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SPA students receive full scholarships to participate in the intensive summer chamber music and solo performance program focused on cultural diversity for young string musicians.

You may not be familiar with the (SPA), but know this: It has changed the lives of thousands of underrepresented young musicians over the past 25 years. 

One of them was a double-bass player from Brazil named Patricia Weitzel. Why mention her? Because she’s in charge of the SPA as the intensive summer chamber music and solo performance program continues its first-time residency at the CU ��«����Ƶ College of Music—a headline-making visit made possible thanks to the recommendation of another Sphinx musician, Alex Gonzalez. 

College of Music Assistant Professor of Violin Alex Gonzalez.

He’s part of a six-member SPA faculty leading the CU ��«����Ƶ residency through July 2. “I instigated ��«����Ƶ’s involvement,” says Gonzalez, who’s also assistant professor of violin at our College of Music. And so, 22 students—ages 11 to 17, chosen through a rigorous video process from among hundreds of nationwide applicants—are here on full scholarship, spending nearly every waking hour in private lessons, career enrichment and mentorship sessions, as well as master classes with College of Music faculty members.

SPA Dean of Faculty and Artistic Affairs Patricia Weitzel (��«����Ƶ).

For Weitzel, who serves as SPA dean of faculty and artistic affairs, there was something magnetic about classical music and her journey to Sphinx was one of serendipity: Years ago, she accepted an offer to study at an admission-free conservatory in Brasilia which eventually led her to enter a Sphinx-sponsored competition in 2007. “I was a semi-finalist,” she recalls, “But that was enough to allow me to join the Sphinx family.” Since then, she has taught bass around the country and performed across the globe.