Cynthia 'Chelle Clarambeau Reed

1961 -  

'Chelle Reed, violinist, has performed extensively as a soloist and ensemble participant and taught lessons for over 35 years. She has also pursued a career as a leader and therapist in helping others with behavioral problems.

'Chelle was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, one of two children adopted by Lyle and Florence Bernhardt Clarambeau. She was raised in a home where music was a central part of life, her mother being a piano teacher at several Seventh-day Adventist academies and colleges. She started violin lessons at age four and began teaching lessons at age fourteen.

'Chelle was involved in music ensembles throughout her grade school years and at Blue Mountain Academy in Pennsylvania, where she graduated in 1979. That fall she enrolled at Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University, as a music major and then later transferred to Union College in Nebraska, where she continued her work on a music degree. She was inspired in her music studies by teachers Robert Walters, Edith Gates, and Glenda Bailey. Although she did not complete a degree at that time, she has recently begun the process of resuming study and completing it.

An accomplished performer from her earliest years, 'Chelle was the recipient of many awards and scholarships. Today she maintains a private studio, is a frequent soloist, is a member of the Henderson Symphony Orchestra in Nevada, and is principal violinist in a string quartet, Grace Notes, that she started. A number of her students have also received recognition and awards for their playing.

She has worked as a therapist in the area of chemical dependency and domestic violence and has done public speaking at conferences about working with these behavioral challenges. She is also founder and president of McReed Ministries, a homelessness and recovery service.

She works full-time in a unique program for prison and jail inmates, many of whom have little if any hope in their lives. Angela O'Callaghan, Ph.D., of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, an Area Specialist in Social Horticulture, recently talked about the work she and 'Chelle do and her discovery that she was also a musician:

Most of the time, I work with 'Chelle in an innovative horticulture program for prison and jail inmates. How extraordinary she is in that coordinator capacity - making sure that our students obtain the highest level of training that we can offer. When I learned that she played the violin, I was astonished even before I had the opportunity to hear her play. As a musician myself, I am delighted to see that not only is she technically gifted (terrifically so) but she pours as much of her generous spirit into the music as she does into her work with human beings.

In 1988 she married Brad Reed, a musician and recording engineer who owns Heavenly View Music and Recording Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada. Most recently he recorded and produced a CD, Strength for Today . . . Hope for Tomorrow, featuring her as violin soloist. It features traditional hymns chosen by her and arranged by her accompanist, Nelson Hall, within the context of well known classical piano works such as Clair de Lune and the Moonlight Sonata.

ds/2011

Source: Information provided by 'Chelle Clarambeau Reed, May 2011; CD liner on Strength for Today . . . Hope for Tomorrow.