Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project: Interview with Audrey Anderson

Titles: Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project: Interview with Audrey Anderson (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Audrey Anderson began life in an ethnic neighborhood in Passaic, New Jersey amidst an extremely rich musical background. Her father had been a violin prodigy as a small child, before a bout with spinal meningitis caused him to lose his hearing and necessitated putting down the violin and taking up piano. Audrey's mother, a professor, was a pianist. The grandfather of Audrey, a Russian Orthodox priest, wrote the first English liturgy for his church, while another grandfather held the position of principal trumpet in the MGM orchestra and served as leader of his own band. Because the household was always full of the sound of musical practice, Audrey was in reality a premiere Suzuki student years before the work of Shinichi Suzuki was known in the United States. Early in life Audrey amazed her family by copying the music she had heard from those around her on the piano and the violin. Always a high achiever, Audrey was thrown into the world of competition as a piano performer at an early age. After marriage and the arrival of four sons, Audrey and Gregg became very interested in the Suzuki method and, based upon Audrey's childhood experiences, had every reason to believe the method would work. Because Audrey had had considerable experience as a very young performer, she worked to shield her children from the adverse effects of performance competition. Each son started a string instrument at an early age and studied strings within the Wayzata School District. As a result of the family's hard work, music has offered the Andersons the opportunity to travel all over the world. Presently, Jordan holds the position of principal bassist with the Seattle Symphony. Violinist Evan studied in Graz, Austria, thus returning to the continent from which his great-grandfather emigrated with violin in knapsack. Since then he has studied with Glenn Dicterow. Darin has studied cello at the Juilliard High School Division and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and Logan, formerly a violist, is presently studying genetics. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Audrey discusses the musical accomplishments of each of her sons Jordan, Evan, Darin and Logan and the importance of the Wayzata elementary string program in launching them on their remarkable paths. She emphasizes the teamwork, consideration for the progress of the whole group and democracy of the program, talks about the unparalleled support the string teachers offered to the whole child and describes the ways in which the program shaped the life of the entire Anderson family.

Dates

• 08/07/2001 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewer: Weber, Lynne
• interviewee: Anderson, Audrey

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 109
• Accession Number: AV2007.12.1

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project' <OH 109>

Quantity: 1.5 hours sound cassette 24 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 01:05:58 running time

Subjects

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