THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music and the
Florida State Music Teachers Association present
“Legacies in Sound” A Faculty Concert
Saturday, October 17, 2026 7:30 p.m. | Opperman Music Hall
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.
PROGRAM Hold Fast to Dreams (1945)
Florence Price (1887–1953)
Still from Though Love Be a Day (1979) Peace (2022)
Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947)
Marcía Porter, soprano Natalie Sherer, piano
Jasmine Barnes (b. 1991)
Dreams by Langston Hughes (1922)
Still by Gwyneth Walker
Peace by Georgia Douglas Johnson (1922)
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.
When the streets are newwet dawning, night lamps glowing, capering eyes, walk gently in the song of morning you are with me as I arise. Still, still beyond my fingers, beyond the reaching of my eyes, comes the time beyond my seeking you are with me as I arise. Comes the time beyond all question: is it you or is it I who spoke the word to crack the darkness, to bring you near as I arise. Love, love this moment glistens in sacred mourning of our lives. Beyond the speaking and the breaking you are with me as I arise.
Peace on a thousand hills and dales, Peace in the hearts of men While kindliness reclaims the soil Where bitterness has been. The night of strife is drifting past, The storm of shell has ceased. Disrupted is the cordon fell, Sweet charity released. Forth from the shadow, swift we come Wrought in the flame together. All men as one beneath the sun In brotherhood forever.
Prelude in E-Flat Minor, Op. 12, No. 2 (1928)
Abram Chasins (1903–1987)
Sonata for Piano (1949) I. Allegro energico II. Allegro vivace e leggero III. Adagio mesto IV. Fuga: Allegro con spirito
Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Anna Dmytrenko, piano
Sextet, Op. 37 (1935) I. Allegro appassionata
Deborah Bish, clarinet; Michelle Stebleton, horn Sophia Han, violin; Pamela Ryan, viola; Gregory Sauer, cello Qing Jiang, piano
Ernst von Dohnányi (1877–1960)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS Deborah Bish is Professor of Clarinet at Florida State University. She has performed with orchestras throughout the United States, including the Arizona Opera (most notably in a production of the Ring Cycle), the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra under the direction of Jeffrey Siegel, the Phoenix Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Arkansas Symphony. Currently, she performs as Principal Clarinetist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. She has been featured as a recitalist, clinician, and chamber musician at several festivals and conventions including performances at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall; the Shanghai Conservatory in Shanghai, China; the European Clarinet Association’s Conference in Tilburg; several of the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFests®, including Dublin, Ostende, Baton Rouge, Lincoln, Austin, Vancouver, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City; the College Band Director’s National Association Convention in Atlanta, Georgia; the Florida Music Educators Association Convention in Tampa, Florida; and the Festival Internacional de Inverno in Vale Vêneto, Brazil. Bish has taught at several summer music festivals, including Interlochen, Aria Academy, and the Lift Academy. She is currently on the faculty at the Belgian Clarinet Academy. Her biography appears in the twenty-fourth edition of the Marquis Who’s Who of American Women and several editions of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She has received the University Undergraduate Teaching Award at Florida State University and has served as an adjudicator in a variety of competitions, including both the Young Artist’s Competition and the High School Competition for the International Clarinet Association. Hailed as “a fine combination of keyboard mastery and elegant refinement,” UkrainianAmerican pianist Anna Dmytrenko has distinguished herself as a versatile artist on the international stage. Over the course of her career, she has performed in some of the world’s most renowned venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Popejoy Hall, Temple Emanu-El, Auditorium Gaber, Paris Philharmonie, Salle Cortot, Smetana Hall, Teatro Sociale di Como, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, and the Amman Royal Cultural Center. In 2026, she joined the faculty of Florida State University College of Music as Assistant Professor of Piano. Dmytrenko’s artistry has been recognized with prizes at numerous international competitions. She won top prizes at the Cantu International Piano Competition, Manhattan International Music Competition, New York International
Piano Competition, and Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition. At the inaugural Olga Kern International Piano Competition, she received Second Prize, along with the Audience Choice and Best Contemporary Piece awards, performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in the final round with the New Mexico Philharmonic under Vladimir Kern. Concerto highlights include appearances with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, conducting Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 from the keyboard, as well as with the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic, Prague Summer Nights Festival Orchestra, Amman Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, and the Bacău Philharmonic Orchestra. Festival appearances include the Verbier Festival, Festival de Piano Rafael Orzo de Córdoba, International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. Her debut album, Anna Dmytrenko: Live in Recital, features works by Medtner, Rachmaninoff, and Barber. Deeply connected to her Ukrainian roots, Dmytrenko has performed fundraising concerts in support of Ukraine, including solo and concerto appearances organized by Classical Movements. She is committed to championing the works of Ukrainian composers, such as Bortkiewicz, Kosenko, Silvestrov, and Skoryk. Her dedication reflects a broader artistic vision: using music not only as a vehicle for personal expression, but also as a means of celebrating cultural heritage and fostering community through the arts. Dmytrenko earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Olga Kern, where she was honored with the Helen Cohn Award, presented to an exceptional doctoral graduate. She began her musical studies in Mariupol, Ukraine, continued in Delaware with Jeanne Pascal and David Brown, and then entered the Juilliard School Pre-College Division to study with Oxana Yablonskaya. She holds a