“ I am convinced that playing chamber music is one of the best things a young
– Judith Widrig
musician can do”
How did Bellingham become your home?
The North Cascades and Mt. Baker are what first drew me to Bellingham. I love the proximity to so many great outdoor experiences – hiking, biking, kayaking, winter sports. But the wonderful music community kept me here. I enjoy teaching at Western and collaborating with my colleagues in the community.
Tell us about your journey to the piano as your instrument of choice?
I had a somewhat non-traditional journey to becoming a pianist as I did not begin lessons until I was in my teens. As a child I loved opening the piano bench at my grandmother’s house and pulling out sheet music. I taught myself to play these pieces and I thought I was pretty good. Then when I was 15 I heard a new friend play the piano. She actually WAS really good and it blew me away. I persuaded her teacher to take me on. Lois Horn was one of the top teachers in the Central New York area and she let me know that I was her charity case. But I was very determined and eventually deserving of a place in her studio. She was a student of Leon Fleisher and studied Taubman technique, and she remains one of my greatest teaching influences
Where did you complete your musical studies?
I don’t feel that my musical studies are complete – I especially learn so much from my students on a daily basis. But my DMA degree is from UC Boulder where I studied solo repertoire with Larry Graham and chamber music and modern scores with Robert Spillman.
Are there any musicians or teachers in particular who have played important roles in forming your thoughts as a musician?
Violinist Denes Zigmondy was hugely influential. I had the opportunity to study with him for two summers in Germany, and I also had the opportunity to collaborate with him on sonatas for violin and piano during several tours of the Northwest and Canada.
I also consider Anton Kuerti to be a big influence. I studied with him at The Banff Centre, and I still hear his voice in my head sometimes when practicing, picking each phrase apart. He was also an activist and he took students on really long hikes in the Canadian Rockies and taught us about the plants and animals there.
Share some of the musical moments that have most inspired you? Performances you’ve watched or been involved in or both.
A recent inspiration was hearing 88-year-old Russian pianist and escapee Mikhail Voskresensky perform at WWU. He is an amazing pianist and human, and he is returning to WWU this November – look him up!
An inspiring performance that I was involved with was performing Leonard Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety with the WWU orchestra. The students were so excited about it and worked really hard on it.
What are among your favorite classical pieces with and/or without piano?
Many of my favorite solo pieces to play are by J.S. Bach and one of my projects this year is to spend an hour a day learning fugues. I also love to listen to Beethoven’s late string quartets, and I love to play and hear new music. I enjoy the challenges of working on modern scores and I am especially drawn to music composed by women.
What was a most unusual performance you were involved in?
One of the most unusual was performing the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with the Whatcom (Bellingham) Symphony. It is an incredibly beautiful piece but was a stretch musically for both audience and orchestra. Roger Briggs was conducting and he was totally committed to the project. For awhile after people thought of me as ‘that girl who played the really strange piece’.
Tell us your thoughts on the art of chamber music?
I’m going to use this question to give a shout-out to two local chamber music programs for youth: Bellingham Youth Chamber Players through the BSO and Chamber Days music camp at Western. I am convinced that playing chamber music is one of the best things a young musician can do, not just to build skills and techniques, but to learn how to work with others, communicate, grow friendships, develop a shared passion, and just have fun! My private students and my own kids have made deep friendships playing chamber music together.
How do you spend your time outside music? Other interests?
As I mentioned before, I love being outside. Hiking, backpacking, running, biking, and growing plants both indoors and out are passions. I also love to travel, sometimes to unusual places, with my family.
