Sunderland, Vittetoe and Rollings Cello & Piano Collaborations Feb 27

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Posted on February 24, 2026 by Keith Bohnet

Keith Bohnet

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Guest artist cellists José Sunderland and Kat Vittetoe, along with guest pianist Benjamin Rollings will present a Guest Artist Chamber Recital on Friday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Works on the program will include music of Mozart, Menotti, Rachmaninoff, Toru Takemitsu and John Williams.

Admission to this Department of Music concert is free and open to the public. Persons needing more information about this event or in need of special accommodation may call 251-460-7116 or 251-460-6136.

Need directions to Laidlaw? Just go to Google Maps and enter "USA Laidlaw Performing Arts Center." We're actually on the corner of University Blvd. and USA Drive South.

This concert is presently scheduled to appear on the USA Department of Music Live Stream page available on our website. Please check this linked site for more up-to-date information about watching this performance virtually -- southalabama.edu/music/livestream

For information about the Department of Music at the University of South Alabama, proceed to our website -- southalabama.edu/music

About the Artists

José Sunderland is a native of Mexico City, where he began his musical education at the Escuela Superior de Música. In 1990 he participated at the National Chamber Music Competition, and was awarded first prize with the Dumka String Quartet. In 1991 he came to the USA, where he was offered a full scholarship to finish his degree in music performance.

He has been playing with the Mobile Symphony since 1998, and he retired from the Pensacola Symphony after his 20th season in 2024. He has taught at two string programs in the public schools, and he also served as cello professor at South Alabama for several years. Currently he teaches at four Baldwin County elementary schools, under the program provided by Mobile Symphony. In 2014 he formed the Eastern Shore Cello Choir in Fairhope; this group has performed at different venues throughout the Baldwin County area. Last year he also formed the Sunderland Cello Quartet.

Kat Vittetoe is a seasoned cellist whose 28-year career has carried her from her native Wisconsin across the American South. She has held section positions with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra, Panama City Symphony Orchestra, and Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and twice produced “Cellobration,” a cello choir showcase that united Montgomery-area players of every age.

Now living on the Gulf Coast, Kat performs regularly with the Expect Excellence Music Department and lends her warm, expressive tone to chamber and ensemble concerts, worship services, and recording sessions. Offstage, she champions classical music outreach, believing that live performance can spark curiosity, cultivate beauty, and knit communities together. Kat’s passion is simple: to share the cello’s voice – and the joy of music – with everyone she meets.

Benjamin Rollings is a native of Gulf Shores, Alabama. He believes that a musician’s ultimate purpose is to bring glory to God. At the age of thirteen, he began studying piano with Dr. Jerry Alan Bush at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. He was later awarded the Theodore Presser Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2011. That same year, he received a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Georgia, where he studied for his Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Dr. Martha Thomas. A year following his graduation from UGA in 2013, Benjamin was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University where he studied piano under the late Dr. Karen Shaw and served as an associate instructor. He received his Doctor of Music degree in May 2020 with a major in piano performance and a double minor in organ performance and music theory. He has taught at the University of Mobile and currently serves on the music faculty at Pensacola State College and is the staff accompanist at Coastal Alabama Community College.

Benjamin has earned recognition as first place winner and finalist in several national and international music competitions. He is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) and maintains an active private teaching studio. In 2022 and 2023 he was presented the Top Teacher Award from Steinway & Sons. Since 2018, he has been the organist and choir director at St. Francis at the Point Anglican Church in Point Clear, AL. He is also an avid photographer, a private pilot, and enjoys traveling, bicycling, kayaking, reading, and cooking.

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