University of West Florida

01/22/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/22/2026 12:03

Dr. Grier Williams School of Music presents Dr. Leonid Yanovskiy’s 25th Anniversary Recital

The University of West Florida Dr. Grier Williams School of Music will present Dr. Leonid Yanovskiy's 25th Anniversary recital. The performance will be held on Monday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rolfs Music Hall at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts on the UWF Pensacola campus.

Celebrating 25 years of the UWF Strings program and Runge Strings ensemble, attend for an evening of group performances under the directorship of Dr. Leonid Yanovskiy. Yanovskiy received degrees from the Moscow Gnessin Academy of Music in Russia, studied at the American Conservatoire at Fontenbleau in France and earned a doctorate in musical arts from Rutgers University. An acclaimed violinist, the New York Times has touted Yanovskiy's performances as "luminous," bringing audiences "a sumptuous, vibrato-rich tone and a kind of energy that made the fast movements dance." Joining the Dr. Grier Williams School of Music faculty in 2000, he serves as the director of strings and UWF's annual StringFest in addition to concert master for the Pensacola Orchestra and artist faculty at the "InterHarmony" Music Festival in Piedmont, Italy.

This performance will feature works by J.S. Bach, Mozart and Niccolo Paganini performed by Dr. Yanovskiy, UWF alumni and current students. Joining Dr. Yanovskiy are UWF strings alumnus Audrey Naffe '13, Ramel Price '17, Maeanna Callahan '15 and Molly Hollingsworth '11, as well as current students Emma Pooler and Garrett Groff. Audrey Naffe is a doctoral candidate at Indiana University, holds a MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music and currently serves as the principal violist in the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. Ramel Price is a doctoral candidate at the University of Iowa and currently serves as a violinist in the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. Maeanna Callahan is pursuing MME at Florida State University, serves as a director of high school and middle school orchestras in Escambia County and is a violinist in the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. Molly Hollingsworth holds a MM from the University of Maryland, serves as first chair violinist in the Pensacola Candlelight String Quartet and is a violinist with the Pensacola Orchestra.

This event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For tickets or more information, visit uwf.edu/cfpa or call the CFPA box office at 850.857.6285.

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University of West Florida published this content on January 22, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 22, 2026 at 18:03 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]