Charles Nichols, School of Performing Arts, had his composition In Gratitude, three movements for string quartet, premiered by visiting guest violinist Charles Castleman and members of the Virginia Tech string faculty — violinist John Irrera, violist Molly Wilkens-Reed, and cellist Alan Weinstein — on October 15 and 16 in the Recital Salon at Virginia Tech and at Eastern Divide in Blacksburg, Virginia.