Violin, Clarinet, Piano Trio Grace Stage for Celebrity Series

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The melodic morphing of a violin, clarinet and piano trio will fill the concert hall of The University of Alabama’s Moody Music Building starting at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 as the Verdehr Trio performs the next concert of the 2008-2009 Celebrity Series.

The Verdehr Trio – which includes violinist Walter Verdehr, clarinetist Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, and pianist Silvia Roederer – has concentrated on molding and defining the violin-clarinet-piano trio for more than 30 years. The group has commissioned more than 200 new works from some of the world’s most prominent and exciting composers.

The trio, in residence at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., has performed in 17 European countries, the former Soviet Union, South America, Central America, Asia, Australia, and all 50 states of the United States.

The Trio has performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Library of Congress, Vienna’s Brahmssaal, Sydney Opera House, London’s Wigmore Hall, Auditorio de Madrid, Dvorak Hall in Prague, IRCAM Centre in Paris, and Leningrad’s Philharmonic Chamber Hall. The group also has recorded extensively including an 18 Volume CD collection called “The Making of a Medium” with Crystal Records.

About the artists:

Walter Verdehr was born in Gottschee, Yugoslavia and received his first violin instruction at the Conservatory of Music in Graz, Austria. A student at the Juilliard School, he was the first violinist to receive the doctorate there, and, as a Fulbright Scholar, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music.

He has taught at the International Congress of Strings faculty and at Michigan State University where he is professor of music and recently received the Distinguished Faculty Award. He has made numerous appearances as a soloist with orchestras (Houston Symphony, orchestras in Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, California, Czechoslovakia and Turkey) and in solo and chamber music recitals in the United States and Europe.

The London Times wrote that “his performance was sweeping and vigorous.” The Vienna Express said that “he is a perfect violinist with beautiful blossoming tone and noble musicality.” He has served on the juries for the Naumberg and Prague Spring International violin competitions and has made solo recordings for Golden Crest Records and NET-TV.

Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and at the Eastman School where she received a Performer’s Certificate and the DMA degree. She has performed, lectured and given master classes at numerous national and international clarinet congresses and for several years was a participant in the Marlboro Music Festivals and touring groups.

She has appeared frequently in the United States, Canada and abroad as a recitalist, clinician and soloist with orchestras and as principal clarinetist of the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra. As a member of the Richards Wind Quintet, she played in more than half of the United States, Canada and at the White House. She was recently awarded a Distinguished Faculty Professorship at Michigan State University, and her students occupy numerous university and orchestral positions throughout the United States and abroad.

She has solo recordings on Grenadilla and Mark labels. Her playing has been called “distinguished and musical” by the New York Times. The Boston Globe noted her “musical tone and elegant sense of phrasing” while the Chicago Tribune wrote of her “virtuosity of a most compelling sort.” She recently was awarded honorary membership in the International Clarinet Society for her “lifetime achievements as a performer and teacher.”

Silvia Roederer was born in Argentina, but her musical training began in the United States. After graduating from the Eastman School with high honors, she completed her doctoral degree as a student of John Perry at the University of Southern California. A winner of several important competitions, including the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, she also has appeared as soloist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra and the Jacksonville (Fla.) Symphony Orchestra.

Her Los Angeles debut was an acclaimed recital at the prestigious Ambassador Auditorium, where her “control, introspective poise, and elegantly pointed phrases” drew special praise from the Los Angeles Times.

She recently performed for the Myra Hess Series in Chicago. As chamber musician, she has appeared in mainland China and Hong Kong, in Austria, London, Paris, Warsaw, Moscow, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Currently professor of music at Western Michigan University, she lives in Kalamazoo, Mich., with her husband and three children.

Concert ticket prices are $22 and $15 for general admissions and $7 for students. For tickets, phone 205/348-7111 or visit www.music.ua.edu for more information.

The Celebrity Series, which has been bringing world-renowned musicians to Tuscaloosa since 1988, is sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Music.

UA’s School of Music is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes scholarships, Goldwater scholarships and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All-American Teams.