Rossini Club Event Calendar
The Public Concert Series of the Portland Rossini Club in its 152nd Season
Sunday, May 21st, 2023 at 3 p.m.
- Pianist Christopher Staknys will play his own Chorale Without Words as well as a Prelude and Fugue from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book II
- Mezzo soprano Elizabeth Harmon and pianist James Nga will perform Franz Schubert’s Suleika I as well as Schubert’s Der Musensohn and An die Musik
- Violist Eleanor Lehmann, with pianist Jonathan Prak will play Max Bruch’s Romance for Viola and Piano
- Pianist Steven Blumenthal will play two Preludes and Fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book I and Three Intermezzi from Klavierstücke, Opus 119 by Johannes Brahms
Location of Concerts:
The Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State Street, Portland, Maine
General Admission $15
Seniors $10
Students free of charge
For more information: 207-318-7465
Bios for the May 21st Concert
Steven Blumenthal, piano:
Steven studied piano at Columbia University with the late Niels Østbye, a student
of Edwin Fischer. While pursuing his medical education and later directing a pediatrics emergency room in
New York City, Steven continued post-graduate music studies at Columbia University and at the Aaron Copland
School of Music at Queens College. He participated in master classes with Jeanne-Marie Darré. He now lives in
Cape Elizabeth with wife and PSO violinist/teacher Holly Ovenden, and recently retired from pediatrics
practice in Portland. Steve has been a member of the Rossini Club since 2009.
Eleanor Lehmann, viola:
Eleanor began her musical studies on violin at the age of 5 with John M. Ray in San
Francisco, California. She then attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied with
Jack O’Brian (Griller String Quartet) and Marion Ford. In 1963, she received a degree in music education and
performance from San Francisco State University. After years of teaching and performing in California, as well
as in Mexico City, and in Holland, she moved to Maine in 2003 and began teaching both violin and viola in her
studio and at the Portland Conservatory of Music. In 2007, she initiated violin classes at USM, Portland, for
the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Today, she is an active member of both the Portland Rossini and
Marston-Kotzschmar Music Clubs of Portland, and served as President for both.
Jonathan Pekdey Prak, piano:
A Saco native currently living in Portland, Jonathan has been playing the piano
since he was 6 years old and currently studies with Dr. Laura Kargul at the Osher School of Music at USM. He
has won numerous competitions and scholarships, including Rossini Club’s Lucia Wright Piano Scholarship,
Brian McGorrill Memorial Scholarship in 2018, and Hanna Powell Scholarship in 2022. Jonathan participated
in masterclasses with instructors Steve Pane and Lily Funahashi on works for two pianos. He appeared as a
guest soloist for the Portland Rossini Club before becoming a member. He loves playing works by Mozart,
Chopin, Liszt, Ravel and Prokofiev, just to name a few. Jonathan is the current President of the Portland Rossini
Club. Outside the world of music, Jonathan has a knack for learning languages, enjoys adventures and
traveling, and running.
Ryan Slocum, piano:
Ryan began studying piano with Ashley Tardif when he was 12, and soon began playing
at his home church. He began playing regularly for church services when he was 14. When he was a senior at
Pine Tree Academy in Freeport, he began studying organ with Doris Krueger. Ryan will be a senior in the fall,
at the University of Southern Maine, where he is working toward a Bachelors in Organ Performance, studying
organ with Justin Murphy-Mancini. Ryan participated in the 2021 Kotzschmar Memorial Trust Scholarship
competition, where he was one of the recipients of the scholarship. During the summer of 2021, he performed
multiple times with Mark Thallander, former organist of Crystal Cathedral, for concerts and church services. He
was one of six organists featured on the organ program Pipedreams Live. He is currently the organist at several
area churches. In his free time, Ryan likes to arrange / compose music, play chess, and learn how to do new
things.
Christopher Staknys, piano:
Pianist and composer Christopher Staknys is a graduate of The Juilliard School
(2018) with a degree in solo piano performance. He has appeared as both performer and composer in cities such
as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Paris and Salzburg. Christopher has won numerous competitions, including
first prize at the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition and the Rivers School Concerto
Competition. Artists he has studied with include; Sergei Babayan, Robert Levin and Peter Serkin. He has also
appeared on NPR’s From The Top radio show. He has also been vocal coach and pianist for Opera Maine and
the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory. Christopher has played for numerous operas and musicals including Don
Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pirates of
Penzance and Into the Woods. For three summers he taught piano and electronic music at the Sitka Fine Arts
Camp in Alaska to children and young adults ranging from elementary to high school. He currently serves as
music director for First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Kennebunk, Maine. His interests include
languages (Lithuanian, French, Italian, German, Ancient Greek) and reading
