Thad Suits
CELLO
Thaddeus Suits started his career as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Puerto Rico Symphony. He left the island to take a job in Minnesota as cellist in the Rochester String Quartet and has been playing chamber music ever since.
In 1989 he joined the Cascade Quartet and over the course of his thirty-plus years with them, he has performed all the great standards for string quartet, and quite a few lesser-known gems.
Thad attended Washington University in his hometown of St. Louis, studying under Yuan Tung, and continued his studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music with William Pleeth, and at the Geneva Conservatory, where he earned a performance certificate under world-renowned cellist Pierre Fournier.
He is a past recipient of the Montana Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship and was a featured guest on Philip Aaberg’s popular program on Yellowstone Public Radio, “Of the West.” He has been on the faculty of the Red Lodge Festival, Montana State University’s Annual Chamber Music Festival, and the internationally-acclaimed Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming.
Thad can be heard in recital with his wife, pianist Su Suits, with whom he has released two CDs. The pair toured Europe as founding members of the Montana Chamber Ensemble, acting as musical ambassadors on behalf of the governor’s office. Thad is a highly respected teacher and adjudicator, and many of his former students have gone on to careers as performers and music educators.
Although music has been his chief focus practically since starting the cello at age nine, Thad is also an ardent student of languages and has taught both Arabic and Spanish classes at MSU-Great Falls. When not practicing, he enjoys bicycling, computer programming (his chess tournament software is used all over the world),and playing with his pet guinea pig.