Micah Gangwer
Micah Gangwer is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Principal Second Violinist of the South Carolina Philharmonic, and the Associate Concertmaster of Symphony Orchestra Augusta. He is currently a doctoral candidate in violin performance at the University of South Carolina, and received his undergraduate and masters degrees from Miami University and the University of Oklahoma respectively. Micah, a native of Toledo Ohio, began studying the violin at the age of four, and has studied privately with violinists Stephan Shipps, William Terwilliger, Movses Pogossian, Jacqueline Ross, Harvey Thurmer, and Felicia Moye. Micah made his solo debut performing with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra when he was eleven years old, and throughout his childhood and college he won a number of solo and concerto competitions. He has performed concertos and concert pieces by Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Wieniawski, Saint-Saens, Massenet, Fritz Kreisler, John Williams, and Samuel Barber with various university and professional orchestras across America, and has also been showcased on public radio and television as a soloist for the Music Under the Stars series. Recent solo performances include the Tan Dun Violin Concerto “The Love” with Symphony Orchestra Augusta, and the Suite for Violin and Orchestra by William Grant Still with the South Carolina Philharmonic.
As a chamber musician, Mr. Gangwer has played in concerts across America and Europe including performances for ambassadors, royalty, and several heads of state (including former Prime Minister Sir John Major of Great Britain). In 2003 Micah was a finalist in the internationally recognized Coleman Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Lennox Trio. He has been coached by current and former members of some of the premier chamber ensembles of the world, including the Miami, Amernet, Oxford, Debussy, Vienna, and Kronos quartets. Micah has participated and performed in many festivals and institutes including the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Salzburg Chamber Music Institute. Mr. Gangwer also performed, toured, and recorded for three summers as a member of the Echternach Festival Orchestra of Luxembourg, and served for several seasons as the concertmaster of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Charleston SC.