Bachelor’s degree with Regents Award from the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Christopher Elton, and earned two Master’s degrees in Solo and Chamber Music from the Universität der Künste in Berlin with Pascal Devoyon. In addition to her musical training, she completed Harvard Business School’s Credential of Readiness (CORe) program with honors, reflecting her interest in exploring the intersections of music, leadership, and professional development. Equally dedicated to scholarship and pedagogy, Dmytrenko taught piano classes for undergraduate and graduate students at the Manhattan School of Music during her doctoral studies, guiding students in developing essential keyboard skills and musical understanding. Her dissertation, Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2: An In-Depth Look from the Pianist’s Bench, focuses on a work that has been central to her performing career, providing practical guidance on both its historical context and practicing techniques from the perspective of the performing pianist. Deeply passionate about teaching, her philosophy centers on tailoring her approach to the unique strengths, goals, and needs of each student. With a career that bridges international performance, research, and education, she is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians while bringing audiences powerful and transformative concert experiences. Praised by Classical Voices of North Carolina for “making the violin seem easy, almost as child’s play,” violinist Sophia Han is a versatile performer. Han has appeared as guest soloist with orchestras across the United States and performed with artists including Michael Bublé, Audra McDonald, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and toured with the rock band STARSET. Among her extensive orchestral experience, Han has served as Associate Concertmaster of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra and has appeared with the St. Louis Symphony and The Florida Orchestra. Her chamber music experience includes performances with the 314 Quartet, the St. Louis Chamber Soloists, Rio Verde Quartet, and a distinctive violin-saxophone-piano trio alongside her husband, Dr. Zach Stern, and pianist Richard Blumenthal.
Currently serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin at Florida State University, Han is a dedicated educator and sought-after adjudicator. She is a proud alumna of Florida State University where she was a member of the graduate quartet in residence. Han has earned dual master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to returning to FSU as faculty, Han was Associate Professor of Violin and Viola at Southeast Missouri State University, where she founded the Performing Arts Thrive Here (PATH) Entrepreneurship Residency and built lasting connections with the surrounding community through numerous performances and educational outreach. Praised for “spirited” (Boston Globe) playing and “vigorous and passionate” (New York Times) performances, Chinese-born pianist Qing Jiang enjoys a diverse career in solo, chamber, and contemporary music. As a concerto soloist, Jiang has appeared with the Britten-Pears Orchestra under maestro Oliver Knussen, and the Lanzhou Symphony under revered Chinese conductor Zushan Bian, as well as with the Chattanooga Symphony, Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, and Arizona State University Orchestra. Passionate about chamber music, Jiang has performed with many leading artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Joel Krosnick, Joel Smirnoff, David Shifrin, Natalie Clein, and the Juilliard, Shanghai, Jasper, and Parker string quartets. She has held longstanding collaborations with cellist Michael Kannen, and violinist Ying Xue with whom she has performed at Yellow Barn and in Carnegie Hall at the invitation of celebrated violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Jiang has also performed extensively with Roger Tapping, Natasha Brofsky, and Laurie Smukler, including a multi-city China tour. Jiang is artist faculty at the Kneisel Hall Festival in Maine, as well as recurring faculty at Yellow Barn, Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program, and the Interlochen Chamber Music Camp. Other festival appearances include Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Aldeburgh, Perlman Music Program, and the Garth Newel Music Center. Curious and invigorated by collaboration, Jiang has appeared with fortepianists and Jazz improvisers, as well as with noted singers Susan Narucki, Ariadne Greif, and Lucy Fitz Gibbon. She has also worked with composers Jennifer Higdon, Jörg Widmann, Brett Dean, and Colin Matthews, and commissioned works by Zhou Tian, Juri Seo, Eric Nathan, and Daniel Temkin. A recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Award, Jiang trained at Arizona State University, Juilliard, and New England Conservatory, under Caio Pagano, Robert McDonald, Wha-kyung Byun and Patricia Zander. She has previously taught at New England Conservatory, the Curtis Institute, and Bucknell University. Jiang currently serves as the Associate Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Collaborative Arts at Florida State University. Award-winning soprano Marcía Porter made her New York solo recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2005. An active recitalist, the soprano has performed in numerous venues throughout the United States, Italy, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. Porter has sung at such prestigious international festivals as the Prague Proms, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival. She has performed with such national and international organizations as the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, Beijing International Symphony Orchestra (Beijing, China) and the Camerata Filarmonica Bohemia (Prague, Czech Republic). Porter has also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Chautauqua
