2024-25 V E N T I C O R D I
M U S I C I A N B I O S
Oboist and VentiCordi Director Kathleen McNerney has been hailed by critics for her ‘rich, full bodied tone’ and ‘attention to the natural, and enticing timbre of the instrument’. Kathleen finds chamber music to be the ideal outlet for her music making. The founding of VentiCordi has fulfilled a lifelong dream.
She currently teaches oboe at Bowdoin and Bates Colleges and is the woodwind chamber music coach at Bowdoin. She also teaches at the Portland Conservatory of Music. Kathleen has performed with many New England and Maine based performing organizations such as the Portland Symphony, PortOpera, Bay Chamber Concerts, Portland String Quartet, Maine Music Society, Maine Chamber Ensemble, New Hampshire Symphony, New Hampshire Bach Festival and New Hampshire Summer Music Festival.
Before moving to Maine, Kathleen lived in Los Angeles for nineteen years. During those years Kathleen enjoyed a prolific and varied playing career, working in many regional orchestras, playing all positions and appearing as soloist several times. In 2004, she premiered a commissioned piece for English horn, written for her, as a long standing member of the Orchestra of St. Matthews.
She was oboist for two woodwind quintets, Imbroglio and Calico Winds and recorded with both groups. Her recording with Calico Winds was praised in the Los Angeles Times as ‘proceeds from Bach to Zappa…projecting solid musical values all the way…crossed all the style lines and gotten away with it.’ Additional playing experience includes opera, ballet, movie soundtracks and musical theatre. Some of Kathleen's favorite work while in Los Angeles was playing for silent movies and with local pop artists.
While in California, Kathleen held teaching positions at Azusa Pacific University, La Sierra University and Glendale Community College.
Kathleen is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music, where she studied with Humbert Lucarelli, and the University of Southern California. Further studies were with Allan Vogel, former Principal Oboe with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Violinist and VentiCordi Director Dean Stein has performed throughout the world in recital, with orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and as soloist. His performances frequently garner critical acclaim, as in a recording of which ‘The Strad’ magazine wrote, “Dean Arthur Stein excels in the first violin’s improvisatory cadenza, his fierce yet luxuriant tone setting the mood...”
A passionate performer and advocate for chamber music, Mr. Stein was honored to be chosen as first violinist of the Portland String Quartet in 2012, the first change of personnel in the distinguished PSQ’s history since it’s formation in 1969.
Recent performance highlights include performing Elvis Costello's, The Juliet Letters with the Rose Quintet, string quartet concerts with the PSQ on the Seine River in France, as well as Budapest and eastern Europe, a collaboration with Iraqi Oud virtuoso Rahim-al-Haj, and performing the 10 Beethoven Sonatas with pianist Chiharu Naruse at Bates College.
In 2009, Mr. Stein, together with oboist Kathleen McNerney, created VentiCordi Chamber Music, focusing on combining wind and string instruments, and programming lesser known treasures of the chamber music repertoire. Their performances throughout Maine have been enthusiastically received and critically acclaimed.
From 2003 - 08 Mr. Stein directed the Arcady Music Festival in Bar Harbor, Maine. At Arcady, he performed in chamber ensembles, brought internationally renowned artists to perform in Down East Maine, and gave high priority to educational programs, bringing musicians to perform directly for Maine schoolchildren. His passion for the solo violin music of Bach has resulted in many performances of Bach’s masterpieces, which one reviewer acclaimed as “a superb and impressive performance of the unaccompanied Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No. 2...”
Chamber music audiences have heard Mr. Stein in performances throughout Maine from Ogunquit to Orono, at Music Mountain, Eastern Music Festival, Harvard’s Paine Hall, Bowdoin and Bates Colleges and many more venues.
A highly sought after teacher and clinician, Mr. Stein is on the faculty of Bowdoin and Bates Colleges, coaches string quartets with the PSQ at Newagen Seaside Inn, St. Joseph’s College and Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, and has taught at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
He studied first with Margaret Berend at the Henry Street Settlement, then at the Juilliard School with Lewis Kaplan and Ivan Galamian, and at University of Maryland, College Park, with Gerald Fischbach and members of the Guarneri String Quartet.
