Contemporary American
Chamber Ensemble

This ensemble features original contemporary classical chamber music by award winning Rhode Island composer and poet Noreen Inglesi. Presently, this group has recorded and released two compact discs which are available for sale via the internet at http://www.noreeninglesi.com. These recordings are entitled A Musical Tribute to Rhode Island Visual Artists and Beyond 2000: The Future of Our Planet. Both of these recording projects were partially funded by the Rhode State Council on the Arts and the original music and poetry included on these CD’s highlight our state’s natural beauty. For example, one of the piece’s entitled “The Nature Conservancy on Block Island,” featuring superb vocals by our contralto Susan Rodgers, depicts Block Island as the focal point of our state’s efforts to preserve our natural treasures. Also included in this group’s diverse repertoire are works by other leading contemporary American composers such as William Bolcom and William Grant Still.

The Performers

Susan Rodgers, contralto, completed her Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance at Rhode Island College where she was the recipient of the Cantor Jacob Hohenemser Award and was chosen as Outstanding Music Graduate of her class. She received a Master’s Degree from the New England Conservatory in Vocal Pedagogy. She has sung leading roles with Goldovsky Opera National Tour, New York City Opera’s Education Department., Pittsburg Opera Theater, Opera Ensemble of New York, Bronx Opera, Washington Civic Opera, Baton Rouge Opera, Atlanta Lyric Opera and Southern Regional Opera. A member of the Music Faculty at Rhode Island College, she is also contralto soloist at St. Martin’s Church in Providence.

Anne Diamond, flutist, has been a long time freelance artist in the Southern New England area. She has performed with the Salt Marsh Opera Company in their productions of Madame Butterfly, The Mikado, Tosca, and Cosi Fan Tutti. She also performed at the Newport Music Festival in 2001 and 2002. In addition to maintaining a private flute studio, Ms. Diamond has been an instrumental music teacher in the Cranston Public Schools since 1991. In the summer of 2006 she was a member of the faculty of the White Mountain Flute Conservatory and the RI College Music Institute. She has received of several grants including the Northwestern University Summer Music Fellowship and a Theodore Sizer Fellowship from the Rhode Island Foundation. Her teachers include Jim Walker and Gretel Shanley in Los Angeles and in master classes with Goran Marcusson, Trevor Wye, and Wissam Boustany.

Audrey Kaiser, pianist, has toured the United States extensively for the past fifteen years performing, arranging,and recording with a show act called the Two of Hearts. Active in the theater world as director, musical director, pianist and arranger, she has worked more than fifty musical theater productions on the high school, college, and professional levels. In addition to her credits in the theater, Kaiser is a concert pianist and accompanist for classical music programs. In November 2002, she toured with David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra on his children's concert tour in South County, Rhode Island. Kaiser received the first Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Rhode Island College in May, 1978. After many years of touring, in May, 1996, she graduated form Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia with a Master of Arts in piano performance. Her academic honors embrace membership in Who's Who Among Students in Colleges and Universities, and two years on the National Dean's List. College affiliations as piano accompanist include Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky and the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. In 1997-98, Kaiser taught music theory at the University of Kentucky where she completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in August, 2000. Dr. Kaiser served for three years as Assistant Professor of Piano and Music Theory at Marshall University and last year she returned to Rhode Island to teach at the University of Rhode Island and the Community College of Rhode Island. In the fall of 2002, Kaiser began as music director at St. Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Roberta Ricci, cellist, studied with George Neikrug at Boston University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music cum laude from Rhode Island College. Ms. Ricci was principal cellist with the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1997 and has performed with numerous orchestras throughout the region, including the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed in orchestras of the Irish Tenors, Johnny Mathis, Liza Minelli Tony Bennett, Paul Anka, Ray Charles, and has recorded with Bill Harley and Hurrican. Ms. Ricci is currently a member of the Allegro Chamber Players and teaches in the Pawtucket School Department.

Noreen Inglesi, composer, poet and narrator whose biography has been published in Who’s Who in America, is a music teacher for the Town of North Providence, where she was nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2003. She is also on the faculty of the Community College of Rhode Island. Noreen received her Associate of Fine Arts Degree from the Community College of Rhode Island, her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master’s Degree in Music Education and Composition at the University of Rhode Island. During her studies there, she was awarded a Graduate Assistantship, voted All American Scholar and earned membership into the Phi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society and the Golden Key National Honor Society. She has received many awards for her music and poetry, which has been published in many anthologies. Her orchestral and chamber works have been performed both nationally and internationally. Some of her commissions include the American Band, the Insight Quartet in Italy, the Culver Chamber Music Series in Los Angeles, CA, the Nature Conservancy, the Colonial Theatre in Westerly, RI, the South County Habitat for the Humanity and the Providence Permanent Firefighter’s Association. She was recently awarded a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts to create music and poetry focusing on the work of some of Rhode Island’s visual artists. During the spring of 2004, her “Duet for Flute and Harp” was recorded and released on a compact disc with the Contemporary Record Society.

AUDIO SAMPLES

Matunuck Hills Preserve

Quicksand Pond Preserve

 

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