Matt Glaser Wins American String Teachers Association Award

The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) awarded Berklee's Matt Glaser the prestigious Artist Teacher Award at its annual convention, held this year in Providence, Rhode Island. Glaser is the first non-classical string teacher to win the award, which is considered the ASTA's highest honor.

May 28, 2013

The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) awarded Berklee's Matt Glaser the prestigious Artist Teacher Award at its annual convention, held this year in Providence, Rhode Island. Glaser is the first non-classical string teacher to win the award, which is considered the ASTA's highest honor. Past recipients include Joseph Szigeti, Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Dorothy DeLay, and Ivan Galamian. 

"Although I certainly do not deserve this, I am very happy to accept it metonymically on behalf of this incredible community of American folk and jazz string players who are my heroes and friends," said Glaser. 

Glaser is the founder and artistic director of Berklee's American Roots Music Program, which teaches a wide range of folk-based styles and uses a broader definition of "roots" to explore our Western musical traditions, from Bach to African music. He previously served as chair of the Berklee String Department for 28 years. Glaser is the first and only recipient of the Stephane Grappelli Memorial Award, which recognizes his contribution to teaching improvised string music. He advised on and appeared in the Ken Burns documentary Jazz, and has performed at the White House, and at Carnegie Hall with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor.