ARCA honors Dr. Arthur Steffee in Memorial Concert
Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts is presenting a Memorial Concert in honor of its founder and president, the late Dr. Arthur D. Steffee, on Sunday, October 27 at 2 PM in Lincoln Hall in Foxburg. An online memorial tribute about his life previously published in the Progress News may be viewed on ARCA’s homepage – here.
The public is invited to join us as we celebrate the inspiring life of ARCA’s founder, president and our dear friend, whose generosity, vision and love of music and art have brought us together.
The concert is free to the public, with donations gratefully accepted.
Reservations are required for tickets that are available on a first come / first serve basis. To reserve a ticket, call 724-659-3153.
The concert program will be half classical and popular, featuring performers who were favorites of Arthur’s: Pianists David Allen Wehr and Cynthia Raim in Rachmaninoff piano duets, Opus 11; violinist Monique Mead in Massenet’s “Meditation” from Thaïs; pianist Gayle Martin in a Liszt work and popular arrangements of Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” and hymns; and Katherine Soroka in The Lord’s Prayer.
The second half features pianists Dennis Geib in an original composition and Tom Roberts in selections by funky virtuosi from New Orleans, including Amazing Grace, and CATRO in easy jazz standards with Mark DeWalt, vocalist Tammi Dahl, saxophonist David Kana and bassist Robert Insko – concluding the program with “What a Wonderful World”.
Because Lincoln Hall seating is limited, reservations for tickets on a first come/first served basis may be made by phone: 724-659-3153. Tickets will held at the door in your name.
Immediately following the concert, join us for a reception on both floors of the Red Brick Gallery to accommodate those who cannot take the stairs catered by Don Ras with desserts by Crows Cupboard – in the Upstairs Gallery with the Weavers Exhibit from the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Media, and also in the first floor Gift Shop.
Post-Concert Red Brick Gallery Reception
After the concert, join us as we celebrate the life of Art Steffee with a reception on both floors of the Red Brick Gallery in order to accommodate those not able to take the stairs.
The Red Brick Gallery is located at 17 Main Street, Foxburg – directly adjacent to Lincoln Hall and the Foxburg Free Library.
The reception will be catered by Don Ras with desserts from Crows Cupboard.
Guest in the Upstairs Gallery will enjoy the spectacular Weavers Exhibit from the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Media.
Guests in the first floor Gift Shop will enjoy and perhaps be enticed to do some shopping in the midst of the one-of -a-kind, high quality, original artisan-made gifts created by Red Brick Gallery Cooperative Member Artists: Karin Arnds, Taylor Banner, Chris Bauer, Mark DeWalt, Donna Edmonds, Angela Taylor Hardwick, Ann Harting, Kathy Hogg, Dennis Keyes, Jason Floyd Lewis, Karen Mortland, Nissa Rappoport, Linda Thompson and Cathy & Jack Trzeciak.
THE PROGRAM
Six Duets, Piano Four Hands, Opus 11 Sergei Rachmaninoff
Meditation from Thaïs Jules Massenet
Widmung (Dedication) Robert Schumann/Franz Liszt
Dawn/Georgiana from “Pride & Prejudice” Dario Marianelli
Etude No. 3 on George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” Earl Wild
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring J.S. Bach/arr. Mark Hayes
Be Still, My Soul Jean Sibelius/arr. Victor Labenske
The Lord’s Prayer Albert Hay Mallotte
INTERMISSION
Just For Him Dennis Geib
Dorothy Dr. John
Finger Buster Jelly Roll Morton
Allegheny Rag Tom Roberts
Sunny Side of the Street/Tico Tico James Booker
Amazing Grace Tom Roberts
Autumn Leaves Joseph Kosma
Hey, Maybe Mark DeWalt
I’ll Be Seeing You Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal
Wade in the water African American Spiritual
What a Wonderful World Bob Thiele/George David Weiss
About the Artists
Cynthia Raim, who was unanimously chosen as the First Prize winner of the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, has been acclaimed for her recital and concerto appearances throughout the United States and abroad, including the orchestras of Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Prague, Hamburg, Lausanne and Vienna. Cynthia has won the prestigious Pro Musicis Award and, in 1987, was the first recipient of the “Distinguished Artist Award” of The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia (America’s oldest continuing musical organization), which was given for “outstanding achievement and artistic merit.” Her many U.S. appearances include Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street “Y,” the Kennedy Center, and the Master Keyboard Series of The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
She has also participated in many leading international music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Meadow Brook, Grand Teton, Bard, Mostly Mozart, Santa Fe, Luzern, Montreaux and Sunflower Music Festival. Active in chamber music as well, she has appeared frequently in duo recitals with Benita Valente, David Soyer, Arnold Steinhardt, Samuel Rhodes, and the Guarneri String Quartet. She has recorded for Gallo, Pantheon and Connoisseur Society and made numerous radio and television appearances.
