The University of West Florida Dr. Grier Williams School of Music will present the Rolfs Music Hall Artist Series at UWF featuring guest violinist Shannon Thomas. The performance will be held on Monday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rolfs Music Hall at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts on the UWF Pensacola campus.

Violinist Shannon Thomas is an acclaimed performer and educator known for her compelling artistry and passion for nurturing young musicians. A 2025 Fulbright Scholar finalist, she currently serves as associate professor of violin at Florida State University and directs the Gabriel Del Orbe Violin Program in the Dominican Republic. Praised for her “expressive, dynamic playing,” Thomas has appeared throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia with recent performances including appearances at the Kennedy Center, Garth Newell Music Center, Steinmetz Hall, Bolivia’s Centro Sinfónico and Banff Centre. She is a member of the Rothko Trio and regularly performs with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and IRIS Collective. She has recorded for Blue Griffin Records, celebrating music of Lera Auerbach, Ellen Zwilich and Jennifer Higdon; an upcoming recording with the Rothko Trio will feature works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, Libby Larsen, Joan Tower and Latin Grammy nominee Miguel del Águila. Thomas earned a DMA at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was Paul Kantor’s assistant; she also holds degrees from Yale and Vanderbilt universities