THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Faculty/Guest Artist Recital
“String Faculty and Friends”
Wendy
Sharp, Violin
Corinne Stillwell, Violin
Marka Gustavsson, Viola
Pamela Ryan, Viola
Mimi Hwang, Cello
Gregory Sauer, Cello
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
7:30 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No. 2 (1772)
PROGRAM
Joseph Haydn
Moderato (1732–1809)
Capriccio. Adagio – Cantabile
Minuet. Allegretto – Trio
Fuga a 4 soggetti. Allegro
Entr’Acte (2011)
Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
INTERMISSION
Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36 (1866)
Johannes Brahms
Allegro non troppo (1833–1897)
Scherzo. Allegro non troppo – Presto giocoso
Poco Adagio
Poco Allegro
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.
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.
Award-winning violinist Wendy Sharp performs frequently as a recitalist and a chamber musician. In demand as a teacher and chamber music coach, she is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and California Summer Music and maintains a private studio. At Yale, Sharp teaches Music 221-The Performance of Chamber Music, coordinates the School of Music Chamber Music program and has a studio of undergraduate violinists. For nearly a decade, Sharp was the first violinist of the Franciscan String Quartet. As a member of the Quartet, she toured the USA, Canada, Europe and Japan, and was honored with many awards including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Press and City of Evian Prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition. A native of the San Francisco Bay area, she attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with Distinction in Music and received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Sharp has served on the faculties of Mannes College, Dartmouth College, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Choate Rosemary Hall, and has participated in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Chamber Music West, Norfolk, and Music Academy of the West festivals.
A four-time graduate of The Juilliard School, violinist Corinne Stillwell is Associate Professor at Florida State University and Concertmaster of the Tallahassee Symphony. She has enjoyed an active career as a solo performer, chamber collaborator, concertmaster, pedagogue, and arts advocate. With performances across the U.S. and in Germany, China, Canada, Romania, Hungary, and Poland, she performed as a member of the Harrington String Quartet and Associate Concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic. She is a passionate advocate for community engagement, and is Artistic Director of Music For Food Tallahassee, teaches chamber music courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and mentors the Carriola Quartet for their interactive educational performances across the Florida panhandle. Currently on the faculty at Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, she taught at the Brevard Music Center from 2009-2022 and was previously on the faculties at West Texas A&M University, Kinhaven, Point Counterpoint, and the Hochstein Community Music School, where she was Director of Chamber Music.
A dedicated chamber musician, Marka Gustavsson has performed in major halls across Europe, Canada, the United States, as well as China, the Philippines, Japan and Israel. Gustavsson’s interest in new music has led her to work closely with many composers including John Halle, Joan Tower, Kyle Gann, George Tsontakis, David Del Tredici, Martin Bresnick, Harold Farberman, and Tan Dun. Gustavsson is a member of the Manhattan String Quartet. From 1999 until 2014, she performed as violist of the Colorado Quartet, touring traditional programs, including cycles of Schubert, Beethoven, and Bartok. The quartet actively commissioned and performed new works of Keith Fitch, Laura Kaminsky, Rob Maggio, and Tamar Muskal. Currently Gustavsson holds a faculty position at Bard College where she performs in the Blithewood and Bardian Ensembles. She has spent the past several summers teaching in Yellow Barn’s Young Artists’ Program, in Putney, VT.
Pamela Ryan, Professor of Viola at Florida State University, is an active and varied performer and teacher. She recently performed a consortium premier of Joel Puckett’s viola concerto, I lie awake and remember, with Rodney Dorsey, conductor, and the FSU Wind Orchestra, and has performed many concertos with orchestras including the Thailand Philharmonic and Aspen Philharmonia. She was faculty artist for festivals at Aspen, Brevard, Yellow Barn, Schlern/ Italy, Green Mountain, Idyllwild, Round Top, and Bowdoin. She recorded chamber music for Naxos, Col Legno and
Canadian Broadcasting Company labels. Ryan was principal violist of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Tallahassee Symphony (28 years). She performed Balinese rebab with gamelans in Bali and San Francisco and performs as a jazz violist with JazzEtcetera of Tallahassee. Ryan won the Aspen Young Artist Viola Concerto Competition, the FSU University Teaching Award and was praised by the American Record Guide for “superb technique and musicianship.” She has been a soloist, presenter, featured journal author, adjudicator, masterclass teacher and national board member for the American Viola Society and the American String Teachers Association, most recently in 2022, 2023, and 2025. She is proud of former students holding leadership positions in orchestras, chamber ensembles, and schools on 5 continents.
Award-winning cellist Mimi Hwang performs frequently as a recitalist and chamber musician. She was a founding member of the Franciscan String Quartet, First Prize winner of the Banff International String Quartet Competition and top prize winner of the Evian International String Quartet Competition. The Quartet performed in concert halls throughout North America, Europe and Asia, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Casals Hall in Tokyo. The Quartet held the position of Wardwell Fellows at the Yale School of Music and was Quartet-in-Residence at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, where Hwang served on the faculty of the Department of Music. She has appeared in the festivals of Aspen, Banff, Norfolk, Roycroft, Skaneateles, Yellow Barn and with the Craftsbury Chamber Players. Hwang is currently an Assistant Professor of Chamber Music at the Eastman School of Music and a founding member of the Amenda Quartet. She is Co-Artistic Director of Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program and recently served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Chamber Music America. In 2017 she was honored with the Philanthropy Award from the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
Gregory Sauer, professor of cello at Florida State University, enjoys a vital and varied career as a teacher and performer. He has appeared in recital at prominent venues across the U.S. and at universities such as Vanderbilt and Rice University. Sauer has performed concertos with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Quad City Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Columbus (GA) Symphony, and the Missoula Symphony, among others. His most recent recording on the Albany label is titled Conversa, and features 20th and 21st century Brazilian and North American duos with pianist Heidi Louise Williams. As a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, Sauer played concerts in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Siena, Italy, and in the group’s first China tour. Other chamber music appearances have been at the Austin Chamber Music Center, the Victoria Bach Festival, and the Colorado Music Festival. In addition to the Florida State position, Sauer has taught at the Texas Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute.