Event Calendar & News: Faculty News

Verdehr Receives MSU Distinguished Faculty Award
Walter Verdehr, professor of music, was one of eight MSU faculty members to receive the MSU Distinguished Faculty Award during the annual university-wide Awards Convocation in February 2004. The award is presented in recognition of a comprehensive and sustained record of scholarly excellence in research and/or creative activities, instruction, and outreach.

A seasoned and perceptive artist-teacher, Verdehr has attracted talented students to the MSU School of Music from throughout the world, and has judged numerous international violin competitions. An internationally acclaimed violinist, Verdehr has played in major performance venues throughout the world. As co-founder of the Verdehr Trio, he has helped create a new chamber music medium, the violin-clarinet-piano trio.

The Verdehr Trio performs throughout the world and has commissioned more than 160 compositions by many of the most prominent American and European composers of our time, including Pulitzer Prize winners. To date, this monumental project has been documented on 15 CDs, entitled The Making of a Medium TV Series, and a parallel series of published musical scores. Australia's preeminent composer Peter Sculthorpe said, "I know of no musician anywhere who has made such a contribution to chamber music. This is an enduring legacy."