World-renowned violinist Glenn Dicterow, the longest-serving concertmaster in the history of the New York Philharmonic, will join the celebrated string faculty at the Music Academy of the West for the academy’s 2014 Summer School and Festival, campus officials have announced.
Dicterow, who participated in the last two Music Academy Summer Festivals, will return as a visiting artist in 2013 before assuming a formal faculty position next year. His duties then will include individual teaching for Music Academy Fellows, chamber ensemble coaching, performing as part of the faculty chamber series, and developing a String Leadership Studies Program for promising concertmasters and section principals.
“I am very excited at the prospect of having an artist of Glenn’s stature and accomplishment augment our already robust faculty,” Academy President Scott Reed said. “His appointment is a clear indication that our program continues to evolve in impressive ways. Glenn represents music at the highest level and I know he will make a tremendous impact on our Fellows.”
“I couldn’t be happier about my appointment to one of the finest summer music festivals in the world,” Dicterow said. “Making music with my superb academy colleagues and teaching such gifted young students in this spectacular environment is nothing less than exhilarating.”
Dicterow’s extraordinary musical gifts became apparent at age 11, when he made his solo debut in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (where his father, Harold Dicterow, served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years). Over the following years, he became one of the most sought-after young artists, appearing as a soloist from coast to coast.
The winner of numerous awards and competitions, Dicterow is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was mentored by Ivan Galamian. (His instructors also included the legendary Jascha Heifetz.) In 1967, at age 18, Dicterow performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Andre Kostelanetz. Thirteen years later, he joined the orchestra as concertmaster after serving as associate concertmaster and concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
His solo appearances on tour with the New York Philharmonic have included performances in South America, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Manila, France, Switzerland, Germany and England. The New York Times has lauded his “admirable elegance and utter fearlessness.”
Dicterow, who frequently appears as a guest soloist with other orchestras, has made numerous recordings. His most recent CD is a solo recital for Cala Records titled New York Legends, featuring John Corigliano’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Korngold’s Much Ado About Nothing, the premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, and Martinu’s Three Madrigals for violin and viola, in collaboration with violist Karen Dreyfus and pianist Gerald Robbins. Dicterow can also be heard in film score recordings for The Turning Point, The Untouchables, Altered States, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Interview with the Vampire, among others.
A faculty member at both Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, Dicterow will become the first to hold the Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music at USC Thornton School of Music beginning in fall 2013. Last May, it was announced that he would step down as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic following the 2013-14 season, though he plans to continue performing as a soloist and chamber musician.
Dicterow took part in the Music Academy’s 1992 Summer Festival and helped inaugurate the academy’s Mosher Guest Artist Residency Program in 2011 before returning as a visiting artist last summer.
The Music Academy’s string faculty consists of violinists Peter Salaff and Kathleen Winkler; violists Donald McInnes and Roger Myers; cellists Alan Stepansky and David Geber; and double bassist Nico Abondolo. Guest artists in 2013 will include violinists Midori, Jorja Fleezanis, Erin Keefe, Brian Lewis, and Kay Stern; violists Karen Dreyfus and Cynthia Phelps; and the famed Takács Quartet.
The Music Academy of the West’s 66th anniversary Summer School and Festival will take place June 17 to Aug. 10. Highlights will include a fully staged production of The Magic Flute — Santa Barbara’s first in 15 years — and conducting turns by James Gaffigan, Leonard Slatkin, Nicholas McGegan, Matthias Pintscher, Bernard Labadie, Tito Muñoz and Larry Rachleff. Featuring the academy’s exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events will be presented at the Academy’s scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
— Tim Dougherty is the communications manager for the Music Academy of the West.