In Memoriam
Charles “Chas” Wetherbee
July 14, 1966 - January 9, 2023

On January 9, 2023 we said goodbye to our beloved colleague and friend Chas Wetherbee. Surrounded by love, Chas passed from this earthly stage to the great venue beyond the veil after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was 56.

Always a champion for new music, Chas commissioned, recorded, and advocated future performances of countless new works by living composers. As a soloist, Chas presented the world premieres of the Violin Concerto and the Double Concerto for Violin and Viola by Jonathan Leshnoff and "The Storyteller" Violin Concerto by Korine Fujiwara. He performed with orchestras throughout the world, including the National Symphony, the Kyoto Symphony, the Japan Philharmonic, the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Columbia, Orquesta de Extremadura, IRIS Chamber Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, and the Buffalo Philharmonic. He also served as concertmaster of the Boulder Philharmonic and the Columbus Symphony, and as Principal Second Violin of the National Symphony Orchestra. As a recording artist, he was represented on Naxos, Seize the Music Records, Weasel Records, Vienna Modern Classics, Cascade, MSR Classics, and Albany Records. Chas was Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. A native of Buffalo, Chas studied with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music.

It was about 28 years ago that I sat down and informally read chamber music with Charles Wetherbee, who had been recently appointed Concertmaster of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. That impromptu gathering changed the trajectory of my entire life. From those first few shared harmonies we instantly became chamber music buddies, and the rest was history, as they say. Early collaborations at the MidAmerica Chamber Music Institute in Delaware, Ohio, the Marble Cliff Chamber Players in Columbus, and the Duvall Ensemble concerts at Ohio Wesleyan University allowed our chamber music partnership to further flourish.  Together, we created the Carpe Diem String Quartet - "Forward, in all directions" - an ensemble born of big, wild ideas, fearlessness, enthusiasm, crazy dreams, spitballing, hard work, late nights, a whole lot of grant writing, strength, faith, perseverance, and relentlessly never giving up, no matter what happened.

We held many years of long and wonderfully productive rehearsals, tears mixed with laughter and sometimes laughter through tears - but always, always so much laughter - buoyed with copious amounts of chocolate. We relished the wonderful honesty, collegiality and complex yet beautiful friendships which led to the magical mind-meld and camaraderie of sharing the stage together over the years.

Charles, or Chas as we called him, was my best and most trusted friend, co-conspirator, long-time collaborator, creative partner, geocaching-streak-enabler, the fabulous first violinist of the Carpe Diem, a devoted husband and father, and a beautiful example of all that is good in the world. Through mutual trust, honesty, positivity, and encouragement Chas gave me courage to speak my mind, my heart, my voice, and my truth through music as performer and composer.

For those of you who also have had the great honor and pleasure to work, rehearse, share a meal, or a laugh with Charles, you can attest to his optimism, honest sincerity and generosity, the gracious welcoming light of his smile, and the unpretentiousness of his personality. He held himself, his colleagues, and his students to the highest standards. He was demanding, yet patient and encouraging, and he led by example, inspiring, building confidence, and bringing out the best in everyone. The impact he made both inside and outside of the music community has left a lasting legacy.

Chas embodied all things "Carpe Diem." He truly lived in and relished "The Moment," always appreciating the beauty of that which is "now" and embodying that spirit for so many wonderful years, inspiring all of us to look closer, and to live that way, too.

We are all better people, our lives are all richer, having known him. And oh, how we will miss him.

When Chas was first diagnosed five years ago, he and I started having serious conversations about the future of the quartet.  These conversations continued in earnest as Chas was facing additional health challenges this past season. As the two founders, we both thought that CDSQ had the potential to outlive both of us, and hoped that it would. 

The four of us met in Colorado in December 2022 while Chas was still alive. We all decided together that all four of us wanted the quartet to continue into the future. We hope to complete all of our projects, including our 15 for 15 commission performances, recordings, and concerts that were postponed during the last two seasons.  We also want to continue our Columbus series and community work and hopefully restore our touring season.

All this to say…we will begin a search for a new member when the timing is right, and those discussions will start in February.  We three surviving members of CDSQ (those words are hard to write) will soon be meeting in Columbus to talk about planning our way forward.  

We haven’t made firm decisions yet about our two concerts in April.  This will also be a part of our conversations.  We’ll also discuss how to honor Chas’ life and legacy in our Columbus community, and we welcome your thoughts about that, too.  

Chas was one-of-a-kind. It breaks my heart that he is gone and won’t be with us at our next concert, whenever that will be, but please know that it was his wish (and ours) that we keep going. And so, we will.

It is my sincere hope that you will help support us as we begin to explore moving ahead.

Korine Fujiwara, on behalf of CDSQ
Co-Executive Director & Violist, Carpe Diem String Quartet