Opera, Dayton Opera, and Chicago Opera Theatre. Porter’s discography includes the 2011 world premier recording of Requiem für Mozart, works for soprano and orchestra by Antonio Rosetti, which was released by the German record label Ars Produktion, and the 2013 recording, Open Thine Heart, a recording of contemporary American vocal works released by Albany Records. A Fulbright Scholar and Rotary International Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar, Porter has won several other awards and honors including the 2004 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Artist Award Competition, the NATS Intern program, finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Central Regional Competition, Jessye Norman Graduate Fellowship in Voice, Opera Carolina Young Artist Recital Program Award, and the Farwell Award. In 2011-2012 Porter was a Fulbright Scholar to Brazil. Her research was entitled “Bridging boundaries through musical collaboration and cultural exchange: a lecture and recital series of contemporary classical Brazilian and African American vocal literature.” During her residency at the Universidade de São Paulo, she presented numerous recitals, lectures and masterclasses in cities throughout Brazil including São Paulo, Campinas, Alphaville, Ribeirão Preto and Brasilia. Porter is a Professor of Voice at the Florida State University College of Music. She is a much sought after clinician and has presented masterclasses throughout the mid-western and southeastern US. She has served on the faculty of Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic and as a visiting Professor of Voice at Universidade de São Paulo. Porter, a graduate of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in voice performance from Northwestern University and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance from The University of Michigan, where she studied with world-renowned Metropolitan Opera singer Shirley Verrett. Previous teachers include Margaret Harshaw, Carmen Mehta, and Kathleen Kaun. Pamela Ryan, Professor of Viola at Florida State University College of Music, has performed and taught in many parts of the world. Invited solo appearances with orchestra include concerti by Hindemith, Mozart, and Walton, as well as by J. Boda, M. Feldman, S. Hicken, Milhaud, J. Puckett, R. Spano, Stamitz, Telemann, Vaughan Williams, and with the Thailand Philharmonic, both the Bartók Viola Concerto with conductor Darius Mikulski, and the Alan Shulman Theme and Variations with conductor Gudni Emilsson. Ryan has been a chamber music collaborator/faculty artist at many top US festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin Festival, Brevard Music Festival, Green Mountain Music Festival, Idyllwild Chamber Music Festival, Round Top Festival, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, and internationally, at the Schlern Music Festival (Fiè allo Sciliar, Italia). Ryan has recorded critically praised performances of chamber music for the Naxos and the Canadian Broadcasting Company labels. For three years she was the violist of the faculty quartet at Bowling Green State University, working with American composer George Crumb, and touring Carnegie Hall and Mexico City. Ryan served three seasons as principal violist of the Southwest Florida Symphony/Sanibel Chamber Orchestra, and for nearly three decades, principal viola of the Tallahassee Symphony. Ryan studied jazz with David Baker, and currently performs as a jazz violist with critically-praised jazz quartet, JazzEtcetera, since 2009. Ryan’s many distinctions include winning the Aspen Young Artist Viola Concerto Competition, the FSU University Teaching Award, and critical praise by the American Record Guide for “superb technique and musicianship.” She has
won competitive research grants to support her YouTube channel of live-recorded performances of her pioneering collection of performer-composed viola caprices. She was awarded two sabbatical semesters in support of her study of Balinese rebab with three rebab masters. Ryan has performed as rebabist with gamelans in Bali (Cudamani), San Francisco (Sekar Jaya), and at FSU (Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung). As a dedicated violist, she has given guest masterclasses throughout the US, and in Thailand and Italy, at colleges, conservatories, and conferences. She has served the American String Teachers Association as state president, masterclass and conference presenter, and has served the American Viola Society as national board member, featured journal author, performer, and national competition adjudicator. She has also supported many of her collegiate colleagues as an invited outside committee member for tenure and promotion. She recently accepted an invitation to serve on the International Artist Advisory Council at the College of Music at Mahidol University, Thailand. A popular teacher with a large viola studio-including many international students over the years-she is proud of her former students holding leadership positions in orchestras, chamber ensembles, and schools on five continents worldwide. Ryan holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory. Her teachers included Masao Kawasaki, Karen Tuttle, and Itzhak Perlman in many masterclasses. Professor of Cello Gregory Sauer joined the College of Music in 2006. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Gregory Sauer attended the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory. His principal teachers included Ada Marie Snyder, Charles Wendt, Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser, Bonnie Hampton and Colin Carr. For eleven years prior to his arrival at FSU Sauer taught at the University of Oklahoma, where he was named Presidential Professor (2005). Praised for his versatility, Sauer performs in many different musical arenas. He has appeared in recital at the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, the Brightmusic Concert Series in Oklahoma City, at universities and schools of music such as the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt, the Shepherd School at Rice University, the University of Iowa and the University of Tennessee, among many others. Sauer was a prizewinner in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Ima Hogg National competitions and has performed concertos with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the New American Chamber Orchestra, the Quad City Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Columbus (GA) Symphony, the Tallahassee Symphony, and the Missoula Symphony, among others. Sauer joined the Carpe Diem String Quartet in 2019, playing concerts in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Siena, Italy, and in the group’s first China tour. Along with his brother, Thomas Sauer, he serves as co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music Quad Cities in their hometown of Davenport, Iowa. Other chamber music ventures have resulted in appearances at the Austin Chamber Music Center, the Snake River Music Festival, the Victoria Bach Festival, the Texas Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival, and the Garth Newel Music Center. As a member of the Fidelio Quartet, a prizewinning group in the London International String Quartet Competition, he performed concerts in the UK, Germany, Italy, and the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals.
