The University of West Florida Center for Fine and Performing Art’s (CFPA) celebrates Dr. Leonid Yanovskiy for his accomplishment of 25 years as a professor at the Dr. Grier Williams School of Music.
Dr. Yanovskiy is an internationally celebrated violinist who, among many accomplishments, 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.
Yanovskiy became a member of the Dr. Grier Williams School of Music faculty in 2000. He is the founder and director of the UWF Student & Faculty String Ensemble, and Conductor of the UWF Orchestra, the Runge Strings. He is also the Director of UWF’s annual StringFest, in addition to the Concert Master for the Pensacola Orchestra.
When asked about the beginning of the Strings program in 2000, Yanovsky shared that one of his students had been a clarinet player who had decided to study violin, and then became his first violin student at UWF. In the previous Fall semester, his first semester at UWF, he had developed a Strings Quartet, he told the Voyager. However, by February of the following Spring session, the program had already grown to seven string players, “and that’s how the UWF Runge Strings Orchestra was formed,” he said. The program has only continued to flourish and develop into what it is today.
Molly Hollingsworth, UWF alumnus (2011), who serves as first chair Violinist in the Pensacola Candlelight String Quartet and as a Violinist with the Pensacola Orchestra, expressed her sincere appreciation for her time as a student of Dr. Yanovskiy. “I feel like this is where I was introduced to the world of classical music, and how much there is in that world, and how much space there was for me, and the things that can be done with classical music,” she told the Voyager. “It’s been really fun to go forward and create a career of my own in classical music now, and to come back and play (alongside) Dr. Yanovskiy as colleagues, someone that I learned so much from, it’s really meaningful,” she said.
Garrett Groff, a current student studying under Yanovskiy at the CFPA, expressed that “beyond just technique, Dr. Yanovskiy has taught me how to enjoy music, and how to think more deeply and critically about it,” he said. “Being part of a milestone recital such as this has made the preparation feel especially meaningful, and it’s inspiring to be able to contribute to a program that reflects Dr. Yanovskiy’s impact as a performer and teacher over the past 25 years,” he said.
In celebration of Dr. Yanovskiy’s 25 year Anniversary along with his inception of the Strings program and Runge String Ensemble, Dr. Grier Williams School of Music will host a recital highlighting works by J.S. Bach, Mozart, and Niccolo Paganini performed by Dr. Yanovskiy. Joining him on stage are UWF strings alumnus Audrey Naffe (2013), Ramel Price (2017), Maeanna Callahan (2015), and Molly Hollingsworth (2011), and current students Emma Pooler and Garrett Groff, with Cody Martin on piano.
The recital 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.
The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For tickets or more information, visit the CFPA website.
