In Performance Network Theatre's current production of A Feminine Ending, a young woman dreams of being a great composer. She has trouble making it in the male-dominated field, however, and pays the rent writing ad jingles while her boyfriend gets famous and her symphony lies unfinished. On April 4 at 5pm, Performance Network presents a free panel of Successful Women in Music following the 3pm performance of A Feminine Ending.
Women who have successful careers teaching, performing, composing, recording and who own businesses in the music field will tell their stories and the "secrets" of their success. Panel members include: cabaret singer and actress Naz Edwards, Firefly Club owner Susan Chastain, U-M flute professor Amy Porter, composer Andrea L. Reinkemeyer and Cynthia Kortman Westphal, an original company member of The Lion King. Former Ann Arbor Symphony Education Director Rebecca Pagels will moderate the talk.
This event is a must-see for high school and college musicians, students of all ages and anyone who is interested in the stories of some of the area's most fascinating and accomplished women!
Susan Chastain is the owner of Ann Arbor's famous Firefly Club, Michigan's premier jazz club. Since 2000, the Firefly has hosted hundreds of great jazz and blues musicians. Susan sings every week at the Firefly Club on Mondays with the 15-piece Paul Keller Orchestra, on Wednesdays with the PKE and for the Friday afternoon dixieland happy hour with Paul Klinger's Easy Street Jazz Band. Steady Gig is her triumphant first solo album. Released in April 2005 on PKO Records, Steady Gig is a straight ahead, swinging affair that showcases Susan's many vocal charms, familiar melodies and lyrics and sterling improvised instrumental solos.
Naz Edwards is a singer and actor in the best and highest sense of both terms. She has a remarkable gift for blending her incredibly rich and dynamic vocal instrument with the story that it tells. Naz's captivating presence has brought audiences - from Broadway and regional theatres, to intimate cabarets and individual listeners of her recordings, into the magic of the moment, a world of powerful emotions and intricate nuance. Last year Naz released her first solo CD ...if the waiting takes years, a blend of contemporary Broadway songs as well as some standards.
Cynthia Kortman Westphal was an original company member of
The Lion King on Broadway, where she was associate music director, conductor, and keyboard player for seven years. Additional Broadway credits include: Miss Saigon (keyboards) and The Gershwins Fascinating Rhythm (music supervisor, music director, conductor). Ms. Westphal has toured as a pianist with opera singer
Andrea Bocelli on two U.S. tours and has also worked as an orchestral pianist with American Symphony Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony. She continues to be active as a keyboard player and pianist for Broadway National Tours in Detroit. Television appearances include Good Morning America, The
Rosie O'Donnell Show and Great Performances: Copland's America on PBS. She can be heard on the Grammy Award-winning cast album of
The Lion King and the Grammy nominated album Celluloid Copland with Eos Orchestra.
Andrea L. Reinkemeyer, DMA, enjoys exploring sonic representations of landscapes and photographs through music. Her current research focuses on the interaction of music with extra-musical impulses from the visual and natural world. Her music has been described as "haunting," "compelling and adventurous" (Detroit Free Press, American Composers Orchestra). Dr. Reinkemeyer is an adjunct assistant professor of music at Bowling Green State University. She has had performances of her music by the American Composers Orchestra Underwood New Music Readings and has enjoyed commissions from The Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, The Wild Swan Theater, Iowa Music Teachers' Association, as well as many performers.
Amy Porter first leapt to international attention when she won the Kobe International Flute Competition in Japan. She has been acclaimed by major critics as an exciting and inspiring American artist who matches "her fine controlled playing to a commanding, sensual stage presence." She has performed throughout the world as soloist at major music centers including
Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall in Japan, and the National Theater Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Ms. Porter has been heard in recital on National Public Radio, highlighted on PBS Live From Lincoln Center and featured on the cover of Flute Talk Magazine twice in the US. Amy Porter held the position of Associate Principal Flute in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for eight years before becoming Professor of Flute at the
University of Michigan. She was awarded the 2006 Henry Russel Award from the
University of Michigan for distinguished scholarship and conspicuous ability as a teacher.
Founded in 1981, Performance Network Theatre has grown from a fledgling company to Ann Arbor's only resident, professional theatre. The Network reaches 40,000 theatre patrons and children each year through the year-round Professional Series and the Children's Theatre Network. Performance Network also presents the Fireside Festival of New Works and a series of classes on theatre-related topics. The Network provides uncompromising artistic leadership in the region and produces works that engage, challenge and inspire audiences and artists.
Tickets for A Feminine Ending can be ordered at the Performance Network Box Office at 734.663.0681, online at
www.performancenetwork.org or by coming to the Performance Network Theatre (120 East Huron St., Ann Arbor) Monday-Saturday 11-6 or one hour before a performance.
