Biography

Peter Marsh, senior lecturer, strings, is director of string chamber music. He played, for 23 years (1957–81), first violin of the Lenox Quartet (The New York Times: "One of the finest quartets this country has yet produced"; Chicago American: "On a par with the best and second to none of any age or national origin"; Los Angeles Mirror: "A quartet in a hundred"). Their first Beethoven cycle (in New York) was in 1962. Marsh is still very active as a performer: in 2006 he will tour Korea in May, and Alaska (Fairbanks Festival of the Arts), Brazil (XI International Cello Encounter) and France (Franco-Américaine Rencontre de Musique de la Chambre, at the Château de la Bretesche in Missillac) in July and August. He studied with Hans Letz at the Juilliard School, Scott Willits at the American Conservatory and Emanuel Zetlin and Eva Heinitz at the University of Washington. After his time with the Lenox Quartet, Mr. Marsh was the first violinist for the Philadelphia, Berkshire, Sequoia, Southwest and Pacific quartets as well as Palo Verde and Picasso trios and is a frequent recitalist on both the violin and viola. As concertmaster, Mr. Marsh has played with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Colorado Festival Orchestra and California Chamber Symphony. He has collaborated in concert with artists such as Leon Fleisher, Stanley Drucker and Eudice Shapiro. His faculty appointments include Indiana University, Ithaca College and Western Washington University as well as artist faculty positions at Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Spoleto, Fairbanks and other festivals. Additionally, Mr. Marsh has conducted the Western Washington University Symphony, served on music panels of NYSCA and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a founder of Chamber Music America.