‘Something you can’t teach,’ family reflects on the life of world-renowned Colorado Springs violinist
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Violinist Michaela Paetsch was surrounded by music from the day she was born. While she was known around the world, she got her start here in Colorado Springs. Born into a family of musicians, it's no surprise she made music a lifelong career.
After 61 years filled with music, Michaela died from a long battle with breast cancer on Jan. 20 at her home in Switzerland.
"She was a very special person," said Johann Sebastian Paetsch, Michaela's brother. "She could play the violin so incredibly well, not just perfectly, but with power and with emotion and with something that you can't teach."
Johann said Michaela picked up the violin for the first time when she was three. By 13, she was playing in the Colorado Springs Symphony.
Michaela started under the training of her parents, both musicians, and alongside them and her six siblings, they made up the Paetsch Family Chamber Music Ensemble.
"In 1976, we played 300 concerts in Colorado," said Johann. "We played in every school, every hospital, every concert hall, I mean everywhere, just in every church. Sometimes, we played three concerts a day."
Michaela continued her musical education at Yale before moving to Europe.
"Michaela ended up performing all throughout Europe with all sorts of orchestras everywhere and in Japan," said Johann.
However, even though she moved to Europe, she kept her ties to the Springs.
Juan Mijares has owned a violin shop in Colorado Springs for 36 years. He said from the moment he arrived in the city, he got to know the Paetsch family.
"They were just a big, you know, family in the symphony," said Mijares, "in the string community, everybody knew them."
Mijares said when Michaela would come back to the city, she would stop by and catch up with him on her life, also buying violin strings or different accessories.
He said her performance style and talent were captivating, calling her a prodigy.
"If you ever saw her give a concert, she was just so exuberant and so much so fun and so much full of joy," said Mijares.
Johann said he and his sister were close. He played the cello and she played the violin, and they talked through video chat every day.
He said he looked up to her as a fellow musician and also as a person.
"We've played concerts here in Europe, and we played in Japan, and we played in and we went to Moscow together," said Johann. "She was the strongest person I knew."
Michaela was also a record-setter.
"She was the first woman in the whole of the whole world to record all 24 Paganini Caprices, which are the most difficult things on violin," said Johann. "And she recorded them all in two days."
