THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Faculty Recital
Evan Thomas Jones, Baritone Heidi Louise Williams, Piano
Saturday, January 21, 2023 4:00 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Schwanengesang, D957
Franz Schubert
I. Liebesbotschaft (1797–1828)
II. Kriegers Ahnung
III. Frühlingssehnsucht
IV. Ständchen
V. Aufenthalt
VI. In der Ferne
VII. Abschied
VIII. Der Atlas
IX. Ihr Bild
X. Das Fischermädchen
XI. Die Stadt
XII. Am Meer
XIII. Der Doppelgänger
XIV. Die Taubenpost
– Pause –
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Health Reminder: The Florida Board of Governors and Florida State University expect masks to be worn by all individuals in all FSU facilities.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Originally from Buffalo, NY, baritone Evan Thomas Jones has sung a wide variety of roles in opera, most notably both Mozart and Rossini’s Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Sam in Trouble in Tahiti. In addition to an active opera career, Dr. Jones has portrayed a number of roles in musical theater and operetta. Highlights include the roles of Voltaire and Pangloss in Candide, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Danilo Danilovich in The Merry Widow, and Fredrik Egerman in A Little Night Music. In concert he has been featured as a soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana, the Brahms and Fauré Requiems, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Bach’s St. John’s and St. Matthew’s passions. He is particularly in demand as an interpreter of the concert repertoire of Ralph Vaughn Williams’ having performed the Five Mystical Songs, Serenade to Music, Dona Nobis Pacem, and Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Dr. Jones has sung at the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals, as well as with Opera Memphis, Opera Naples, Berkshire Opera Company, Opera, Compañía Lírica Nacional de Costa Rica, Finger Lakes Opera, Mercury Opera, the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras, the Memphis and Jackson Symphonies as well the Finger Lakes Choral Festival, and the Augusta Choral Society.
Dr. Jones is also active in the performance of new works. He sang as the featured soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus on the world premiere recording of Randol Bass’ Passage Into Spirit. Dr. Jones also created the role of Roger Clinton in the world premiere performance of the new opera Billy Blythe in Little Rock, Arkansas. At FSU, Jones was the baritone soloist for the premiere performance and Naxos recording of Dohnányi’s Orchesterlieder with the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra and premiered Timothy Hoekman’s work, Your Devoted Hugo.
Praised by New York critic Harris Goldsmith for her ‘impeccable soloistic authority’ and ‘dazzling performances’, American pianist Heidi Louise Williams has appeared in solo and collaborative performances across North America and internationally, having won numerous prizes. Her engagements have included recitals at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Taiwan National Recital Hall in Taipei, the Chicago Cultural Center, the French Embassy in Washington D.C., and festivals in Europe and the United States. Her playing has been heard on WFMT Chicago, Classic 99 St. Louis, WQLN Pennsylvania, and KUAT Tucson, and on classical stations throughout Taiwan and Canada.
An avid chamber musician, Williams has collaborated with numerous outstanding American and international artists. Collaborative recording projects include her award-winning 2018 Albany Records release with soprano Mary Mackenzie, Vocalisms, a 2-disc album devoted to premiere recordings of American Art Songs by Crozier, Harbison, Primosch and Rorem; Conversa, an album of North and South American cello-piano duos released in December 2021 with cellist Gregory Sauer; and Bass Favorites and Transcriptions from the 18th Century, a 2022 Centaur Records release with bassist George Speed. An ardent promoter of new music, Williams has worked with many distinguished composers. Her Albany Records solo album, Drive American, was named among the top ten classical albums of 2011 in the Philadelphia City Paper, featured in Fanfare’s 2012 Critics’ Want Lists, and has been described as ‘veritably operatic’, ‘bold yet thoughtful’, ‘provocative and stimulating’ (Fanfare), possessing ‘…the muscularity and poetic power to bring this demanding repertory to life’ (American Record Guide). Her 2019 Albany Records solo release Beyond the Sound, featuring sonatas by Griffes, Walker, Floyd, and Barber, was selected twice for inclusion in the 2020 Fanfare Critics’ Want Lists. She has also recorded for the Naxos and Neos labels.
Recipient of both a 2020 Undergraduate Teaching Award and a 2020 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award from Florida State University, Williams joined the FSU College of Music in 2007. Her growing roster of graduate and undergraduate students have won regional, national, and international recognition, and are actively employed in teaching and performing roles across the U.S. and abroad. Williams completed her BM, MM, and DMA degrees at the Peabody Institute, where she studied with Ann Schein and coached chamber music with Earl Carlyss, Samuel Sanders, Stephen Kates, and Robert McDonald.