Allyn Van Dusen (mezzo-soprano), Rita George Simmons (flute), and Paula Rodney Bobb (piano) perform chamber music masterworks.

Program

Gaetano Braga: La Serenata (Angel Serenade)

Benedikt Randhartinger: Die Flote (The Flute)

Edvard Grieg: ”Solveigs Sang” (Solvay’s Song) from Peer Gynt

Philli e Gaubert: Soir Paien (Grecian Evening)

Georges Hue: Fantaisie pour flute et piano and Soir Paien (Country Evening)

Wanda Landowska: Berceuse (Lullaby)

Jules Massanet: Elegie

The Water is Wide, Scottish Folk Song

Down by the Salley Gardens, Irish Folk Song

Sioux Serenade, In Mirrored Waters and By the Waters of Minnetonka, Native American Songs

Allyn Van Dusen, mezzo-soprano, is a regular performer on Rochester stages, comfortably crossing over from classical music and opera to musical theater and popular standards. City Newspaper’s Critic’s Choice named her Most Enduring Vocalist in Rochester, and she has designed and directed many shows as well. She has received critical acclaim for her theatre work as well as for solo appearances with Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Oratorio Society, Eastman-Rochester Chorus, Madrigalia, and many other ensembles and concert series. With two solo CDs on Songburst Records, she holds a Master’s in voice with Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Among numerous musical ventures, she has co-founded and co-directed the innovative Fortissimo! Chamber Music Series, the Rochester Vocal Arts Collaborative, Rochester Lyric Opera, the Perpetual Anticipation Vocal Quintet, and Gossamer Edge Trio. Allyn enjoys teaching voice privately, and sharing the gift of song – the language of the heart – in a wide variety of public performances.

Rita George Simmons holds Degrees from Boston Conservatory and Ithaca College. In addition to performing with Allyn Van Dusen and Paula Rodney Bobb in Gossamer Edge since 2013, Rita founded the Telos Trio with Hochstein colleagues Debbie Grohman (clarinet) and Dr. Willie La Favor (piano) in 2012. An experienced piccoloist, Rita performed for 21 years with the Greater Rochester Music Educators’ Wind Band, and was featured as guest soloist on both flute and piccolo. She r:ierformed for the National Flute Association Conventions in Columbus, Pittsburgh and San Diego. Rita has also performed on Hochstein’s Spotlight on Faculty series in addition to several r:ierformances on Live from Hochstein on WXXI 91.5 Classical Radio with Gossamer Edge and Telos Trio.

A dedicated teacher, Rita has been on the flute faculty at The Hochstein School since 2001. Her students have won seats in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra, Hochstein Philharmonia, and NYSSMA All-County and area All-State ensembles. Rita has also served on the faculty of the Rochester Flute Association (RFA)/ Hochstein Flute Camp and Webster High School Marching Band, and has given performance clinics for several local schools. She has given lectures and performances for the RFA and Florida Flute Conventions, as well as Ithaca and Nazareth Colleges. Rita has held several r::iositions with RFA, including Program Chair, Flute Fair Chair, and Director of the RFA Flute Choir. She is a member of the National Flute Association and the National Association for Music  Education.  She is a NYSSMA adjudicator  and is active in adjudicating  solo festivals throughout western and central New York.

A faculty member at The Hochstein School since 1986, pianist Paula Rodney Bobb has performed numerous times on Live from Hochstein, Spotlight on Faculty, and at various other concert venues. She earned her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of Pittsburgh, studying with Natalie Phillips and Patricia Zander. She was a winner of he Pittsburgh Concert Society, accompanist at the Pennsylvania Opera Festival, and performed numerous opera scenes under the auspices of Young Audiences, Inc. Paula is a former co-chair of Hochstein’s piano department, and was the 2011 recipient of Hochstein’s Faculty Service Award. She has served as chief instigator in performances of PDQ Bach’s Erotica Variations and in 2012 performed Mozart on toy piano with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra on their popular OrKIDStra Series. Paula is co-founder of the voice-flute-piano trio Gossamer Edge.

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