Our Maine Outstanding Student of the Year, Heitor Mantovani began his viola studies in the Portland School system at the age of 12, playing with the Middle School Orchestra and later with the Portland High School Orchestra under the guidance of Julianne Eberl and Audrey Cabral. Since 2020, he has been taking private lessons with violist Julia Adams. Heitor has attended several music camps, including the New England Music Camp at Snow Pond, ME, the Worcester Chamber Music Festival in Worcester, MA, and the DaPonte Strings High School workshop in ME.
As his passion for music grew, Heitor played with chamber music ensembles at the Portland Conservatory of Music and served as principal viola with the Portland Youth Symphony Orchestra at USM since 2021. He has participated in the school system's All State festivals for several years and was selected to play in the All Eastern Festival in Hartford, CT, in 2025.
Heitor is also interested in composition and has taken composition classes during his summer camps and at the Portland Conservatory of Music. He is now preparing to pursue a Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, starting in the Fall of 2025. In 2024, Heitor was awarded second prize in his category at the Royal Maas International Music Competition in the Netherlands and received Special Recognition from the Marine Corps for his outstanding performance and dedication to academics and music.
A founding member of the Chameleon Arts Ensemble, clarinetist Gary Gorczyca is a ubiquitous presence on Boston’s classical music concert scene. Mr. Gorczyca has appeared as a soloist with the Angelica International Festival and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and performs frequently with Boston Midsummer Opera, Odyssey Opera, and Back Bay Chorale. He can be heard on many recordings on the BMOP Sound label, including Bernard Rands’ Canti Trilogy, Lee Hyla’s Lives of the Saints, and as a soloist on Elliot Schwartz’s Chamber Concerto. He also played on composer Marti Epstein’s recent recording, Hypnagogia, with the Ludovico Ensemble.
A frequent collaborator with composers and sought-after chamber musician, Mr. Gorczyca was a member of Boston Musica Viva and the Fromm Players at Harvard. He has also performed at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, with Callithumpian Consort, the Firebird Ensemble, Sound Icon, Collage, and the First Monday Series at Jordan Hall. For the past several seasons he has collaborated with VentiCordi Chamber Music, winner of the 2016 and 2017 Down East Magazine’s reader’s choice award.
Gary Gorczyca began his musical career on the heels of an education from New England Conservatory, Boston University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Shortly afterward he received fellowships to attend the Norfolk Chamber and Contemporary Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he was awarded a Jackson Prize for outstanding musical achievement. When not performing, he volunteers for many causes, including the Pan Mass Kids Ride, Hingham Interfaith Food Pantry, Boy Scouts of America, and recently donated his time to do a David Bowie/Phillip Glass benefit concert for cancer research with the Ambient Orchestra at MIT.
Graybert Beacham has been an active orchestral and chamber music performer throughout the United States and internationally. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was the recipient of the Dr. Jerome Gross Prize in Violin. Major teachers include David Cerone, Bernhard Goldschmidt, and Emanuel Borok . Orchestral affiliations have included the Kansas City Philharmonic, Mexico City Philharmonic, Tulsa Philharmonic (Principal Second Violin), Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, and Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has served as Acting Concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jaime Laredo, also performing as soloist with that orchestra. He has performed as Concertmaster and soloist for the Cascade Festival of Music in Oregon. As a violist, he has been a guest artist with the Portland String Quartet and served as Principal Violist with Opera Boston. Graybert toured China as violin soloist with the New Sousa Band during that ensemble’s 100 year celebration of the original Sousa Band’s 1910-11 world tour.
