Search - Kathryn Steely (viola), Vincent DeVries (harpsichord), Adrienne Steely (cello) :: Viola Sonatas: William Flackton, George Frideric Handel, Carl Friedrich Abel

A collection of sonatas including some of the earliest English music written specifically for the viola. Kathryn Steely is Associate Professor of Viola at Baylor University and received Baylor University s Outstanding Professor Award for Teaching in 2007. Prior to her appointment at Baylor, Dr. Steely was a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in Florida. She is a frequent recitalist and avid chamber musician and has performed at two International Viola Congresses, National Flute Convention, Mostly Music series of the University of Chicago and Armonico Chamber series in Austin, Texas. Dr. Steely has appeared as a soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony, Baylor University Wind Ensemble, Baylor Symphony and performed with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Fort Worth-Dallas Ballet, Akron Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Wichita Symphony and as principal violist with the Rockford and Waco Symphonies. Dr. Steely earned the Doctor of Music degree in Viola Performance from Northwestern University, the Master of Music in Viola Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Bachelor of Arts degree from Bethel College (KS). Her principal teachers include Peter Slowik, Heidi Castleman, Lynn Ramsey and Donald McInnes. She has served as Editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society, two terms on the AVS national executive board and nine years as the AVS webmaster. She is a founding member of the faculty of the CREDO Chamber Music program in Oberlin, Ohio. Dr. Steely is in frequent demand as both adjudicator and master class presenter. Among other engagements, she served on the jury of the 2003 Primrose International Viola Competition and as a featured master class presenter at the 2004 and 2009 American String Teacher s Association National Conventions. She plays on a 2006 viola by Alan and Sarah Balmforth. Vincent de Vries is an active performer, presenting recitals as a collaborative artist, soloist, duo pianist and organist. Prior to his appointment at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, he was serving as an Assistant Professor of Piano and Director of Collaborative Piano at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He also served as an Assistant Instructor at The University of Texas at Austin, teaching instrumental accompanying to undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. de Vries received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a Performer s Diploma from The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands and a Master s degree from Bowling Green State University. His principal teachers have included Nancy Garrett, Edward Auer, Jerome Rose and Theo Bruins, and he has performed in the master classes of such pianists as Earl Wild, Vladimir Tropp, Lev Vlasenko, Arnaldo Cohen, Claude Frank and Jerome Rose. DeVries is the recipient of many scholarships and has won awards in several competitions, among them first prize in the National Young Artist Competition in The Netherlands and first prize in the Sydney Wright Accompanying Competition at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his piano performances, he is a highly regarded concert organist, with more than three hundred solo recitals and eight organ solo CDs to his credit. In 2003, Dr. de Vries received the silver medal from the Arts, Sciences, et Lettres in Paris for his contributions to the French organ literature. Recent CD releases include Into the 21st Century and In a Lyrical Way with horn soloist Jeffrey Powers as well as a duo-pianist recital with Bradley Bolen featuring the works of Brahms, Poulenc, Rachmaninov and Milhaud, all on MSR Classics. In the spirit of household music making, Dr. Steely is joined in the Abel Sonata by her daughter, cellist Adrienne Steely, a student at Baylor University.