Cellist Rebecca Hartka brings joy, stylistic versatility and passion for cross cultural connection to the art of music making. With playing described by the Hanoi Times as “… magical and eloquent” she has performed in venues throughout the United States with international appearances in Cuba, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, Vietnam and Thailand.

Specializing in repertoire and collaborations that cross cultures, Hartka’s ensemble Duo Mundo (with Grammy nominated guitarist and composer Jose Lezcano), performed recently with indigenous Quechua Ecuadorian musician Inti Cachimuel at the Nubanusit Community in Peterborough, NH. In 2019 and 2020 the Duo toured in Yucatán Mexico, which included a performance at Centro Cultural La Cúpula in Merida, as well as collaborations with indigenous Mayan Musicians.

In 2017 the duo travelled to Havana, Cuba where she performed and gave master classes as a guest artist at the Cello Festival of Havana. She also donated instruments and supplies to young musicians. Their 2017 recording Colors Couleurs Colores Cores (Becsta records) with pianist Barbara Lysakowski “displays a high degree of heart and total control” (Michael Johnson). D. Moore of American Record Guide stated that “Hartka and Lezcano play off against each other in a subtle but effective unity of rubato relationships that brings off the sonatas with a personality that catches the ears and holds them”. The duo also appeared at the Mariposa Museum for Art and Culture, Saugerties Pro Musica and on the Tedx stage among other venues.

As a solo recitalist Hartka collaborates primarily with pianist Barbara Lysakowski in Duo Déjàvu where she has explored authentic interpretations of Belle Époque French music at the Frederick Historical Piano Collection Concert Series informed by period instruments such as Erard and Bluthner piano. The duo pushes the boundary of performance in their 2020 video recording of the Frank Bridge Sonata written during the First World War. They include images of the war and the Spanish Flu pandemic as well as roses on their instruments as a statement of compassion for the lives lost during COVID. The duo has given recitals for over a decade in venues throughout New England including Bass Hall Concerts; the French Cultural Center of Boston; the Dweck Center, among others.

Hartka began the Cellomedicine project during the 2020 COVID pandemic, with the intention of honoring the capacity of music to deepen our relationship with our non-human relations, and to create a sense of ceremony and community connection more mindfully. In May 2023 she presented Resonating with Nature with her husband Glass Artist Wesley Fleming at the Glass Biennale in Denizli, Turkey, performing looped and improvised compositions. In her 2022 Water Honoring project she has improvised for bodies of water around New England, raising money for the CRC, Connecticut (Quinetucket) River Conservancy as well as the Schagticoke First Nations Land Restoration Project. She has collaborated in sound healing events with yoga instructors Carolyn Little, and with acupuncturist Consuelo Casarotto, among others. Hartka composes solo cello pieces that she plays in contexts where the intention is nature honoring, ceremony, cross cultural bridging and healing.

In 2014 Hartka released her second CD Light & Shadow: Sonatas of Rachmaninov and Poulenc with pianist Alys Terrien-Queen. According to the Boston Musical Intelligencer they ” take this rich Russian music to new heights”, stating that their performance “ranks comfortably alongside several impressive readings by other major cellists.” Hartka released her debut CD Folkfire with pianist Azusa Komiyama in October 2010, receiving critical acclaim as well as radio play on both WFCR and WAMC Performance Place. The Daily Hampshire Gazette remarked of the CD that Hartka “emotes a passion worthy of a symphony orchestra” while the Greenfield Recorder praised her for having “a passion for precision that never imposes itself upon the music”. Hartka was the recipient of the 1993 Henriette Reiss Award for Outstanding Artistic Merit.

Hartka continues to enjoy being guest artist with a variety of ensembles large and small. Entrepreneurial and adventurous, Hartka founded and toured with a number of chamber ensembles including the Reve d’Amour Ensemble; the Wistaria Quartet; Trio Lumiere and the Phoenix Trio. Other notable collaborations have been with the Portland String Quartet in 2023, soprano Maria Ferrente, violist Michelle Lacourse, violinist Colleen Jennings and the Slapin-Solomon viola duo, and with clarinetist Julianne Kirk Doyle and the Eastman Trianna. In 2007 she explored Baroque cello with violinist Carrie Krause of Apollo’s Fire, and was a guest artist in a concert tour with the Meritage Quartet across Montana in 2007. She founded and acted as artistic director of the Valley Classics Concert series from 2011-2013, receiving critical acclaim for her unique programming, set in the casual atmosphere of the Arts Block in Greenfield, MA. As an orchestral musician Hartka has played with the Springfield Symphony and the Berkshire Choral Society, among others. From 2007-2009 she was the assistant principal for the Bozeman Symphony and the Intermountain Opera Company.

