THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
“Simple Gifts, Lasting Legacies”
Landmark Concerts Revisited: Dohnányi and Copland at FSU
Sunday, November 16, 2025
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
Sextet in C Major, Op. 37 (1935) Ernst von Dohnányi
Allegro appassionato (1877–1960)
Intermezzo: Adagio
Allegro con sentimento
Finale: Allegro vivace, giocoso
Jonathan Holden, clarinet; Michelle Stebleton, horn
Shannon Thomas, violin; Pamela Ryan, viola; Gregory Sauer, cello
Read Gainsford, piano
Appalachian Spring — Suite for 13 Instruments (1970) Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
Karen Large, flute; Deborah Bish, clarinet; Jeff Keesecker, bassoon; Read Gainsford, piano
Shannon Thomas, violin; Lee Taylor, violin; Sophia Han, violin; Masayoshi Arakawa, violin
Pamela Ryan, viola; Jeremy Hill, viola; Greg Sauer, cello; Turner Sperry, cello; George Speed, double bass
Alexander Jimenez, conductor
Simple Gifts, Lasting Legacies: Landmark Concerts with Dohnányi and Copland Revisited
In keeping with this year’s celebration of 125 years of music at FSU, “Simple Gifts, Lasting Legacies: Landmark Concerts Revisited” showcases two works that commemorate milestone events in our College of Music’s history.
This year celebrates the 75th diamond anniversary of a 1950 performance of Dohnányi’s Sextet in C Major, Op. 37, with renowned FSU faculty member and world-famous composer and performer, Ernst von Dohnányi, at the piano. That performance also included Owen Sellers, namesake of our College of Music Amphitheatre, and long-time FSU professor of cello and music theory, as well as FSU’s first band director.
The second work on the program recalls the historic 1979 residency of renowned American composer, Aaron Copland. The final day of his residency culminated in a stirring performance of his evocative and moving masterpiece, Appalachian Spring (with its famous hymn “Simple Gifts”), by the University Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Copland conducting. To honor this event, our program will feature the original 13-instrument chamber version of Appalachian Spring, drawn from the ballet of the same name.
