Father Dave Pivonka, TOR '89 President | Franciscan University website

Four musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra are scheduled to perform a free concert at Franciscan University of Steubenville on Monday, October 27, at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place in the Pope St. Paul IV Event Center within Christ the Teacher Hall and is open to the public.

The performance is presented by Chamber Music at Franciscan and will include Mozart’s String Quartet No. 14 and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 4. The musicians performing are Joel Link, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra and first violinist of the Dover Quartet; Stephen Rose, principal second violin; Wesley Collins, principal viola; and Tanya Ell, cello.

Joel Link was appointed concertmaster in 2025 and has received several honors such as first prize at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the gold medal and grand prize at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and a top prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition.

The concert is part of Franciscan University’s efforts to promote beauty alongside truth and goodness in its educational mission. Stanley Konopka, director of Franciscan University’s New Chamber Orchestra, said, “Today, words are plentiful and have lost their credibility, but beauty enters the soul in a mysterious way and gives credibility to our words. An encounter with beauty is an encounter with God. Supporting the arts on campus strengthens the three-legged stool of truth, goodness, and beauty—without one, we cannot have the others.”