Jacob, Stephanie, Karen, and Brent
Featured October 2021
In 1994, the Hellecksons fled the Front Range of Colorado in search of a more rural lifestyle. They purchased a small vineyard near Paonia, built a small stone cottage, and started what would become the Stone Cottage Cellars winery.
The Helleckson-VSA connection began a few years later, in early 2000, when seven-year-old Stephanie played violin in the second half of the Valley Youth Orchestra’s inaugural season at the Lamborn Valley School in Paonia. Five years later, Jacob also joined the VYO as a cellist. Brent was soon recruited as a VYO cellist mentor, and Karen became president of the VYO Board, completing the Helleckson family immersion. They continued their VYO involvement until 2009, when they collectively graduated to the VSA Orchestra. The family has also collectively sung with the VSA Chorus a few times. Despite the changes of nearly 22 years, the VSA has remained a constant staple in the Helleckson’s lives.
Stephanie played in the VSA Orchestra from spring 2009 until fall 2010, when she left to obtain bachelor degrees in music and anthropology at CU Boulder, playing in the campus orchestra throughout her degree. She returned to the VSA Orchestra briefly for the 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 seasons, which bookended a year in Hawaii, playing as a stand partner with her first violin teacher and VYO founder, Lu Vorys, for Lu’s final season. In 2017, she moved to Florida to obtain her master’s degree in music administration and choral conducting, before returning to Colorado and the VSA Orchestra in 2019. She also teaches violin and voice lessons in the Paonia area and is teaching violin classes at the North Fork School of Integrated Studies using the same violins Lu used to teach her.
Jacob similarly played with the VSA Orchestra from spring 2009 until he left for college in the fall of 2013. He continued to play cello in the campus orchestra while he obtained his bachelor’s degree in marketing from CU Boulder. Following graduation, he remained in Boulder working for marketing agency Sterling Rice Group (SRG) and playing cello at friends’ weddings. The 2020 pandemic inspired SRG to become a permanently remote operation, so Jacob moved back to Paonia to be closer to family and save for his first house. This is his first season playing with the VSA Orchestra in seven years.
Brent has steadfastly performed in every VSA season since 2009 while juggling a growing wine business, environmental activism, and various community improvement projects. Having taken lessons in both violin and cello with his kids, he decided that the cello was better suited to the size of his hands. Brent continues to play, making good on the condition under which he and Karen paid for their children’s lessons: every year, they return home and play Christmas carols together. Thursday-night VSA Orchestra rehearsals have become his most carefully defended personal time, which he happily shares with his children whenever they are in the area long enough to play a concert or season.
In 2009, Karen retired from VYO Board membership and now happily assumes the roles of audience member and pie baker. She enjoys Thursday nights when the house in Paonia is quiet, often using the personal time to practice piano or take walks with friends. She has attended almost every VSA concert since 2009, and frequently brings a Paonia contingent along.
For the Helleckson’s, music is a lifelong family affair, and the VSA gives them a regular excuse to play and experience music together. Their favorite part is rehashing Thursday night rehearsals and every performance in musician geek-speak during the car rides back to the stone cottage.