The board of directors of the Port Angeles Symphony has awarded the 2013 Biz Gehrke Award to Rick Thanem. 

Owner of The Violin Shop in Port Angeles, Thanem has been a member of the orchestra’s violin section for 15 years and has built a fine reputation for quality repairs and crafting new instruments. 

He has donated some of his handcrafted violins to youth programs and has donated all of his work on instruments for the Symphony’s Youth Orchestra program. 

The Biz Gehrke Award was established in 1984 to honor symphony co-founder Ernest Gehrke.