Rossini Club Event Calendar
Rossini Club’s September 15th concert
The Public Concert Series of The Portland Rossini Club begins its Fall season on Sunday, September 15. The 149th season launch will feature Japanese bass, Hidenori Inoue*.
Hidenori Inoue*, performing Ella giammai m’amo, from Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi
Pianist Carol Elowe will play Brahms intermezzi
Soprano Mary Johnston Letellier with pianist Kathleen Scott* will perform O Rendetemi from Bellini’s I Puritani
Pianist Jonathan Prak* will play two movements from Beethoven’s Sonata in B Flat Major and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata #3
Eleanor Lehmann, violin, Stephen Schiffman, clarinet, and Sydney Patten, piano will perform three duets by Shostakovich and Oblivion by Astor Piazzola
*Guest
Hidenori Inoue, Bass
Hidenori Inoue is a Bass from Himeji, Japan, known principally for his strong vocal technique and flexibility of repertoire, as well as articulate acting skill. Singing the role of Bonze in Madam Butterfly and Makoto Kobayashi in Jack Perla’s An American Dream, Hidenori made his debut with Virginia Opera and Anchorage Opera in the past season, and performed his first Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Tulsa Opera.
Upcoming performances for the 2019–2020 season include Bonze in Madam Butterfly, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with nation wide opera houses in US including his debut with Opera Omaha followed by the concert series with them.
In a robust 2017–2018 season, Hidenori debuted with Tulsa Opera singing the role of Timur in Turandot and covered the role of Méphistophéles in Faust; he also sang as Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Steamboat, Makoto Kobayashi in Perla’s An American Dream (East coast premiere) with Opera Maine, Barone in La Traviata with Opera Maine, Padre Guardiano and Marquis in Verdi’s La forza del destino with the New Amsterdam Opera; and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with New York City’s ARE Opera.
The 2016–2017 season saw Hidenori as the eponymous hero of Don Pasquale with the Manhattan School of Music, as well as Pistola in Falstaff with the Italian La Musica Lirica, Benoit and Alcindoro in Puccini’s La Bohème with International Vocal Arts Institute, and as Barbemuche in Leoncavallo’s La Bohème.
In 2016, Inoue executed the role of Monstre Cathos in Jacques Ibert’s Persée et Andromède with the Manhattan School of Music. Hailed as “the smoky-voiced bass” by The New York Times and “assertive” by Opera News, this performance was listed in The New York Times as one of the Top 10 Vocal Performances of 2016. The same year, he made his debut as an actor on Netflix Original series “Daredevil” Season 2 with Marvel.
Hidenori Inoue is the finalist of 2018 Jensen Foundation’s competition and Butler Opera International Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, and a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music.
The concert takes place Sunday, September 15th, at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland.
Suggested donation $10/5 seniors (students are admitted free of charge).
Enjoy a brief reception after the concert where you can meet our performers.
There are no tickets for the performances. Admission is at the door with a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Performances are free to students.
Limited parking is available behind the cathedral, as well as limited street parking (typically off of Park Street).
Rossini Club’s October 20th concert
Our featured performer will be violinist David Brickman* performing Brahms’ Sonata #3 with pianist Diane Walsh
Soprano Maggie Vishneau, accompanied by pianist Lynn Lennox*, will sing songs by Elgar, Quilter, Vaughan Williams, and Richard Rodgers
Sydney Patten, pianist, and actress Abbie Dufrene,* will perfom Wouldn’t You Like to be My Friend?? The text was created by Sydney Patten, and the piano music is Rachmaninoff’s Elegie
Stephen Schiffman and Mark Braun will play music for clarinet and piano by British composers Howard Ferguson and William Y. Hurlstone
*Guest
The concert takes place Sunday, October 20th, at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland.
Suggested donation $10/5 seniors (students are admitted free of charge).
Enjoy a brief reception after the concert where you can meet our performers.
There are no tickets for the performances. Admission is at the door with a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Performances are free to students.
Limited parking is available behind the cathedral, as well as limited street parking (typically off of Park Street).
