Andrew Dawes

Dawes, Andrew

Dawes, Andrew (Albert). Violinist, b High River, near Calgary, 7 Feb 1940. He studied violin 1947-57 with Clayton Hare initially in Calgary, commuting to Portland Ore for the last two years, and 1957-60 with Murray Adaskin in Saskatoon. On Isaac Stern's advice he completed his training 1960-5 with Lorand Fenyves at the Cons de Genève, where he received in 1964 the Prix de virtuosité with the highest marks awarded to that date. Previously he had won the 1962 national competition of the JMC (YMC) and, with his pianist-sister Marylou, third prize in the 1963 Munich duo competition. He also won first prize at the 1967 JMC competition in Vancouver and awards at the 1966 and 1969 Montreal International Competitions. He has appeared in Europe with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande and the Belgrade Philharmonic, and in Canada with the major orchestras and at the Scotia Festival of Music. He has given recitals in Canada, the USA, and several European countries.

Dawes was the first violin of the Orford String Quartet throughout its existence and with the other members of the quartet taught chamber music 1971-4 at the Kelso Music Centre summer quartet camp and 1972-91 at the University of Toronto, and in 1991 served on the juries of the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition and the Glory of Mozart Chamber Music Competition in St John's, Nfld. Dawes has also served on other juries, eg, at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and in 1991 at the London International String Quartet Competition. His article on the string quartets of Schafer appeared in Strings (May-Jun 1991). In Dawes' playing, whether as soloist or as quartet leader, keen intuition and high energy are controlled by a schooled and capable musical mind.