Music education has always been an important component of Graybert’s musical life. Faculty positions have included the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department, Colby College, University of Southern Maine, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, Sunriver Institute for Strings, Music Festival of Arkansas, Bay Chamber Concerts Next Generation Program, the New England Suzuki Institute and the Southern Maine String Academy. He has held the position of conductor with the University of Maine at Farmington Community Orchestra, has guest conducted the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, and is an active conductor/clinician at various educational festivals throughout New England. Mr. Beacham designed and instituted a string program at Maine School Administrative District No. 58, and also taught strings at Waterville Public Schools. Graybert is a founding member of the Nordica Trio (clarinet, piano, and violin/viola). Recorded performances have been broadcast over public radio stations across the United States and Mexico, and he has recorded for Albany Records.
Cellist Katherine Cherbas has performed with 35 Broadway shows and is currently a member of the orchestra for Spamalot at the St. James Theatre. She appears regularly with the Encores! Orchestra at New York City Center, the New Jersey Symphony, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Orchestra, and other area ensembles. As a chamber musician her interests span the gamut, from Baroque continuo playing to collaborating with composers on new works. Her world-premiere recording of Milton Babbitt’s String Quartet No. 6 with the Milton Quartet (Tzadik Records, 2003) was critically acclaimed for its “impeccable tuning, timing and precision of color and phrasing” (New York Times) and “staggering…technical control, understanding, depth, passion, and brilliance” (Tempo).
After studying at the Indiana University School of Music while finishing high school, Katherine moved to New York City and completed an undergraduate degree at Columbia University, a master’s degree at The Juilliard School, and a Doctor of Musical Arts at SUNY-Stony Brook. She is certified as a teacher in the Suzuki method, and works with private cello students ranging in age from 4 to 80.
Katherine lives in New Jersey with her husband, teenage son, and two dogs. When not performing or teaching, she can often be found at a baseball game.
Violist and composer Mark Berger has toured throughout the United States and internationally as a member of the Lydian String Quartet, performing the acknowledged masterpieces of the classical, romantic, and modern eras as well as premiering remarkable compositions written by today's cutting-edge composers. In addition to his work with the quartet, Berger frequently performs with many of Boston’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Emmanuel Music, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Worcester Chamber Music Society, and Music at Eden’s Edge. He has appeared as a guest artist with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Boston Musica Viva, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, and Radius Ensemble, and has performed at summer music festivals including Tanglewood, the Newport Music Festival, Third Dimension Chamber Music Festival, ArtsAlive Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Conference and Kneisel Hall. Strongly devoted to the performance of new music, Berger has premiered countless new works with many of Boston’s new music ensembles including Sound Icon, Dinosaur Annex, Ludovico Ensemble, and ALEA III. He has recorded solo and chamber works for Albany, Bridge, Innova and Immersive Music Project.
A dedicated educator, Berger is Associate Professor of the Practice at Brandeis University, where he teaches viola, chamber music, music theory and analysis. In addition to his teaching at Brandeis, he frequently teaches analysis and orchestration courses for Boston University and has taught at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where he coached chamber music and taught some of the most talented high school students in the country.
Pianist Chiharu Naruse has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician throughout the United States, Germany, France and Japan. Her broad range of orchestral repertoire include performances of Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Mozart and Schumann piano concertos with multiple orchestras. Naruse has also performed with the DaPonte Quartet, Portland String Quartet, VentiCordi and the Portland Ballet. Her musical projects range from German classical repertoire to regular collaboration with contemporary composers in the interpretation and performance of their compositions.
Naruse is frequently contracted by recording companies to record contemporary music. To date, she has several recordings with Navona Records and, most recently, released a solo album of compositions by Kenneth Kuhn from Big Round Records.
In addition to maintaining a regular performance schedule, Naruse is also a well respected teacher, chamber music coach and competition adjudicator with many of her students receiving competition awards and gaining acceptance to major music conservatories. Naruse is currently a Collaborative Pianist and member of applied music faculty at Bates College and the faculty of the Portland Conservatory of Music.
Naruse is a graduate from Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, Germany where studied piano with Klaus Bäßler, art song collaboration with Wolfram Rieger and chamber music with Suzanne Glützmann. She is also a former student of Frank Glazer.
