Last modified: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Violist Stephen Wyrczynski appointed to the faculty of the IU Jacobs School of Music
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Following a year as visiting professor, violist Stephen Wyrczynski has been appointed professor of music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, pending approval of the Trustees of Indiana University.
A member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1992, Wyrczynski has developed an active teaching career in some of the most prestigious music schools and festivals in the U.S., including the Peabody Conservatory, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the New World Symphony in Miami, Fla., Mannes College of Music in New York, the Curtis Institute of Music, the National Orchestral Institute and the New York State Summer School for Orchestral Studies.
"Steve brings to IU a wealth of orchestral and chamber music experience, in addition to a love, commitment and dedication for teaching," said Jacobs Dean Gwyn Richards. "His viola colleagues are thrilled that he can begin this fall in Bloomington. We look forward with great anticipation to the impact that his work with the students and with the orchestral program will have."
"I feel tremendous excitement and honor at my appointment to the Jacobs School of Music," said Wyrczynski. "My colleagues here are some of the greatest pedagogues and performing artists in the world. I first admired the Jacobs School when I studied for two summers with the late Abraham Skernick, who, after a distinguished career in the Cleveland Orchestra, taught on the faculty."
"The addition of Steve Wyrczynski to our distinguished viola faculty gives a terrific dimension to the String Department," said Professor Lawrence Hurst, chair of the department. "His many years in one of the world's most celebrated orchestras will certainly bring an immediate and compelling authority to his students wishing to pursue this aspect of their studies. Likewise, his abiding love of chamber music and solo playing will also bring great musical rewards to everyone in Bloomington."
Wyrczynski began violin studies at age 8 and eventually switched to the viola at age 16. In 1983, he began viola studies with Kim Kashkashian and later with Karen Tuttle at the Peabody Conservatory, where he became Tuttle's teaching assistant. He went on to receive his bachelor's degree in 1988 from Juilliard. He was then accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph de Pasquale, then principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Wyrczynski earned a diploma there in 1991.
As a chamber musician, he has played in many of North America's celebrated venues, including the Aspen Music Festival, Le Domaine Forget, the Newport Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, Tanglewood and the Casals Music Festival. He also has collaborated in chamber music with artists such as Sarah Chang, Pamela Frank, Dawn Upshaw and Jacobs alumni Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer.
"As a current member of the IU viola faculty, I am delighted to welcome Steve to our team," said Jacobs Professor Alan de Veritch. "Steve possesses an outstanding all-around musical background, and his communicational skills as a teacher are of the highest level. All of us here, faculty and students alike, should benefit greatly from his inclusion in our ranks!"
For more information about the Jacobs School of Music, please visit https://www.music.indiana.edu.
