About

MARJI GERE is a Somerville-based violinist, teacher, writer, organizer, and collaborator across art forms. Her artistry and commitment to social justice have led her to connect with people of many ages, backgrounds, and dispositions in classrooms, concert halls, community centers and care facilities in and beyond her native Midwest and her adopted home of New England. In 2017, with mentorship from the directors of Somerville social organizations The Welcome Project and Mystic Learning Center, and funding from the Somerville Arts Council and the St. Botolph Club Foundation, Marji piloted the project that has become Around Hear: a free chamber music performance and education program for the residents, providers, and beneficiaries of the Somerville Housing Authority. Marji graduated from the University of Iowa in 2002 with Bachelor’s degrees in Music (violin performance) and English, a scholarship student in both departments; in 2007, she earned a Master’s in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Between her undergraduate and graduate school experiences, she served as fellow of a US State Department program in Cyprus, where she investigated the role of chamber music in conflict resolution.

Born in Worcester, DAN SEDGWICK is a Somerville-based pianist, composer, and teacher with wide-ranging musical interests and a whole-hearted dedication to chamber music. Together with violinist Marji Gere, he co-directs Around Hear, a free chamber music series and music education project based in the Somerville Housing Authority. Dan has worked as a music educator in academic institutions, summer programs, and community music programs, including the Harvard Music Department, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, Project STEP in Boston, Xenharmonic Praxis Summer Camp (Hillsboro, WV and Salem, NY), and Brookline Music School. He has performed as guest pianist and composed chamber music for the Dilijan Chamber Music Series of Los Angeles, the Apple Hill Summer Concert Series of Nelson, NH, and the Sonad Glen Brook Workshop of Marlborough, NH. Dan holds master’s and doctoral degrees in music composition from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where his primary teachers were Kurt Stallmann and Karim Al-Zand. His primary mentors in piano performance include Eric Stumacher, Mark Manuel, and Jeanne Kierman Fischer.