Music Maker's Master Class

Nona Pyron, internationally known cellist and adjunct professor at Westmont, will gather professional musicians from across the country for a Chamber Music Retreat on campus Friday, March 20, through Sunday, March 22. Westmont students and other skilled amateurs will also participate in the master class. The retreat is full, but auditors are welcome to listen in.

Pyron has led the chamber music master class in Santa Barbara since 1999. Participants this season come from the Los Angeles area, Colorado and as far away as Chicago.

An authority on the history of the instrument, Pyron taught cello and chamber music in London and at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., before coming to Santa Barbara. She is known for concert performances combining rare 18th century pieces played on period instruments with a more standard repertoire on a modern cello. She co-authored the book “Cello” with William Pleeth for the Yehundi Menuhin Series and is founder and editor-in-chief of Grancino Editions, publisher of more than 100 unknown or forgotten compositions from the 18th century. They are taken from her collection of over 8,000 works uncovered during years of research in Europe.

Pyron describes the master class as halfway between a private lesson and a public performance. Musicians will meet each day in Kerrwood Hall’s Hieronymus Lounge 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and in Deane Chapel 2 to 6 p.m.

For more information contact coordinator Zandra Hanson at (626) 585-1925 or zandrahanson@gmail.com.