Hartka has been an educator for twenty years, facilitating embodied technical excellence, individual expression and depth of musical knowledge in her students. She is on the faculty of the Osher School of Music at the University of Southern Maine and the All Newton Music School in Newton, MA and has served as an adjunct professor at Keene State College in Keene, NH and Montana State University. Hartka completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Cello performance at Boston University College of Fine Arts (BU CFA) in May 2007, as a four-year recipient of the Deans Scholar Award, and an elected member of Phi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honors Society. Hartka completed a Masters in Music at BU CFA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Cello Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory and College. Hartka’s teachers have included Leslie Parnas, Michael Reynolds, Rhonda Rider, Clive Greensmith, Andor Toth, Peter Rejto, Douglas Moore and Justin Kagan.

Shorter bio

Cellist Rebecca Hartka brings joy, stylistic diversity and skill to audiences throughout the United States and internationally in Italy, Cuba, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico and Thailand. With playing described by the Hanoi Times as “magical and eloquent” her passion for cross cultural connection recently brought her into collaboration with Curi Cachimuel, a Quechua indigenous musician and composer from Otavalo, Ecuador as well as Mayan musicians in the Yucatán Mexico, and an appearance on the Tedx stage. She has performed solo recitals at venues such as Saugerties Pro Musica; the Frederick Historical Piano Collection Concert Series; the French Cultural Center of Boston; the Dweck Center, among others.

Hartka has released three CDs on Becsta Records. Her 2017 Colors Couleurs Colores Cores (Becsta records) “displays a high degree of heart and total control” (Michael Johnson) was recorded with Guitarist Jose Lezcano and pianist Barbara Lysakowski. In 2014 she released her second CD Light & Shadow: Sonatas of Rachmaninov and Poulenc with pianist Alys Terrien-Queen. According to the Boston Musical Intelligencer they “take this rich Russian music to new heights”, stating that their performance “ranks comfortably alongside several impressive readings by other major cellists.” Hartka released her debut CD Folkfire with pianist Azusa Komiyama in October 2010, receiving critical acclaim as well as radio play on both WFCR and WAMC Performance Place. The Daily Hampshire Gazette remarked of the CD that Hartka “emotes a passion worthy of a symphony orchestra” while the Greenfield Recorder praised her for having “a passion for precision that never imposes itself upon the music”. She was the recipient of the 1993 Henriette Reiss Award for Outstanding Artistic Merit.

Hartka completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello performance at Boston University College of Fine Arts in May 2007, as a four-year recipient of the Deans Scholar Award, and an elected member of Phi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honors Society. Hartka also completed a Masters in Music at BU CFA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Cello Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory and College. Hartka’s teachers have included Leslie Parnas, Michael Reynolds, Rhonda Rider, Clive Greensmith, Andor Toth, Peter Rejto, Douglas Moore and Justin Kagan

Very short bio

Cellist Rebecca Hartka is celebrated for her stylistic versatility and passion for cross- cultural connection. With performances described as “magical and eloquent” by the Hanoi Times, she has appeared across the U.S. and in Turkey, Cuba, Italy, Mexico and Vietnam. Recent highlights collaborations include with indigenous musicians like Curi Cachimuel from Ecuador and appearances on the TEDx stage.

She frequently performs in New England and New York with guitarist Jose Lezcano and pianist Barbara Lysakowski at prestigious venues like the Mariposa Museum for Art and Culture and the French Cultural Center of Boston. Hartka has released three CDs to critical acclaim, the latest of which, “Colors Couleurs Colores Cores,” was praised for its “high degree of heart and total control.” A dedicated educator, she is a faculty member at the University of Southern Maine and the All Newton Music School in Massachusetts and has previously taught at Keene State College and Montana State University.

Cellomedicine