Knoepfel Faculty Viola Recital Sunday Posted on September 28th, 2012 by Al Behrends

Justin Knoepfel joined the Gustavus faculty in the Fall of 2009 and is Visiting Associate Professor in Violin and Viola and also the conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra. He graduated from Luther College with a degree in Violin Performance and received his Master of Music in viola from the University of Minnesota. Knoepfel earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts in viola performance and a secondary emphasis in music theory at the University of Minnesota’s School of Music in 2010.

Violinist Peter McGuire, Adjunct Instructor of Violin at Gustavus, is a native of Mankato. He began studying violin at age four with Patti Tryhus at the Mankato Suzuki School and continued studies with Charles Gray at St. Olaf College and with Sylvia Rosenberg at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Peter joined the Minnesota Orchestra’s first violin section in 2003 and has soloed with the Orchestra performing at Inside the Classics concerts in 2008 and with Sommerfest 2006, 2007 and 2009, playing works by Tchaikovsky, Kreisler and Massenet under Andrew Litton.

Sunday’s recital opens with Knoepfel and McGuire on stage for Mozart’s Duo in G major for violin and viola. Pianist Beth Winterfeldt then joins Knoepfel for the Seven for the the Flowers Near the River by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus and Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata for Viola and Piano. The performance concludes with all three performers on stage for George F. Handel’s Duo for Violin and Viola from his Suite No. 7 in G minor for Harpsichord.

Sunday’s faculty recital featuring violist Justin Knoepfel, violinist Peter McGuire and pianist Beth Winterfeldt begins at 1:30 p.m. in Jussi Björling Recital Hall. A reception for the performers will be held in the recital hall lobby following the recital. The performance is free and open to the public.