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Chester's Aaberg to get MSU honorary doctorate

Hi-Line native Philip Aaberg, internationally known as a keyboardist and composer, will receive an honorary doctorate at Montana State University graduation ceremonies Dec. 14.

MSU President Waded Cruzado praised Aaberg, who was born in Havre and raised in Chester, for launching "a new Montana music legacy that connects a global audience to the sweeping landscape of the West."

"Phil has constantly offered himself as a mentor, teacher, performer, adjudicator and arts advocate while using his celebrity status to help with numerous fundraising events for myriad causes and organizations," said Eric Funk, MSU music professor and host of the Emmy-winning "11th & Grant with Eric Funk," a Montana PBS show on which Aaberg has appeared several times.

Aaberg said he was humbled and honored to receive the degree.

The first thing he thought of was his grandparents, who raised him.

"For two or three years, they had to live in the poor house, as people called it," he said. His grandparents' experience taught him never to look down on people who need help, he said.

He said he also thought of his mother, who had to drop out of school because she had to go to work.

"She was one of the most intelligent people I ever knew," he said.

Aaberg said he was especially thrilled because the degree came from MSU. His first connection with the school came when he was in eighth grade, he said. He attended chamber music workshops at the university every summer he was in high school, he said.

He also played drums and an organ in a garage band he and his brother created while in high school. He played baritone and tuba in the Chester High School band.

By the time he was 15, he traveled on the train 12 hours one-way every two weeks from Chester to Spokane, Wash., so that he could study with Margaret Saunders Ott, a Juilliard-trained pianist and teacher. While still in high school, he played in symphony orchestras in Billings, Bozeman and Spokane, Wash.

He earned a Leonard Bernstein Scholarship to Harvard University.

Aaberg moved to California, where he recorded or toured with Peter Gabriel, the Doobie Brothers, Kenny Rogers and Vince Gill.

He returned to Chester, where he released his solo album, "High Plains."

He has received Emmy nominations for his album "Live from Montana" in 2000 and the soundtrack from Montana PBS' "Class C: The Only Game in Town."

Aaberg said MSU's decision to grant the degree was an indication of the importance Montanas are now placing on music.

"Music has always had a strong place in Montana," he said. "But this indicates the importance that music holds at MSU and in Montana."

Aaberg has traveled the world performing concerts, but he always loves returning to Chester.

"This is where my heart is," he said.

He and his wife operate a bed and breakfast in Chester.

 

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