David Allen Wehr has performed in over 1400 concerts in 30 countries in a multi-faceted, five-decade career. His international career was launched when he won the Gold Medal at the 1987 Santander International Piano Competition in Spain. The resulting tours have taken him to over 30 countries in Europe, North and South America, and the Far East, including performances in the world musical capitals of New York, London, Paris, Vienna, Washington, Madrid and Buenos Aires. For 13 seasons, he toured the United States and Canada for Community Concerts as soloist, pianist with the Sartory Trio, and duo-recital partner with violinist Linda Wang and cellist Zuill Bailey. Wehr has been soloist with the London Symphony, National Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, Houston Symphony, New Zealand Symphony and all the major Spanish and Latin American orchestras.
David has recorded over 20 albums for Connoisseur Society, Chandos, Equilibri and Jazzmuze and is in great demand as a teacher, master class presenter, and judge for national and international piano competitions. Equally comfortable as a collaborative artist, David is renowned for his Music on the Bluff chamber series at Duquesne University, where he serves as Dean of the Mary Pappert School of Music and holds the Jack W. Geltz Distinguished Piano Chair. He has enjoyed his long association with ARCA audiences as soloist and with musical friends from the Pittsburgh Symphony and Duquesne University in chamber music concerts premiered “on the Bluff”.
A passionate ambassador of classical music, violinist Monique Mead enjoys a rich career as a performer, educator, and entrepreneur currently innovating at the interface of music and well-being. Inspired and mentored by Leonard Bernstein, Mead has devoted her performing career to nurturing new audiences and deepening the musical experience for seasoned concertgoers from her belief that music has the power to connect, heal, and uplift humanity. Her programs with major orchestras and festivals in the United States and Europe have drawn international acclaim for their popular appeal and innovative approach, interweaving live music with education and audience engagement at the highest level. Her programs have reached millions through television appearances, a six-year radio series with the Munich Radio Orchestra, and nearly 20 years of concerts with the Cologne Philharmonic, Munich Symphony, and Düsseldorf Symphony, among others.
Sharing her passion for audience engagement, she has worked with international conductors, soloists and many arts organizations in the US and Europe, creating interactive events that build excitement around the concert experience. In her role as Director of Music Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, she offers students hands-on experiences and community-integrated learning to free them from limiting beliefs and support them in building careers that amplify their unique talents and values. Responding to the post-pandemic mental health crisis, Monique founded a Sound Healing studio in 2021 in partnership with the Awareness & Wellness Center, a holistic mental health practice.
Steinway Artist Gayle Martin achieved international prominence as the sole American laureate of the Sixth International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow — the third American woman ever to reach the finals. Hailed for creating “a truly magical atmosphere” in her Alice Tully Hall recital at Lincoln Center, her CD, To Keep the Dark Away, was praised in Fanfare Magazine for its “Superb performances, staggering interpretations; thought-provoking and deep; beautifully characterized… An infinitely rewarding disc that demands repeated listening.”
Acclaimed for concerto performances with Moscow Radio Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic, the Maracaibo Symphony, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Denver Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and California Philharmonic, she has toured in recital throughout South America and was concerto soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina at the Teatro Colón. Other engagements include appearances at the White House, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and recitals throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Austria, Poland, Israel, the Czech Republic, and Mainland China. A native Texan, Gayle Martin was one of the last students of Mme. Rosina Lhevinne at The Juilliard School and studied with Dieter Weber at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna and Eugene List at NY University, where she received the Master’s degree and taught on the faculty.
