Andy Carlson

Andrew Carlson

Adjunct Instructor of Music, Fiddle and Violin

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Andrew Carlson is a violinist with over twenty years of University teaching and administrative experience. He regularly appears as a classical violin recitalist, orchestral musician, and is equally comfortable performing music ranging from bluegrass, gypsy jazz, country, blues, rockabilly, and American roots music. Following his performance at Merkin Hall, the New York Times wrote “Mr. Carlson is a demon fiddler, and his performance here was serious and concentrated.”

As a violin soloist, he has appeared with orchestras including the Columbus Symphony (OH), Hendersonville Symphony (NC), Huntington Symphony (WV), Newark-Granville Symphony (OH), Bloomington Symphony (MN), and The University of Iowa Symphony. A published author and composer, he has presented six times at the American String Teacher’s Association national conference. His scholarly focus is the performance practice of North American fiddling, and he has developed a system to teach classically trained musicians how to authentically replicate the unique sound of traditional American music. Carlson is an active studio musician, arranger, conductor, and clinician. Additionally, he is the two-time Georgia state fiddle champion and the Ohio grand champion fiddler.

He has earned a DMA in violin performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa as a recipient of the Pelzer Performance Fellowship. His MM and BMUS in performance are from the University of Georgia. He studied with Leopold LaFosse (Iowa) and Thomas Joiner (Georgia).

He has served as an assistant professor at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, and full professor and department chair at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He joined the Furman University Department of Music in 2019 as a Visiting Professor of Violin and Coordinator/Conductor of the Furman Symphony Orchestra.

Education

  • DMA, The University of Iowa
  • MM, The University of Georgia
  • BMUS, The University of Georgia

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