Rossini Club Event Calendar
The Public Concert Series of the Portland Rossini Club in it’s 151st Season
Sunday, April 24th, 2022 at 3 p.m.
Portland Rossini Club Program
- Soprano Torrey Gimpel, with pianist Mark Braun will perform arias by Richard Wagner, Alfredo Catalani, and Stephen Flaherty
- Lydia Forbes and Myles Jordan will play the Virtuosic Duo for Violin and Cello by Maurice Ravel
- Pianists Leah Neuchiller and Ruth Matt will play movement 1 of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, the Eroica, for four hands
Click here for all Past Performances
*Guest
Location: The Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland
Suggested donation $15/$10 seniors (students are admitted free of charge)
For more information: 207-318-7465
Musician Biography
Mark Braun, piano:
Mark grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, moved to Chicago at age 28 and arrived here in Maine on the winds of the blizzard of ’96. He has been an active member of both the Marston-Kotzschmar Club and the Portland Rossini Club since 1996. In past years, he has played a variety of music, has performed solo, four-hand and eighthand compositions, and chamber music, including works for French horn and piano, trios for piano, French horn, and violin, as well as works for voice and piano. He likes to write his own program notes, finding that the process helps him to better understand and interpret the musical works he’s performing. He serves on the Board of the Portland Conservatory of Music. In his professional life, he is an internist and geriatrician in solo practice in Scarborough.
Ruth Matt, piano:
Ruth studied piano for 13 years between the ages of five and eighteen. As a teenager she accompanied choirs, instrumentalists, musicals, and the local ballet society in Princeton, NJ. At Cornell University, she accompanied private voice lessons and musicals. While her major was in Spanish Literature and her career is now in investments and financial planning, music has always been a passion and inspiration. She enjoys collaborating with other musicians on any instrument with a current focus on piano duets. Ruth was a student of the late Richard Roberts. She and her husband have lived in Portland since 1988, and have one son, Peter. She joined the Portland Rossini Club in 2011.
Leah Neuchiller, piano:
Leah studied piano from the age of 9 and began college as a music major at Brandeis University, where she studied with the French pianist Evelyne Crochet. She later earned a Master’s in Social Work degree at the University of Michigan, and went on to have a career as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist. Music continued to be a passionate avocation, however, and after she moved to Maine in 2006, music once again became central to her life. Since that time, Leah has studied piano with Laura Kargul, and recently earned her Masters of Music degree in piano pedagogy at USM. Leah teaches piano at L’Ecole Franc̡aise in South Freeport and in her home studio in Cumberland Foreside. She is a member of the Maine Music Teachers’ Association, the Marston-Kotzschmar Club, and plays in various chamber groups. She joined the Portland Rossini Club in 2012.
ROSSINI CLUB FEATURES NEXT GEN PERFORMERS
Sunday, May 15th, 2022 at 3 p.m.
Portland Rossini Club Program
- Anthony Ayer, second place winner of the 2022 Ocy Downs Piano Competition, will perform Lili Boulanger’s Prelude in D-flat
- Olivia Christopher, soprano, will perform songs by Amy Beach, Richard Strauss, Lori Laitman, and Ricky Ian Gordon
- March Steiger, soprano, will perform songs by Schönberg, Boulanger, Donizetti, and Mozart Stella Faux, violin, with pianist Miriam Schwanauer, will perform Bartok’s Romanian Dances
Click here for all Past Performances
Location: The Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland
Suggested donation $15/$10 seniors (students are admitted free of charge)
For more information: 207-318-7465
Musician Biography
Anthony Ayer, piano:
Recent second place winner of the 2022 Oct Downs Piano Competition, Anthony has been playing piano for around four and a half years, and is currently a student of Oren Gauthier, as well as a sophomore at Baxter Academy in Portland. He enjoys listening to, playing, and occasionally writing music. He also enjoys being outdoors, and spending time with his family, friends and two cats.
Olivia Christopher, soprano:
Olivia is a New Hampshire native and recent graduate of USM’s
Osher School of Music. For four years she was a student of Dr. Malinda Haslett, a member of
the award winning Chamber Singers, and performer in opera workshop. In 2021 she was cast as
1st and 2nd Spirit in USM’s Die Zauberflöte and this spring appeared as La fée in USM’s
production of Cendrillon by Pauline Viardot. In the spring of 2022, Olivia was awarded the Vocal
Studies Encouragement Award for her work as a music theory tutor and an Undergraduate
Research Opportunities fellowship to continue her extensive research on Lili Boulanger in Paris,
France.
March Steiger, soprano:
A fourth year Classical Vocal Performance Major at USM’s Osher
School of Music, March Steiger lives in Buxton, ME. He is currently studying with Dr. Malinda
Haslett. During his time at USM, March has appeared in productions with USM’s Opera
Workshop as The Prince and Armelinde (Cendrillon, Viardot), Marie (La Fille du Regiment), La
Périchole (La Périchole), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Adele (Die Fledermaus), and
Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte). He also has been a soloist with the Southern Maine Symphony
Orchestra and USM’s Choral Union. March has been a finalist in the Maine Classical NATS
competition three years in a row, as well as being selected to sing in the USM School of Music
Honors Recital in 2021 and 2022. In the summer of 2021, he performed in the ensemble of Opera
Maine’s production of L’Elisir d’Amore. March has found his passion in performing works by
underrepresented and underperformed composers.
Stella Faux, violin:
Violinist Stella Faux is excited to be joining Miriam Schwanauer for Zoltán
Székely’s version of Bartόk’s Romanian Folk Dances. In addition to performing regularly as a
soloist and an avid chamber musician, Stella was the winner of the Sinfonia da Camera Concerto
Competition, performing under the direction of Ian Hobson, and the Carnegie Hall based
American Protégé Competition in 2017. She will be graduating from Boston University this May
with Bachelor’s degrees in Violin Performance and Psychology.
Miriam Schwanauer, piano:
Born and raised in Maine, Miriam Schwanauer was a pupil of Ocy
L. Downs and, at age 19, was honored to be selected to play for a master class given by Garrick
Ohlsson. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music (B.M. in Applied Piano, and M.M. in Piano
Performance and Literature), her teachers include Frank Glazer and Rebecca Penneys. Miriam
served on the piano faculty of the Portland Conservatory of Music from 1996 to 2001. Devoted
to teaching, she served on the faculty of Saint Joseph’s College, teaching courses in Music
History and Appreciation, and taught music at the Hill School and piano at the Waynflete
School. In 2002, after relocating to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Miriam joined the piano faculty
of the Conservatory of Central Illinois, where she taught until 2020. Upon her return to Maine in
2020, Miriam rejoined the PCM piano faculty, and performs as a soloist, and collaborative
pianist. Director of the Early Childhood Music Program offered at PCM, she also serves as an
instructor for PCM’s Certificate Program.
2022 PORTLAND ROSSINI CLUB SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITIONS
Saturday, June 4, 2022 beginning at 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Woodfords Congregational Church
202 Woodford Street, Portland, ME.
These scholarship competitions are open to all residents of the State of Maine.
Applicants must be above the age of 17 and be registered as music majors in the Fall of 2022 at any accredited music school, college, or university.
Previous first place winners of the scholarships may not apply. However, all other previous candidates who are eligible may again enter the competition.
Click here for all details about the competition and how to apply
Outdoor Concert by Portland Rossini Club
Sunday, August 21st, 2021 at 3 p.m.
Portland Rossini Club performers and music still to be determined for this concert to take place at Portland
Community Squash, 66 Noyes St., Portland, Maine.
Details will be updated here. The Flyer Program will also be provided.
