UW-Eau Claire: Senior music major hits right notes performing and composing at UW-Eau Claire

Devondre Jaquish is a senior music major at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a unique music education background and a unique set of student experiences in the music and theatre arts department.

Jaquish began playing the violin at age 11 as he prepared to start middle school in Chippewa Falls. Continuing in orchestra through his high school years and dedicated to learning and practicing his instrument, Jaquish reached a proficiency that allowed him to enter college as a music major.

For more than the obvious reasons, Jaquish’s playing as a first-year Blugold stood out to faculty like Dr. Christine Harada Li, assistant professor of violin. 

“Dre is one of the few students I know of who arrived at the college level in strings without ever having private instruction,” Li says. “Whether it is through Suzuki method or another type of lessons, private instruction is the norm in learning this difficult instrument. To reach Dre’s level of playing without lessons beyond public school instruction is quite unusual. It’s a testimony to his determination and love of music.”

Li had such confidence in Jaquish as a violinist that she suggested he apply to the 2026 Anchorage Chamber Music Festival intensive summer institute, which took place Aug. 25-Aug. 1 in Anchorage, Alaska.

The ACMF runs for two weeks every summer, bringing together professional musicians, music faculty and students from far and wide to spotlight chamber music and the major role it has always played in classical music.

Jaquish is seen here performing in late 2025 in the UW-Eau Claire Symphony Band at Pablo Center, one of their last performances under the direction of Dr. Nobu Yasuda. Jaquish says Yasuda played a key role in his decision to attend UW-Eau Claire. “He was the first faculty member I met with. He was so kind and welcoming, I knew this was the place for me.”

“The chance to focus eight days on my violin in an intimate chamber music setting was very exciting. The connections I made with incredible experts and faculty from prestigious programs will stay with me a long time,” Jaquish says.

Despite pushing himself to attend an exclusive and intensive chamber music program across the country to improve his violin performance, Jaquish is not an instrument major — he is majoring in music composition.

“I declared my composition major during my first year, but I am committed to being the best violin player I can be. This summer opportunity brought major growth to my playing and my overall music knowledge,” says the Chippewa Falls native. “Being a better player myself and understanding what all musicians go through in learning and rehearsing music is key to succeeding in composition.”

Li says she sees Jaquish as both talented and determined to continue raising his level of skill in violin and composition.

“He seeks out highly difficult repertoire,” Li says. “I’ve worked with other non-violin majors, but few are as ambitious at Dre.”

Ambition pays off in summer intensives

The Anchorage Chamber Music Festival and associated intensive were both founded by Li and her then University of Michigan classmate, now husband, Nathaniel Pierce. The pair launched the program in 2013, located in Li’s hometown of Anchorage.

“We established the program to bring chamber music to my hometown in a lasting way. We had both learned so much from performing chamber music with our peers,” Li says. “It’s about the music, but it’s also an exercise in communication, collaboration and people skills.”

Dr. Christine Harada Li, assistant professor of violin

Li says the program is best suited for small numbers under 50. The format incorporates masterclasses, technique and rhythm classes from professionals and faculty, along with hours of daily chamber rehearsals and performances and concerts from the invited guests and faculty.

“I got to work more in depth on my small ensemble work,” says Jaquish, whose time in Eau Claire is heavily loaded with university and Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra rehearsals and shows. “My individual technique lessons essentially changed my whole approach to using my left hand on the violin. That brought exponential growth in my playing.”

An unexpected outcome of the time in Anchorage for Jaquish was a profound connection to the Alaskan landscape, which he says is deeply inspiring.

“Venturing outside of Anchorage to places like Eklunta Lake was truly beautiful,” he says. “I’ve not been far from the Midwest, so the mountains and the scale of the scenery was important inspiration for me. I look forward to pulling the experiences into my composing in the future,” says Jaquish, who was selected by the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra to write a commissioned piece they will perform in the spring of 2027.

For Jaquish, one of the best parts of the summer intensive in Anchorage was not only honing his technique in violin, but meeting many new freinds who all love performing as much as he does.

Playing violin brings joy, writing music brings freedom

Combining his dual loves of performing and composing has been a balance that Jaquish strives to maintain. He says his long-term goal is to pursue a Ph.D. and teach at the university level, likely in composition.

“There is just something really special about composing,” Jaquish says. “I feel a different level of freedom to express myself in my composing. The best part about writing music is the experience of watching musicians react to the music for the first time.”

Jaquish experienced that feeling when the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra performed his composition in 2025, a piece titled “African Suite” as part of a show featuring music from around the world.

“My inspiration for that piece came from a book about African mythology that formed a theme around a hero’s journey,” Jaquish says. “There were many children in the audience at that show, and I thought they could appreciate the idea of a hero’s tale set to African melodies and instruments,”

Dr. Chia-Yu Hsu is the main instructor for composition at UW-Eau Claire, and she sees great promise in Jaquish’s future as a composer.

“Dre is a highly motivated and talented student with a particular passion for writing music for acoustic instruments,” Hsu says.

“As just a sophomore composition student, he earned a summer 2025 spot in the highly selective Brevard Music Festival for composition in North Carolina, further highlighting his musical talent, commitment, and potential as a young composer.”

From Jaquish’s faculty mentors like Li, Hsu and the newly retired symphony orchestra director Dr. Nobu Yasuda, the world class faculty and opportunities at UW-Eau Claire have given Jaquish the support and guidance to feel confident that he chose the right college for his music education.

As he takes on his final year as a Blugold and begins contemplating graduate programs, including the University of Michigan, he says he knows his preparation as an undergraduate is going to take him where he wants to go.

“Having these large-scale pieces that I wrote performed at the undergrad level is such a rare opportunity. Usually in bigger schools or conservatories like Juilliard, only graduate students get the kinds of opportunities I’ve had here. Two symphony orchestras have played one of my compositions before I was even a senior — that is nearly unheard of.”