In 2006, Sauer was appointed to the music faculty at Florida State University. Prior to that he taught eleven years at the University of Oklahoma, where he was named Presidential Professor. Other teaching/performing positions have been a visiting professorship at the University of California at Los Angeles, summer programs such as the Texas Music Festival, the Duxbury Music Festival, the Foulger International Music Festival, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Red Lodge Music Festival, and the Hot Springs Music Festival. Sauer has recorded for MSR Classics, Harmonia Mundi, Albany, and Mark Records. Sauer attended the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory. His teachers included Ada Marie Snyder, Charles Wendt, Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser, Bonnie Hampton, and Colin Carr. Dynamic pianist Natalie R. Sherer thrives in collaboration with singers and instrumentalists alike. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024 as a performing artist in SongStudio, an art song focused program which was led by acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming. A frequent recitalist, Sherer is touring nationally with tenor Eric Rieger, currently performing Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin. Sherer curated and performed in “May I Have This Dance?” a vibrant showcase of FSU faculty performers and dancers. She has also premiered “Sorrow & Ecstasy: The Complete Songs of Henri Duparc,” a semi-staged musical narrative that follows four characters’ journeys of love and loss. Sherer recently performed with Ryan Speedo Green at Florida State University where she is an Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching & Collaborative Artist. Sherer has been on faculty with Masterworks Festival (2026) and Orvieto Musica festival (2024) in Italy, and she is the creator of the CollabPiano Podcast. Other engagements have included performances at Music by Women International Festival, NATS National and Regional Conferences, IKCAS (International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society) Collabfest, FSU’s Housewright Virtuoso Series, NATS Artist Awards Competition, SongFest, Sparks & Wiry Cries’ NYC SongSLAM Festival, Prague Summer Nights Festival, and Art Song Chicago’s (formerly Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago) Vocal Chamber Music Fellowship program. She is also part of the research team for Living Song Project - a contemporary American art song database - and she hosts the annual Tally SongSLAM competition. Following a BM degree in Piano Performance through studies at Manhattan School of Music and Wheaton College, Sherer earned a MM degree in Piano Performance and a Collaborative Piano Cognate from Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and a DMA in Collaborative Piano from University of Michigan, where she studied with renowned pianist Martin Katz. collabpianist.com Michelle Stebleton is Professor of Horn and member of the Florida State Brass Quintet and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. Since coming to FSU in 1990, she has been awarded the Teaching Incentive Program Award, an Undergraduate Teaching Award, and several large research grants. Through these grants she recorded two compact discs available on MSR Classics: The Horn Works of Paul Basler and MirrorImage at the Opera, a recording of her horn duo with Lisa Bontrager. The Florida State Brass Quintet’s CD Strophes of the Night and Dawn is available through Crystal Records.
Stebleton, a Holton-Leblanc Artist Clinician, is a six-time prize winner in various divisions of the American Horn Competition. She has traveled to 26 countries as a chamber artist and clinician and performs regularly as a soloist and clinician in Paraguay, The Czech Republic, and under the baton of Philipe Entremont in the bi-annual Music Festival Orchestra in the Dominican Republic. At FSU Stebleton maintains a horn studio of about 30 students. She offers daily Fundamentals Class, weekly Studio Classes, and Horn Choir. In addition, she teaches the Horn component of Solo Brass Literature. Actively performing, she is regularly featured at the International Horn Society Symposiums and Southeast Horn Workshops. She currently serves as on the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society. Professor Stebleton received B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Louis J. Stout and Lowell Greer. She holds a diploma from the Prague Mozart Academy.