Biographical Info

Gwen Franz is excited to join the Centrum team as Interim Program Manager of Chamber Music, Choro, and Jazz. 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 Brazilian Choro Workshop since 2010, and in 2019, was a participate 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.