mountain in Colorado Springs. “Making music and performing with my family chamber ensemble was the most important part of my development as a performing artist,” Michaela said. “I grew as a soloist as well as a chamber musician. These experiences set me up for life! This family chamber ensemble still exists – in extended form, and has performed in Colorado as well as in Europe.”
Michaela garnered international attention and numerous awards, including first prize in the G.B. Dealey International Competition, a bronze medal in the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, and the prize for the Russian Composition by Juri Falik at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Michaela performed as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in the major musical centers of the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall, and the Library of Congress (in Washington, D.C.). She played in major music festivals such as Marlboro (Vermont), Davos (Switzerland), Brandenburg Summer Concerts (Berlin), Banff (Canada), Boulder Bach Festival, “Mostly Mozart” in New York, the Rhein-Sieg and the Niederrhein Chamber Music Festivals (both in Germany).
She collaborated with major orchestras throughout the world, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Japan), the Philharmonics of Osaka (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Liége (Belgium) and Bergen (Norway); the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the BBC Symphony, among others. She collaborated with conductors such as Kent Nagano, Dmitri Kitajenko, Horst Stein, and Myung-Whun Chung.
Her extensive discography began with the 1987 recording of the 24 Caprices by Niccolo Paganini for TELDEC, making her the first female performer to record the complete work. Die Zeit, a German newspaper, described the disc as a “sensation in the history of record-making.” Her TUDOR discs of the two violin Concertos by Joachim Raff with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and the Sonatillen, Op. 99 and Morceaux, Op. 85 with Eric Le Van on piano, enjoyed great critical acclaim. Other discs for TUDOR include “Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances” and “La Capricieuse”. Michaela was the featured soloist with the Bern Symphony Orchestra on the live recording of the “Offertorium” by Sofia Gubaidulina. She has also worked for Sony Classical, Arte Nova, cpo, and ARSIS.
Michaela began her musical studies at the age of three with her parents. At thirteen she participated in the Meadowmount School of Music with Ivan Galamian. She spent her college years with Szymon Goldberg at the Yale School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music.
Michaela made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Colorado Springs Symphony (now the Colorado Springs Philharmonic) performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto in e-minor. In addition to subsequent performances with the Colorado Springs Symphony, she performed as soloist with orchestras through out Colorado including the Denver Symphony (now the Colorado Symphony Orchestra), the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, the Pueblo Symphony, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
Michaela played a beautiful Gaetano Pasta violin made 1704. “This violin reminds me of the childhood instrument my father found in Pueblo, Colorado,” Michaela said. “I fell in love with it at first sight (and sound!). The name Pasta is a special one. I cherish its dark sensuous beauty and amazing variety of colors – it reacts so well in all conditions.”
Michaela resided in Ligerz, Switzerland, and traveled frequently to her native Colorado. She is survived by her husband, Klaus Neftel and her daughter, Nora Lune Neftel.
Michaela's Wikipedia Page
Find a Grave Memorial
Michaela garnered international attention and numerous awards, including first prize in the G.B. Dealey International Competition, a bronze medal in the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, and the prize for the Russian Composition by Juri Falik at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Michaela performed as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in the major musical centers of the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall, and the Library of Congress (in Washington, D.C.). She played in major music festivals such as Marlboro (Vermont), Davos (Switzerland), Brandenburg Summer Concerts (Berlin), Banff (Canada), Boulder Bach Festival, “Mostly Mozart” in New York, the Rhein-Sieg and the Niederrhein Chamber Music Festivals (both in Germany).
She collaborated with major orchestras throughout the world, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Japan), the Philharmonics of Osaka (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Liége (Belgium) and Bergen (Norway); the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the BBC Symphony, among others. She collaborated with conductors such as Kent Nagano, Dmitri Kitajenko, Horst Stein, and Myung-Whun Chung.
Her extensive discography began with the 1987 recording of the 24 Caprices by Niccolo Paganini for TELDEC, making her the first female performer to record the complete work. Die Zeit, a German newspaper, described the disc as a “sensation in the history of record-making.” Her TUDOR discs of the two violin Concertos by Joachim Raff with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and the Sonatillen, Op. 99 and Morceaux, Op. 85 with Eric Le Van on piano, enjoyed great critical acclaim. Other discs for TUDOR include “Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances” and “La Capricieuse”. Michaela was the featured soloist with the Bern Symphony Orchestra on the live recording of the “Offertorium” by Sofia Gubaidulina. She has also worked for Sony Classical, Arte Nova, cpo, and ARSIS.
Michaela began her musical studies at the age of three with her parents. At thirteen she participated in the Meadowmount School of Music with Ivan Galamian. She spent her college years with Szymon Goldberg at the Yale School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music.
Michaela made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Colorado Springs Symphony (now the Colorado Springs Philharmonic) performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto in e-minor. In addition to subsequent performances with the Colorado Springs Symphony, she performed as soloist with orchestras through out Colorado including the Denver Symphony (now the Colorado Symphony Orchestra), the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, the Pueblo Symphony, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
Michaela played a beautiful Gaetano Pasta violin made 1704. “This violin reminds me of the childhood instrument my father found in Pueblo, Colorado,” Michaela said. “I fell in love with it at first sight (and sound!). The name Pasta is a special one. I cherish its dark sensuous beauty and amazing variety of colors – it reacts so well in all conditions.”
Michaela resided in Ligerz, Switzerland, and traveled frequently to her native Colorado. She is survived by her husband, Klaus Neftel and her daughter, Nora Lune Neftel.
Michaela's Wikipedia Page
Find a Grave Memorial