Bassoonist Wren Saunders received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern Maine and a Master of Music. from New England Conservatory of Music in bassoon performance. While at New England Conservatory she studied with Richard Svoboda, other teachers include Richard Ranti, Ben Kamins, and John Hunt. Ms. Saunders is currently a member of the Orchestra of Indian Hill (MA), is principal bassoon of the Bangor Symphony and is a former member of the Knoxville Symphony (TN). In 2007 she was a concerto soloist with the Bangor Symphony.
An active freelancer she has played with the region's top orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, BMOP, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Rhode Island Philharmonic, PORT orchestra, Vermont Symphony, and the ProArte Chamber Orchestra of Boston among others. Ms. Saunders can be heard playing principal bassoon with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra performing Violin Concerto No. 6 "Old Brass" on Mark O'Connor's CD "Americana Symphony" on the OMAC label.
Ms. Saunders has a vibrant and successful bassoon studio where her students are regularly accepted into the Maine All-State and District festivals, the USM Youth Ensembles as well as New England Conservatory's Youth Orchestras and the Boston Youth Orchestras in Massachusetts. She is currently on the faculty of the University of Southern Maine, Gordon College and the Portland Conservatory of Music.
Cellist Eliza Meyer performs regularly with chamber and orchestral ensembles around Maine, including the Portland and Bangor Symphonies. She is a founding member of the Resinosa Ensemble, a chamber trio formed in 2016 that features music by living composers on all of its programs, and has commissioned works from six Maine-based composers. She teaches at UMaine Augusta and maintains a private teaching studio at her home in Vassalboro. Since moving to Maine in 2009, she has also performed with White Mountain Musical Arts, Maine Pro Musica, Portland Ballet, Opera Maine, Maine Music Society, ChoralArt, and the Hancock Quartet.
Eliza received her Bachelor of Music Degree and a Performer Diploma from the Indiana University School of Music, where she was a recipient of the Eva Heinitz Scholarship, and her Master of Music Degree from The Boston Conservatory, where she was a member of the Honors String Quartet and a winner of the String Idol contest. Eliza was a core member of Ludovico Ensemble, a new music ensemble-in-residence at The Boston Conservatory, for five years, serving as its Artistic Director for two seasons. She has studied with Andrew Mark, Rhonda Rider, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Helga Winold.
A musician who enjoys performing music of our time, pianist Bridget Convey has found much fulfillment in collaborating with living composers. She has been fortunate to work with composers such as Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, James Tenney, Daniel Sonenberg, Vineet Shende, Elliott Schwartz, John Newell, and many others. As a soloist and ensemble musician, Bridget has been heard at venues such as Lincoln Center (NYC); Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (Los Angeles, CA); Ojai Music Festival (CA); Maybeck Performing Arts Studio (Berkeley, CA); Percussive Arts Society International Convention (Columbus, OH); among many others. She received her Diploma from Mannes College of Music, NYC (Pre-college Division) 1989; BFA from State University of New York at Purchase 1993; and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts 1997. Bridget performs regularly with the VentiCordi Chamber Ensemble; Maine Music Society; and is co-founder/director of the Resinosa Ensemble, with Joëlle Morris (mezzo-soprano) and Eliza Meyer (cello). She can be heard on Navona, Cuneiform, Independent and Nataraja labels. Bridget serves as adjunct piano faculty at Bates College and has a private piano studio in Central Maine.
Nancy Marfisi lives in Eagle Rock CA, a suburb of Los Angeles with her husband Dan Marfisi and has two adult children. Her daughter Linda is a make up artist and her son Chris is a senior at Syracuse University. She grew up in Reno, Nevada and graduated from the University of Nevada-Reno as a music major and earned an M.M. in Flute Performance from USC. Currently she performs in the St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra as principal flute and as piccolo with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. Nancy returns frequently to play in the Reno Philharmonic and is a substitute player for many local Los Angeles area orchestras. She was one of the founding members of the Imbroglio Quintet with Kookie (Kathleen) McNerney.
Nancy’s other passion in life is real estate and she is a realtor with Sotheby's International Realty in Los Feliz.
