Biography
Early Life
Charles Treger was born in Detroit, MI. He began taking violin lessons when he was 7 years old and made his public debut at 11, playing the Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2.
At age 16, he started playing in the violin section of The Detroit Symphony.
Charles Treger studied with William Engels during his formative years and later, William Kroll at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He also studied with Szymon Goldberg and Ivan Galamian at the Aspen Music School.
Career
In 1962 at age 27, he became the first and only American to win first prize at the Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland. This win, which came during the Cold War and prompted a congratulatory from President John E Kennedy, ignited an international career that spanned 50+ years.
Charles Treger regularly performed his repertoire of more than fifty concertos with every leading orchestra worldwide and conductors including Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, and Pierre Boulez. He appeared with the Pittsburgh Symphony as soloist for a 30-concert tour of 14 European and Middle Eastern Countries. Among his recital achievements are a well-remembered series of three Town Hall concerts entitled, "A Romantic Revival For The Violin" and three Carnegie Hall performances in celebration of his 25th anniversary season.
A founding member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Charles Treger further fulfilled his love of chamber music with pianist Andre Watts as the Treger-Watts duo by touring for 7 years. He has also performed in chamber music and recital with such artists as Rudolph Serkin, Emanuel Ax, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin and The Bach Aria Group. Mr. Treger never forgot the importance of the Wieniawski prize in helping to establish his career and returned to Poland for 5 tours.
Charles Treger's instrument is the beautiful "Hartmann" Stradivarius, made in 1723, a prime example of Stradivarius' "golden" period. Charles Treger has recorded for Mercury Desto, Muza, and Columbia First Edition Records.
Teaching
In 1960 at age 25, Charles Treger became an associate music professor at the University of Iowa, Iowa City and also played in he Iowa String Quartet. He left Iowa in 1970 to move to New York continuing his performing career and in 1972 also became a visiting professor at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. which included giving Master classes. In 1984, he succeeded Ivan Galamian as President and Director of famed Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, NY. Other associations included visiting professor at Lawrence University in Appleton WI where he also received and Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, and visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Charles Treger also served on foundations and arts organizations including the
National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation.