Rebecca McFaul, Violin

Violinist Rebecca McFaul has been praised for her “freedom” and “brilliance” (New York Concert Review), crafting performances that “glide through with a dancer’s grace” (Charlotte Observer). As a founding member of the Fry Street Quartet, Rebecca has devoted her career to chamber music, collaborating with many of today’s leading musicians and composers. The string quartet’s rich repertoire, range of expression, and unique connection with audiences have been central to her artistic journey.

Rebecca’s musical education includes undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory under Marilyn McDonald and graduate studies with Gerardo Ribeiro at Northwestern University, where she was a Civic Orchestra Fellow. Under the mentorship of Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, she co-founded the Fry Street Quartet. Early in their career, the group was awarded a three-year Rural Residency grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Invitations from the late Isaac Stern to perform at Carnegie Hall, the Jerusalem Music Center, and serve as Cultural Ambassadors to the Balkan States – in a tour sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the U.S. Department of State – helped launch the quartet’s international career.

In addition to her work with the Fry Street Quartet, Rebecca has appeared as a guest artist at festivals such as the Bonneville Chamber Music Festival, the Tony and Friends Festival, and Festival Amadeus. She regularly performs sonata repertoire as part of the CCA Faculty Chamber Music Series and the Fry Street Quartet Chamber Music Festival Concert Series, and collaborates in mixed ensembles on the NOVA Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City. Her expertise as a Bartók interpreter was highlighted in a recent performance of his Second Violin Sonata with pianist Mayumi Matzen, described as “outstanding in its mercurial flips of emotional character” (Les Roka, The Utah Review).

Rebecca is passionate about expanding the role of the arts in addressing societal challenges. A key expression of this is The Crossroads Project, a collaboration with physicist Dr. Robert Davies and the Fry Street Quartet, which merges her love of music with her commitment to exploring humanity’s relationship to the natural world. This work reflects her lifelong appreciation for nature, rooted in childhood summers spent barefoot by the lake in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, and a home filled with classical music.

A dedicated educator, Rebecca is a Professor of Professional Practice in violin and chamber music at Utah State University’s Caine College of the Arts. She has been instrumental in developing the String Program, and her students have gone on to prestigious graduate schools, competitions, and teaching positions. During the summers, Rebecca teaches at the Fry Street Chamber Music Festival and has been a guest instructor at festivals including Madeline Island Music Camp, Oficina de Música de Curitiba, the Einfeldt Chamber Music Seminar, and Credo at Oberlin. She has also created popular online summer violin technique courses, reaching a broader audience of violinists.

Rebecca’s partnership with science extends to her personal life, as she is married to physicist Dr. Robert Davies. Together, they apply permaculture principles to their acre-sized yard, strive for net-zero energy consumption in their retrofitted farmhouse, and care for their three cats, Luna, Rufus, and Archibald.

Rebecca performs on a Pietro Giacomo Rogeri violin, ca. 1720, and uses a bow by Nicolas Maire, both generously on loan from private patrons.