Jesse Christen

Is the upcoming Phantom Planet concert not your cup of tea? Well don’t feel left out, the Verdehr Trio, violin-clarinet-piano, will be performing in Brookings on Thursday.

The Verdehr Trio is a leader in the field of new music; they’ve performed over 170 new works from the world’s most prominent new composers. The trio also plays works from the great Classical and Romantic composers.

The trio has built a worldwide following. They’ve performed in 17 European countries, the former Soviet Union, South and Central America, Asia, the United States and Australia; they’ve played in such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House.

The November/December 2001 issue of American Record Guide says ” the Vendehr Trio is excellent in every department, I can’t praise them enough … [They play] with a passion that will lift you off your feet.”

The trio consists of Walter Verdehr, violin, Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, clarinet, and Silvia Roederer, Piano.

Verdehr was born in Gottschee, Yugoslavia. He was the first violinist to receive a doctorate from Julliard School of Music; he also studied at the Vienna Academy of Music. Besides the Verdehr Trio he’s performed with numerous orchestras worldwide and plays solo recitals; the London Times says his playing is “sweeping and vigorous.” He’s currently a professor of music at Michigan State University.

Ludewig-Verdher is also a professor of music at Michigan State University. She’s performed at lectured at many International Clarinet Conferences and has performed as a soloist and with numerous orchestras through out the United States and Canada. The Boston Globe has sung praises of her “musical tone and elegant sense of phrasing.”

Roederer is the winner of several major piano competitions including the Johanna Hodges International Piano Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the Denver and Santa Monica symphonies. She impressed the Los Angeles Times with her “control, introspective poise and elegantly pointed phrases.” She is currently a professor of music at Western Michigan University.

Since 1972 the Verdehr Trio has released over 20 albums. They’ve also been part of a Michigan Public Television that shares the same name as 15 of their albums, Making of a Medium.

The Verdehr Trio has won so many good reviews that it would fill an entire issue of the Juice. So here’s just a few.

“Music for the violin, clarinet and piano is not particulary abundant, but the group responsible for most of what we have, the Verdehr Trio, gave a sparkling demonstartion of the medium’s variety color and potential … The trio played the music as though they owned it – as, in fact, it does,” says the March 6, 2001 edition of the Washington Post.

BBC Music Magazine from July 2003 says “the Verdehr Trio each work with total commitment, delivering performances of impressive technical brilliance.”

“The performance surprised us with dreamy dynamics and an appealing freshness reminiscent of Schubert or Schumann,” says Hubedni-Rozhledy, a Czech Republic publication.

Tickets for the performance are $7 for students and $15 for non-students; tickets are available online at http://neweratickets.com, the SDSU Information Exchange (located in the Student Union) or by calling 688-6127.

The concert is being held in the Performing Arts Center and will start at 8 p.m. For more information call 688-5187.