Gwen Franz joined the Centrum team in 2023 as the Program Manager of Jazz, Chamber Music, and Brazilian Choro. She brings many years of experience as a classical violist, soloist, chamber musician, orchestral member, recording artist and concert producer. Gwen discovered Fiddle Tunes at Centrum in 2007, then became a regular attender of the Choro Workshop in 2010, and in 2019, participated in Jazz Port Townsend. Gwen’s doctoral studies at the University of Washington were largely inspired by her experiences at Centrum which contributed to her doctoral thesis about how by-ear learning and improvisation can benefit all musicians. She and her husband moved to Port Townsend in 2017.