Having had a double career in the arts both “on” and “back” stage, Katherine (Kathy) Soroka has been hailed for her “masterful” and “heartfelt vocalism” and vivid performances as a singer-actress “finding both lush lines and dramatic intensity… commanding the stage”. Her first career was as a performing arts professional with the New York Philharmonic, Grand Teton Music Festival and Manhattan School of Music. Recently retired from the voice faculty of Mercyhurst University, she manages as an ARCA board member concert programming, marketing, website/media and education.
A winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions, Kathy has sung with the Knoxville Symphony, Edgewood Symphony and Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra and performed a Music for Exhibitions concert with Chatham Baroque for the Frick Museum. Recent opera roles include Ulrica in Un ballo in Maschera, Klytaemnestra in Elektra, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, and Baba in The Medium. A proponent of the music of living composers, Kathy has performed Betty Oliviero with Joel Sachs and Continuum in NYC and has sung world premieres of David Stock, Noel Zahler and Judith Shatin. She’s sung recitals in many New York City and Pittsburgh venues, at Allegheny College, Mercyhurst University and for Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts, inaugurating their concert series in 2006. Cabaret appearances include Panache and Don’t Tell Mama in NYC and Aria 412 in Pittsburgh with leads in musicals at the Colonial Theatre in RI, Pittsburgh Playhouse, and Barrow Civic Theatre.
Pianist Dennis Geib, from Franklin, PA, began his musical career at age five and has continued to contribute to its cultural community producing and playing in concerts, benefits, festivals, weddings, funerals, private parties and local events. He won first place in the Erie Diocese Piano Competition and was a scholarships student at the Chautauqua Institution of Music where he studied with Ozan Marsh – a pupil of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Over the years, Dennis has performed in countless musical venues, on television and radio and on university campuses across the United States. While a member of the Fayreweather Band, he opened concerts for national touring music bands such as ACDC, Heart, Edgar Winters, and others.
Moving to Texas in 1982, Dennis performed in hotels, churches and major venues in the Dallas-Fort Worth area – including the Morton Myerson Symphony Hall, The Weisfeld Performing Arts Center, and The Eisenman Center. He was the keyboardist at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Dallas, TX and entertained weekly in senior nursing homes, assisted living homes, and memory care units. Since returning to Franklin, Dennis has organized and performed concerts with local musicians to benefit Mustard Seed Missions of Venango County; in the Transit Building, Pipeline Alley, and for Applefest in Franklin; at the Venango Museum for First Night in Oil City; and for Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts in Foxburg. In 2005, Dennis was hired as a musical therapist at UPMC Northwest.
Tom Roberts is a leading proponent of early jazz piano in the world today and has been hailed as “one of the finest pianists today in the exciting Harlem stride piano style.”
He’s performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Statler Brothers Show on TNN, and A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor.
Tom was pianist for Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks in New York City and pianist and musical director for Leon Redbone for six years. He was the featured pianist at the International Stride Piano Summit in Zurich, Switzerland in 2001 and 2009.
Tom arranged and performed music for the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s film The Aviator, as well as several titles for the film DeLovely. He has arranged music for the syndicated PRI show Riverwalk Jazz, Live from the Landing with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, and Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s Louis Armstrong concert.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Tom played in all the major jazz clubs in the French Quarter and on the riverboats of New Orleans from 1989 to 1994. He’s performed twice at New York’s Carnegie Hall with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops and was featured in solo with Dick Hyman on the “Jazz In July” series at NYC’s 92nd Street Y in 2003. Tom has recorded over 40 albums and performed throughout the US and Europe. He is a versatile music historian with special focus on the Early Jazz era, a frequent guest at National Public Radio and has written articles for magazines such as Piano Today.
CATRO – Mark DeWalt, Tammi Dahl, David Kana, Robert Insko
Mark DeWalt, a freelance pianist/keyboardist from Grove City, is the leader of the jazz band CATRO. He appears regularly throughout the region playing piano and keyboard, performing in festivals, clubs, commercial and private settings. In 2006, CATRO released a self-titled CD which includes seven of DeWalt’s compositions. Mark’s playing can also be heard in numerous other recording projects ranging from World Beat, original rock, and Jazz to contemporary Christian styles. Highlights of his career include performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, two tours to Scandinavia, a tour to South Africa and many regional Jazz and Art Festival engagements.