Rossini Club’s November 17th concert
Our featured artist will be soprano Malinda Haslett*, performing operatic arias and duets with soprano Danielle Vayenas and pianist Scott Wheatley*
Program of operatic favorites by Malinda Haslett and Danielle Vayenas, sopranos, and Scott Wheatley, pianist.
- Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour (Barcarolle), from Act III of Les contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach (Danielle/Malinda).
- Quando m’en vo’ (Musetta’s Waltz) from Act II of La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini (Malinda)
- Donde lieta usci from Act III of La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini (Danielle)
- Sull’aria, from Act III of Le Nozze di Figaro, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Malinda/Danielle)
- If I were on the stage: Kiss me again, Mlle. Modiste, an operetta by Victor Herbert (Malinda)
Eleanor Lehmann, violin, Nan White*, flute and Eric Peppe, piano will play a trio by Jacques Ibert
Harold Stover* will perform two organ selections by Alexandre Guilmant
Morgan* and Eric Peppe, violin and piano, will play the first movement of the D minor Violin Concerto by Henryk Wieniawski
*Guest
The concert takes place Sunday, November 17th, at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland.
The concert takes place Sunday, November 17th, at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland.
Suggested donation $10/5 seniors (students are admitted free of charge).
Enjoy a brief reception after the concert where you can meet our performers.
There are no tickets for the performances. Admission is at the door with a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Performances are free to students.
Limited parking is available behind the cathedral, as well as limited street parking (typically off of Park Street).
Rossini Club’s January 26th concert
Mark Braun will play piano solos by Bach, Chopin, and Debussy
Mark Rossnagel with Will Bristol* will perform a two piano arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite
Ruth Matt and Leah Neuchiller will perform movements from a two piano arrangement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
Scott Eaton and Sydney Patten will play Schubert’s Fantasie in F minor, D940, for piano four hands
*Guest
Richard Huston Roberts (1933 – 2016)
Richard Roberts was Professor of Music Emeritus at the University of New England and taught at its constituent, Westbrook College, for forty-one years. He received baccalaureate and master’s degrees in piano from the Juilliard School, where his principal teacher was the English pianist, Katherine Bacon.
He presented solo recitals at both campuses of the University of New England, at the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine, and at Bates and Bowdoin Colleges. Other Maine recitals occurred at the Blaine House in Augusta, the Portland Museum of Art, and at the former City Hall Auditorium in Portland. Beyond Maine, he presented recitals at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia, Marymount College and International House in New York City, and at Boston’s Gardner Museum.
As a collaborative artist he appeared at the former Carnegie Recital Hall in New York, Boston University, Boston’s Gardner Museum, the Portland Museum of Art and at Brandeis University. A former keyboardist and program annotator with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, he appeared in five solo performances with them as well as twice with the former Gorham Chamber Orchestra of USM, where he was a visiting instructor for ten years.
Roberts taught at the former Westbrook College’s Elderhostel program for twelve years, creating such courses as The Social History of the Piano, How to Hear the Piano, The Piano as Guide through the Labyrinth of Twentieth Century Music, and Why I Play It This Way: Lectures before Recitals.
He gave lecture-recitals at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute and for the Music Teachers National Association, at the University of Hartford, the University of Lowell, the University of Maine at Orono and in Portland.
His association with the Portland Rossini Club dates back to 1949, when he appeared at a program with his teacher (and Club member), the late Florence Libby. He joined the Club in 2002 and served as its Recording Secretary, Chair of the Candidate Committee, and Chair of the Piano Committee. He appeared at almost all of the Club’s several venues; the former Frye Hall on Spring Street, the YWCA on Spring Street, McAuley Auditorium on Stevens Avenue, Moulton Theater at Westbrook College, at Trinity Episcopal Church, at Woodford’s Congregational Church, and here at St. Luke’s Cathedral.
Several recordings of Richard Roberts at the piano are available for sale on Rossini Club’s website: https://www.rossiniclub.org/donate-purchase/.
The concert takes place Sunday, January 26th, at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland.
Suggested donation $10/5 seniors (students are admitted free of charge).
Enjoy a brief reception after the concert where you can meet our performers.
