2024 Primrose International Viola Competition & American Viola Society Festival Program Book

2024 American Viola Society Festival Competition Jurors

Kathryn Steely The Brazos Ensemble

Dr. Kathryn Schmidt Steely is an avid chamber musician, dedicated pedagogue, and experienced orchestral violist. Currently she serves as Baylor University Professor of Viola and performs regularly with Philharmonie Austin, a period instrument ensemble. Formerly a core member of Florida’s Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, she has also performed with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and Wichita Symphony. She has presented master classes across the country. Steely served as President of the American Viola Society and Editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society .

Sharon Wei Sharon Wei is a multi - faceted musician, establishing herself as one of the most respected violists on the scene today. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras including Sinfonia Toronto, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and premiered Mascall’s “Ziigwan” with London Symphonia. She performs with the acclaimed New Orford String Quartet and co - founded Ensemble Made in Canada which won a 2021 JUNO for Classical Album of the Year. She performs regularly at

Marlboro Music Festival, Curtis Summerfest and with Verbier Chamber Orchestra. Sharon was on Faculty at Stanford University. She is currently Associate Professor at Western University and Acting Dean of Research where she has collaborated with the Northern Tornadoes Project and Ivey Business School to create innovative campus - wide programming.

Molly Wilkens-Reed Molly is a viola instructor at Virginia Tech and the director of the Virginia Tech String Project, as well as summer faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp. Wilkens - Reed earned Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from the University of Memphis; a Master of Music degree in Viola Performance with a concentration in String Pedagogy at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University; and is a certified Suzuki violin and viola teacher. She resides in Blacksburg, VA Gregory K. Williams Dr. Gregory K. Williams teaches viola at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY, and was a visiting viola faculty member at the Eastman School of Music, and University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also teaches at the National Music Festival in Chestertown, MD, and at NYU SummerStrings. He is Principal Violist for Parlando. He co founded the Golden Williams Duo, a viola - cello duo committed to performing new music written by underrepresented

with her husband and their two young sons.

composers. His debut album, The Solitary Journey featuring the unaccompanied viola sonatas of Günter Raphael was released in 2023. For more information, please visit https://gregorykwilliamsviolist.com/ .

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