EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, December 2019
Ethnomusicology and Musicology
Advisor: Matthew Rahaim
Thesis: Performing Câmpia: Processes of Ethnic Identification in Transylvanian Folk Music
M.A. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, June 2012
Ethnomusicology and Musicology
Advisor: Gabriela Currie
Exam Topics: Sonic Warfare and National Identity; Euro-Caribbean Syncretization
B.M. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, May 1999
Music Education
B.M. Concordia College, Moorhead, May 1997
Performance
TEACHING LICENSE
K-12 Instrumental and Classroom Music, State of Minnesota, 5-year (issued: June 2018)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
College Level
Adjunct Lecturer
School of Music, Augsburg University
World Music, Fall 2018, 2019
School of Music, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
World Music, Fall 2014
Department of Music and Theater Arts, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
World Music, Spring 2014
Teaching Assistant
School of Music, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
History of Rock II, Spring 2015
World Music, Fall 2013
World Music, Spring 2013
World Music, Fall 2012
History of Western Music I, Spring 2012
Music, Society, and Cultures, Fall 2011
History of Rock II, Spring 2011
History of Rock I, Fall 2010
Guest Lectures: Devo and British New Wave; Indonesian Gamelan; Balkan Folk Dance; Umm Kulthum; Copyright and Appropriation
K-12
Instructor
NE Minneapolis Violin Studio (private business)
Violin & Viola, 2003 – 2010
Director
Roseville Area High School
Concert Orchestra & Symphony Orchestra, 2002 – 2003
Extra-circulars: Chamber Orchestra; Morning Show (fiddle ensemble)
Teacher
Olson and Valley View Middle Schools, Bloomington Public School District,
String Orchestra & General Music, 2001 – 2002
All-City Middle School Orchestra,
Hastings Elementary and Middle Schools, Hastings Public School District
Beginning and Intermediate String Technique, 1999 – 2001
String Orchestra & General Music
DIRECTING EXPERIENCE
Ciprian Porumbescu Romanian Choir of Minnesota
September 2017 – present
Ethnic Dance Theatre
Land of Legends, January – June 2017
PUBLICATIONS
Bertsch, Colleen. 2018. “Roumanie: Musique du Maramureș / Romania: Music from
Maramureș.” In Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 50. Tong Soon Lee, Ed. Cambridge: International Council for Traditional Music and Cambridge University Press.
Bertsch, Colleen. 2015. “Negotiating Identities and Cultural Representations: The Practice and Patronage of Roma-Transylvanian Folk Violinist Florin Codoba.” In Europa Orientalis 15. Marija Wakounig and Ferdinand Kühnel, Eds. Vienna: Institute of Austrian History at the University of Vienna.
PRESENTATIONS
“A Musical Figure of Identity: Embodied Musical Techniques Shared Among
Transylvanian Folk Violinists”
Society for Ethnomusicology, 62nd Meeting, Denver, CO, October 2017
“Negotiating Identities and Cultural Representations: A Case Study of Roma-
Transylvanian Folk Violinist Florin Codoba”
Symposium organized by Initiative for Romani Music, Center for Traditional
Music and Dance, and Voice of Roma, New York University, April 2015
“Preliminary Case Study: Transylvanian folk violinist Florin Codoba”
Meeting of Austrian Centers in Minneapolis, September 2014
“Music before Mosques: Reasons for the April 1926 Riots in Calcutta”
Society for Ethnomusicology, 57th Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 2012
“Music before Mosques: Reasons for the April 1926 Riots in Calcutta”
Music and Sound Studies Colloquia, University of Minnesota, October 2012
“String Bands in a Foreign Land: Hungarian-Transylvanian String Music”
MN String and Orchestra Teachers Association, All-State Teachers Workshop, August 2009
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
Academic
Portable Title VIII Fellowship for Romanian language abroad, Indiana University, 2017
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2016
Fulbright U.S. Student Research Award, Romania Fulbright Consulate, 2015
Brașov Scholarship, Cursuri de limbă, cultură și civilizație românească, Institutul Cultural Român, 2015
Hella Mears Graduate Fellowship in European Studies, University of Minnesota, 2015
Center for Austrian Studies Summer Research Award, University of Minnesota, 2014
Foreign Language and Area Studies Program (FLAS) for Romanian, Indiana University, 2013
Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP) for pre-dissertation fieldwork, University of Minnesota, 2012
Artistic
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2020
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2017
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2013
McKnight Award for Performing Musicians, MacPhail Center for Music, 2012
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2010
PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
Violin
Folk
Soul Trouvère, 2020
Ukrainian Village Band, 2015 – present
Szászka (Romanian-Hungarian-Roma), 2006 – present
Orkestar Bez Ime (pan-Balkan) , 2002 – present
Folk Music Training
“Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy, Cluj, Romania, 2015-16
Romanian folk violin techniques and performance, taught by Ovidiu Barteș
Musical Theater
Minnesota History Theater
Sweet Land the Musical , May 2017
Baby Case, 2013
Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum
Alice in Wonderland, 2013, 2014
Heaven, 2011, 2019
Ethnic Dance Theatre, 2000 – present
Land of Legends, June 2017
Minnesota Orchestra Young People’s Concerts
Symphony Orchestra
Semi-professional:
Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, 1995 – 1997
Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, 1991 – 1993
*Young Artist Competition Soloist, 1994
Collegiate:
University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Twin Cities, 1997 – 1999
Concordia College Orchestra, Moorhead, 1993 – 1997
* Concert master, 1993 – 1997
RECORDINGS
Orkestar Bez Ime, Live at the Celtic Junction, 2015
Szászka, Harmony – Összhang – Armonie, 2011
Orkestar Bez Ime, Mahala Drive, 2010
Orkestar Bez Ime, Nice Driveway, Volume Three: Rogarian Baba-que, 2007
Orkestar Bez Ime, Nice Driveway, Volume Two: Lake Aquanyet Days, 2006
Orkestar Bez Ime, Nice Driveway, Volume One: Cheers from the Land of the Freeze, 2005
Mila Vocal Ensemble & Orkestar Bez Ime, From a Dark Night, 2004
PUBLIC OUTREACH AND MEMBERSHIPS
Member, Society for Ethnomusicology, 2010 – present
Graduate Student Advisory Committee, UMN School of Music, 2012 – 2013
Clinician, Young Fiddler’s Association’s July Camp, 2007
Organizer and Clinician, Balkapalooza! East European Music and Dance Camp, 2006, 2007
Columnist, String Notes, MN String and Orchestra Teachers Association Journal, 2006, 2007
Member, American String Teachers Association, 2002 – 2014