There are no tickets for the performances. Admission is at the door with a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Performances are free to students.
Limited parking is available behind the cathedral, as well as limited street parking (typically off of Park Street).
Rossini Club’s February 16th concert
Our featured performers will be DaPonte String Quartet members Lydia Forbes* and Myles Jordan* performing the second movement of
Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Cello Op. 7
Violinist Eleanor Lehmann and pianist Jesse Feinberg* will perform Romances by Beethoven and Beach
Mathew Nichols will perform Gaspar Cassado’s Suite for Solo Cello
Torrey Gimpel, soprano and Eric Peppe, piano will perform works by Richard Strauss and Giuseppe Verdi
*Guest
Guest Bios for February 16 Program
Lydia Forbes (Violin): Lydia’s career has been guided by a singular intention — to delve as deeply as possible into the magic of great chamber music literature, old and new.
Lydia has concertized throughout Europe and the U.K. with Ensemble L’Archibudelli, Zephyr Kwartet, Het Schoenberg Ensemble, Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Het Blazers Ensemble, Osiris Piano Trio, I Fiamminghi, and Ensemble Explorations. During this time, she recorded with some of the world’s most prominent labels; Sony Classical, Harmonia Mundi, CNM, and for Vienna Modern Masters as soloist with the Czech Radio Philharmonic. She has also performed for festivals in Europe, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. Lydia has also served as concertmaster for Het Orkest van het Oosten in the Netherlands.
Lydia was drawn to the DaPonte String Quartet by their love and respect for the work. She lives in Alna, Maine with cellist Myles Jordan and their children.
Myles Jordan (Cello): Myles Jordan worked as a child actor for CBC Television and the National Film Board of Canada before taking up the cello. Inspired by the North American premiere of the second Shostakovich cello concerto and a Casals master class, Myles asked for and received from his father a bright orange Hofner cello as a birthday present. He went on to train at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, the Britten-Pears School of Advanced Musical Studies in England, and at Schloss Weikersheim in Germany. In 1981, he won a Floyd S. Chalmers Foundation Award, which enabled him to study at the Juilliard School, and by 1983 he had earned two degrees there. From New York he moved to Philadelphia, where he served as associate principal cellist of the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra, completed a Doctor of Musical Arts, and founded the DaPonte String Quartet.
Myles uses historical research to inform his musical performances so he can remain as faithful as possible to the composer’s original intentions. His Bach cello suites recording, available worldwide on the Centaur label, is the first to dispense with Pablo Casals’s interpretive model in favor of a conception based strictly on sources close to Bach, such as Johann Mattheson’s 1739 treatise Der vollkommene Capellmeister and written testimonies from Bach’s students. This recording drew a rave review from James Mannheim in the All Music Guide and Laurence Vittes, in Gramophone Magazine, described it as “astonishing.” Vittes lauds Myles’s break from the Casals model, indicating how his approach produces “a completely new spectrum” of interpretation that comes closer to Bach’s original conception than previous recorded performances.
Myles has delivered lectures on early music performance practice at both the University of North Texas Graduate School Early Music Division and the Boston Early Music Festival. He also plays and teaches the Baroque violoncello piccolo.
Jesse Feinberg (piano): Jesse Feinberg is an accomplished and internationally recognized concert pianist and piano teacher. He has performed on stages in Turkù and Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; and most recently in Moscow, Russia. Jesse graduated summa cum laude with his Bachelor’s of Music degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music from the University of Maine at Augusta in 2013, and his Associate’s Degree in the Arts from Holyoke Community College in 1999. Jesse appears on the recently released album: Taylor O’Donnell sings T. Monk Ballads: A Love Letter to Thelonious, and has released multiple volumes of a method to teach improvisation, entitled: Classical Improvisation Templates.
The concert takes place Sunday, February 16th, at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland.
Suggested donation $10/5 seniors (students are admitted free of charge).
Enjoy a brief reception after the concert where you can meet our performers.
There are no tickets for the performances. Admission is at the door with a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Performances are free to students.
Limited parking is available behind the cathedral, as well as limited street parking (typically off of Park Street).
