Department of Music
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97301
(503) 370-6255 |
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Mailing Address:
Willamette University
Department of Music
900 State Street
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 370-6454
Fax: (503) 370-6260
Email: drouslin@willamette.edu
Office: Fine Arts East 222 |
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I began studying violin at the age of six with a teacher who
had emigrated from Odessa in the USSR. His nephew began violin
around the same time, and the two of us became friends and often
got together on Saturday afternoons to listen to records together.
He would play something that he loved, but I didn't know, and
I would do the same. In short, we reinforced each other's passion
for music.
I majored in violin performance in both undergraduate school
at the Oberlin Conservatory, and in graduate school at the University
of Iowa, and took a two-year stint in between at the University
of Chicago to perform contemporary music as a Rockefeller fellow.
I also played with a number of orchestras in Chicago, including
the American Ballet Theater, the Grant Park Symphony, and a
"pickup" orchestra that played under Igor Stravinsky as part
of his series of farewell concerts. My years in Chicago gave
me the opportunity to compare the life of a free-lance musician
with that of an academic. I discovered that there were too many
interesting ways of being involved with music to limit myself
strictly to playing it. My first long-term appointment was with
the Delos String Quartet in which I served as first violinist
from 1973 to 1986. The Delos was in residence at the University
of Delaware, and since I was the only member of the ensemble
with a doctorate, I got to teach Music Appreciation to approximately
230 students for fifteen semesters.
During the decade from 1981 to 1990, I was fortunate to do quite
a bit of international touring, first with the Delos Quartet,
which went on seven European tours, and later with Trio Northwest,
the faculty trio at Willamette University, which toured South
America for two months. Finally I was sent by the USIA to the
middle east for six weeks as a violin soloist, and just barely
got out of Iraq before the 1990 Gulf War.
My position at Willamette University has me wearing many hats
- that of violin and viola professor, that of theory and literature
teacher, that of chamber music coach, and that of conductor
of the University Chamber Orchestra. After years of focussing
on performance, I find that this diversified position suits
who I am quite well. It brings me full circle back to those
Saturday afternoons as a nine-year old, discovering and helping
my students discover the magic that is music.
Professor Daniel Rouslin, Violin/Viola/Chamber Music, B.M.,
Oberlin College Conservatory of Music; Rockefeller Fellow, University
of Chicago; D.M.A., University of Iowa. Formerly first violinist
of the Delos String Quartet; has recorded on the Specturm label,
as well as for Crystal Records, North Pacific Music, and the
Smithsonian Collection. Member of Trio Oregon and Ensemble East
West. Has performed throughout Europe, as well as in South America,
the Middle East, Japan, China, and the United States.
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