Current projects include collaborating with the celebrated poet Phil Terman in live-reading performances of his poetry accompanied live music. In addition, Mark appears as a side man with numerous regional groups, teaches private students and is the music director for North Sewickley Presbyterian Church. Mark DeWalt also is a fine wood working artist with the Red Brick Gallery Cooperative, currently displaying works on both floors of the gallery. His works feature woods of exceptional grain and or character – in fine furniture, turnings, and sculptural pieces whose beauty is revealed through fine craftsmanship, captivating it’s textures, colors, character and potential.
Tammi Dahl’s beautiful voice is familiar to thousands of music lovers in our region. She performs regularly with Catro and was the featured vocalist on their original album in 2006.
Tammi leads a highly sought after wedding/party band based in Pittsburgh known as Dreamscape and has produced and directed numerous community theatre events in Franklin, PA.
She continues to donate her talents to mentoring and encouraging aspiring vocalists in the region.
David Kana is one of the area’s most widely respected players of the saxophone. David’s knowledge of tunes and his mastery of the instrument make him a top choice for dozens of ensembles in the area and nationally. He has performed with various artists including: The Benny Goodman Orchestra, Buddy Greco, Barbara Morrison, Henry Cuesta, the Temptations, Kristin Chenoweth, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Three Rivers Entertainment, the Del Sinchak Band, and Special Productions in Cleveland, Ohio.
A member of the Youngstown State University, Dana School of Music Jazz Faculty, he is responsible for directing two Jazz Combos, teaching the Advanced Improvisation, Jazz Fundamentals and Jazz History classes. David is also a member of the Music faculty at Malone University where he teaches Classical Saxophone. For the past twenty-two years he has joined an elite team of international musicians as a member of the faculty at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops.
Robert Insko is one of Kiski Area School District’s elementary music instructors and a director of the KA elementary band. His duties include teaching elementary general music at two of the four elementary schools. During his tenure at Kiski, Robert has been the 7th and 8th grade band director, 9th grade band director, high school Symphonic Band director, high school jazz band “B” director, and the jazz ensemble director at the Kiski Area Intermediate School, assistant marching band director, and the creator of the Kiki Area Summer Jazz Workshop. Additionally, he has served on the faculties of Seton Hill and California University of PA, as an adjunct professor of electric and double bass.
Robert Insko is a freelance performer on bass and trombone, performing in the Pittsburgh area with many groups including the Burgh Big Band, the Balcony Big Band, Azucar, Catch 22, Harold Betters, The Bone Forum, Phoenix Jazz Project, touring Russia and playing the Moscow Heritage Jazz Festival. Robert has performed with nationally known artists such asHarry Connick, Jr., Rob McConnell, Phil Woods, Michael Feinstein, Regis Philbin, Joan Rivers and Robert Goulet. Before pursuing a career in teaching, Robert performed professionally from 1984-1990 with The Four Kinsmen from Australia, The Brooks Paxton Show, Loose Change, The Temptations, and the Four Tops, touring Canada and the U.S.
Enjoy Art Steffee’s Foxburg Village Before the Memorial Concert
Before the concert, enjoy some of the businesses that Dr. Arthur Steffee and his wife Patricia built in the village of Foxburg.
Take a brisk walk along the Allegheny River trail or have lunch at the Allegheny Grille in their dining room overlooking the Allegheny River.
Or for more casual fare, at Foxburg Pizza with salads, sandwiches and pizza – run by Patricia Steffee’s sister Georgine and her husband Steve Moores.
Stop by to enjoy a wine tasting and take home some specialty bottles from the winery that Art Steffee built on the site of the old Silver Fox Diner – recently renovated by new owners Saji and Shannon Daniel and Lou and Cindy Keppler – Foxburg Wine Cellars.
Or MAKE IT A WEEKEND GET AWAY in beautiful Foxburg – in the hotel that Art Steffee built, that is now owned by Saji and Shannon Daniel and Lou and Cindy Keppler – the rustically elegant and newly renovated Foxburg Inn.
AND – if you reserve early, get a room with a fireplace.
If they are sold out, up the river discover Emlenton’s bed and breakfast, the Barnard House.