- MMus 1988, Performance, Eastman School of Music
- BMus 1986, Performance, Eastman School of Music
Violinist Fritz Gearhart has performed for audiences from coast to coast. The third generation of professional musicians in his family, Gearhart has appeared in concert from coast to coast as recitalist and chamber musician. He has appeared in major halls in the United States including Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y and the Kennedy Center as well as several concerts in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie. Recent appearances outside the U. S. include appearances in South Korea, Austria, Croatia, Spain and Germany. His recordings are heard frequently on National Public Radio, including past live broadcasts on WFMT Chicago, WQXR in New York and most recently KQAC in Portland Oregon. Gearhart has also been featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated program Performance Today. A sampling from the press: "...a sizzling performance..."(The Wall Street Journal), "...supple and imaginative..."(The New York Times), "...a superlative evening of musicmaking..."(New York Concert Review), and "Gearhart is a bold assertive player..."(Strad).
Gearhart has a rich background of chamber music through his career and has performed with both the Chester and Oregon String Quartets extensively, as well as many other chamber music ensembles throughout the years. He has recorded numerous compact discs for Albany, Koch Entertainment, Centaur Records and Bridge Records, as well as several online releases on his own label, Serayna Records. Gearhart has an extensive repertoire in sonatas and chamber music and has performed complete cycles of the Beethoven String Quartets and the Beethoven Violin Sonatas.
Currently a faculty member at the University of Oregon School of Music, Gearhart has taught at the university level since 1990, including previous appointments at East Carolina University and Indiana University at South Bend. Gearhart has been a featured clinician at music conventions and workshops for National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Conference, American String Teachers Association (ASTA), and National School Orchestra Association (NSOA), and has presented master classes at music schools all around the country, including Texas Christian University, Boise State University, Ithaca College, UNC Greensboro, University of Oklahoma, Eastman School of Music, and the Hartt School, among many others. He is a frequent adjudicator, and was a judge for the National Fischoff Competition in 2008. Gearhart has been a featured clinician at several national conventions including ASTA in Detroit, Kansas City and Santa Clara, CA where he was also the featured chamber music coach. In addition to his many performing and teaching activities, Gearhart has also appeared as a guest conductor of several string festivals around the country, including South Carolina All-State String Orchestra, Northern Virginia Honors Orchestra, Wyoming String Clinic, and All-City Strings in Salem, OR.
Throughout the years, Gearhart has been on the faculty of many different summer festivals across the country, but recently lauched his own with co-director Hal Grossman -- the new Redfish Chamber Music Festival on the southern Oregon coast.
Gearhart received his Master's Degree and prestigious Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Donald Weilerstein. Earlier studies at the Hartt School included work with Charles Treger and members of the Emerson Quartet.
Selected Discography:
Online releases from 2020, see Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc
- Beethoven Sonatas Live Op. 12, (1-3), Op. 23, Op. 24, Op. 30, (2-3)
- William Grant Still: Works for Violin and Piano
- Three Romantic Sonatas Live (Brahms A major, Schumann A minor, Strauss Sonata)
- Complete Works for Violin and Piano by Prokofiev (Live)
- OFAM Presents: William Grant Still, Fritz Gearhart, Oregon String Quartet, Victor Steinhardt - Koch International CD #7546
- Robert Casadesus: Complete Works for Violin ~ by Robert Casadesus, Fritz Gearhart (Audio CD) Koch International Classics - #7528 Audio CD / August 28, 2001
- Porter: Unpublished Manuscripts ~ Quincy Porter(Composer), Fritz Gearhart(Performer) (Audio CD) Koch International Classics - #7439 / August 18, 1998
- The Aaron Copland Collection ~ Aaron Copland(Composer), et al (Audio CD) Koch International Classics - #7608 / October 15, 1996
- American Violin ~ Aaron Copland(Composer), et al (Audio CD) Koch International Classics - #7268 / July 19, 1996
- Robert Fuchs: Phantasiestücke, Op. 117/Sonate, Op. 86/Trio, Op. 115 ~ Robert Fuchs (Composer), et al (Audio CD) Centaur - #2278 / April 23, 1996