In her spare time Nancy loves to look at the flowers in her front yard that was landscaped and designed by Kookie, take her beagle Watson for walks; and has been seen talking to the hummingbirds nicknamed "Tinker Belle and Tinker Bob".
Dr. José Manuel Lezcano serves the Osher School of Music at the University of Southern Maine (Gorham) as Artist Lecturer in Guitar. In programs of standard, Latin-American, and original works, he has appeared in major venues and festivals, including Carnegie Recital Hall, the NYC North-South Consonance Series, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, Spain, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, China, Germany, and the Czech Republic as recitalist and concerto soloist.
Described by Fanfare Magazine as “an excellent guitarist as well as an imaginative composer,” Jose has earned numerous awards, including first prize in the MTNA National Guitar Competition, the NHSCA Individual Artist Fellowship, NHMTA Composer of the Year (twice), KSC Distinguished Research Award, and a Fulbright Award to Ecuador, where he pursued research on the guitar as ritual instrument in indigenous solstice festivals, and taught courses at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
He has been a frequent guest artist at numerous chamber music series in New England, including University of Southern Maine, Apple Hill, Electric Earth, Wisteria, Portland Chamber Music, and Athenaeum concerts in Portsmouth, NH. He is an avid chamber music collaborator, appearing frequently with pianist Virginia Eskin and US-Maine ArtistLecturer in Cello, Rebecca Hartka, (Duo Mundo), in standard repertoire and his own original compositions.
For his Guitar Concerto, which he recorded with North-South Consonance and conductor/director Max Lifchitz on the CD, “Remembrances / Recuerdos,” he received two nominations and was semi-finalist for Grammys in the categories “Best Contemporary Composition” and “Best Soloist with Orchestra.” He has appeared with the Orquesta Solistas de la Habana, Cuba; National Symphony of Ecuador; the National Symphony of Peru; the Orchestra of Tolima (Colombia); Orquesta Sinfonica de Loja (Ecuador); the Orquesta de Camera de Quito; the Portsmouth Symphony and Granite State Symphonies (NH); and the South Carolina Philharmonic, in concerti by Rodrigo, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vivaldi, Giuliani, and Lezcano himself. Recent activities in 2023 include a solo recital and artist residency at the Conservatory of the Pacific (Stockton, CA); a solo recital and the world premiere of William Brusick’s 18-minute suite for solo guitar “Del Himnario” at Trinity Klein Concerts (Houston, Texas); and a commission and world premiere of a concerto for double-basses, harp and strings for JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic. Forthcoming performances include the New York premiere of Lezcano’s concertino, “Mojito,” for solo guitar and string orchestra (North-South Consonance, May 18, 2024). He released a 2023 solo CD, “Homage: Spain & Latin America” to critical acclaim. https://joselezcano.hearnow.com/homage-spain-and-latin- America
In 2016 José received an Ewing Arts Award in recognition of his distinguished career and contributions to the Arts in the Monadnock region. Jose’s compositions, including chamber music, concerti, and songs involving the guitar, are published by Alry, Cayambis, and MundoArts of Barcelona. Dr. Lezcano continues to serve Keene State College as Emeritus Professor of Music. Students from his guitar studio have frequently won Keene State’s most coveted awards & scholarships, and many have gone on to successful careers as educators and performers.
His earliest training was with Cuban guitarist Jose Costa, and he performed his first recital from memory at 14. As a teenager he won the Interlochen Concerto Competition, with the Adagio from Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, performing with the World Youth Symphony. Academic degrees: Peabody Conservatory of Music (BM); University of South Carolina (MM); and Florida State University (Ph.D. music theory). His guitar studies were with Aaron Shearer; Christopher Berg; and Juan Mercadal.
An elected member of the NH State Council on the Arts, he advocates for New Hampshire’s creative communities. He has coordinated two seasons of Cheshire County Classic Concerts, with grants from the Cheshire County Board of Commissioners and State Representatives, to showcase established local and regional performers of national and international acclaim, and to encourage young emerging talents.
