UW News

November 17, 2010

School of Music plans two master classes

UW News

Andy Statman

Andy Statman

Two musicians will be visiting the UW School of Music soon to conduct master classes. Master classes at the school consist of a professional musician working with student musicians. They are free and open to observers.

Marianne Gedigian, professor of flute at the University of Texas at Austin, leads a master class with UW flute students at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19 in Brechemin Auditorium. And internationally renowned klezmer artist Andy Statman leads a master class with the UW Klezmer Band at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30 in 213 Music.

Gedigian was a regular performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for over a decade, including several seasons as Guest Principal Flute under Seiji Ozawa.

Gedigian has been first prizewinner in the National Flute Associations Young Artist Competition, and the James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition. She keeps an active schedule as a chamber musician as a founding member of the Boston-based Walden Chamber Players and was formerly a member of the Dorian Wind Quintet. Her solo recordings include Voice of the Flute and Revolution, both with pianist Rick Rowley.

Marianne Gedigian

Marianne Gedigian

Born into a family of cantors and professional musicians, Andy Statman has developed a reputation as a master musician in a diverse array of genres: jazz, bluegrass, and klezmer, the music of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Statman has performed and recorded with iconic musicians including Bob Dylan, Bela Fleck, Jerry Garcia, and Itzhak Perlman.

Equally accomplished on the mandolin and the clarinet, Statman studied klezmer music with Dave Tarras, the last of the genre’s masters from its immigrant-era heyday, and contributed to the revival of klezmer that has captivated the attention of audiences throughout the world since the mid-1970s.

Now in its third year, the UW Klezmer Band has performed traditional Jewish music for large audiences at dances, concerts, and community celebrations in the Seattle area. With a focus on expert musicians and archival recordings, the ensemble is an opportunity for UW students and community members to learn the repertoire, theory, style, and history of klezmer.