Teiber Trio Biography | Regino Madrid | Charlie Powers | Derek Smith

Charlie Powers is an accomplished soloist, chamber musician, orchestral cellist, educator, and arts administrator. Since making his solo debut at age 17 with the Tacoma (WA) Youth Symphony, he has appeared as soloist with the Capital Area Youth Symphony in Olympia, WA, the Federal Way (WA) Philharmonic, the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, and the U.S. Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra. He became a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra in Washington, D.C. in 2005.

As a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow, Charlie Powers received the 2005 Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Award. He also served as principal of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra under James Levine, and he was selected by audition to perform in the cello section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a concert conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos. As a member of the Boston Philharmonic from 1999-2005 under Benjamin Zander, Mr. Powers performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston, and Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. In 2003 Mr. Zander invited him to join the cello section of the NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on their concert tour of Guatemala and Panama. He has held titled positions in the Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston, the Fidelio Chamber Orchestra in Boston, and the All-Northwest Symphony Orchestra in Spokane, Washington. Mr. Powers has performed under several other notable conductors including Sergiu Comissiona, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and Gunther Schuller.

In 2000, he was a winner of the International Master Class Competition and as a result participated in a master class at the third World Cello Congress in Baltimore. A first prize winner in the 1995 Washington State Solo Contest, he has been featured on KING-FM radio in Seattle, Kaohsiung Radio in Taiwan, and KOHO-FM radio in Leavenworth, Washington.

An experienced chamber musician, Mr. Powers has participated in several festivals including Tanglewood, Banff, Aria, Heifetz, and Icicle Creek. In addition to being a founding member of the Teiber String Trio and Triptych, a piano trio based in the Washington, D.C. area, he regularly appears with members of the National Symphony and National Opera Orchestras. Chamber music coaches have included Pamela Frank, Camilla Wicks, Laurence Lesser, David Perry, Lorand Fenyves, and members of the Cleveland, American, Juilliard, Concord, and Borromeo String Quartets.

In addition to his performing career, Mr. Powers maintains a private teaching studio. He has served on the faculties of the Evergreen Music Festival in Olympia, Washington, and the Central Washington University Preparatory School in Ellensburg, Washington. He is on the faculty of the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in Washington, D.C. and also teaches beginning strings classes in Alexandria, VA as a member of “A Joyful Noise.”

A native of Tacoma, Washington, Charlie Powers began his cello studies at age three with Jeanette Chapman, and later studied with John Michel at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music with Distinction in Performance. At N.E.C. he studied with Colin Carr and David Wells, and later pursued graduate studies with Natasha Brofsky. He served as principal of the N.E.C. Honors Orchestra as well as the school’s Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. As a student Mr. Powers participated in master classes with such notable cellists as Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, David Geringas, Paul Katz, Timothy Eddy, Stephen Geber, and Emilio Colon. Other influential teachers included Richard Aaron, Mihai Tetel, and Denis Brott.

As an arts administrator, Mr. Powers was Audience Services Manager from 2001-2005 for New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, one of the world’s finest concert halls. He currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife, soprano Anastasia Robinson.