UPDATE August 2020

Hello. I’m Sydney Patten, the president of the Portland Rossini Club. I am so excited to let you know that, working with our amazing board, we’ve come up with some great ideas to keep the music playing.

Here’s my video statement, or please read below.

It’s daunting to think that for the past 6 months and for the foreseeable future, live music in public venues has been silenced. During this unprecedented time in our country and our world, we, like other artists and artistic organizations are struggling to figure out how to navigate through these uncharted waters. We all need to figure out how to bring music back to our audiences.

This season, the Rossini Club had planned to begin celebrating the 150th anniversary of this historic club, which was founded by women who held performances in each others’ homes, with concerts honoring this significant event.

Our board is working hard to figure out ways to keep the music going, while keeping our performers and audiences safe! In addition to exploring some virtual performance opportunities, this summer, we are honoring the Rossini Club’s tradition and returning to our roots with some performances being held outside at members’ homes.

The first garden concert was held on July 29th at 4:30 p.m. at the home of member Ruth Matt in Portland. Attendess heard music by: Rossini, Rachmaninov and Bach. The performers on that day were member musicians Ruth Matt, Leah Neuchiller, Eleanor Lehman and Barbara Graustein.

The second Summer concert will be in Falmouth and will take place on August 26th at 7 p.m. Featured performers will be: Jonathan Prak pianist, and a trio of member musicians: Eleanor Lehman, Susanna Adams, and John Bennett, playing Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven.

Tickets for both of these events will be RSVP on a first come/first serve basis. More details on tickets and reservations will be sent in an email and shared soon.

At each venue, there is room for 20 people. When you arrive at the concert venue, you will be seated by an usher who will ‘social distance’ you.

Safety measures of course will be taken and you will be updated soon via email on what these protocols will be.

To get folks in the mood for our 150th gala celebration, there will be a historical reading at each concert involving our club.

In addition to our outdoor Summer concerts, we plan to offer opportunities for you to hear our members and guests making music through Zoom, the Rossini Club’s Facebook and YouTube feeds, and more. We’ll be sharing recordings of past performances for you to enjoy and are planning ways to stream some new performances, either prerecorded or in real time.

Please stay tuned and I look forward to seeing you this Summer either virtually or LIVE!!

Sydney Patten
Rossini Club President
Pianist/Composer