Jephta Bernstein

Executive Director and Founder of Off the Hook Arts

Committed to the value of arts education in the schools, violinist Jephta Bernstein founded the non-profit, PYCH: Project Youth and Chamber Music, in 2012, and its summer program, Off the Hook: on the Musical Edge Chamber Music Festival as its Executive Director. An active performer with the Front Range Chamber Players, she has held positions in the Palm Beach Opera as Principal Violin, American Symphony Orchestra, Seacliff Chamber Players, Portland Opera, Paragon Ragtime Orchestra as concertmaster, Philharmonia Virtuosi, the resident Metropolitan Museum orchestra, as a member of the Palm Beach Chamber Players as well as numerous Broadway productions. After spending her youth in Fort Collins, Ms. Bernstein attended Oberlin Conservatory, receiving a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Manhattan School of Music, receiving a Masters of Music studying respectively with teachers Stephen Clapp, Andrew Jennings, and Ani Kavafian. As Assistant to Artistic Director, Ida Kavafian, Jephta returned to Colorado, during summers from 1992 – 1998, performing in both the Bravo! Colorado Music Festival and Music From Angel Fire (NM) Chamber Music Festival. Additional study included summers at the Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto Music Festival, Fountaine Bleau Chamber Music Festival in France, and the Colorado Music Festival. Passionate about chamber music and music education, her tenure since 2008 as Director of CHAMPS, Chamber Music in Public Schools, in Austin, TX, brought collaborative efforts with the University of Texas at Austin and the Miro Quartet while establishing a broad range of programming in four Austin public school districts. Happily resettled with her husband and two children in Fort Collins, Jephta looks forward to years of music making, skiing and enjoying extended family in Colorado.