Wind Quintet Program
THE PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Quintet in E-Flat Major, Opus 16 for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and piano
Grave; Allegro ma non troppo
Andante cantabile
Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo
Amanda Jane Fox
Infinity for flute and piano
INTERMISSION
Frédéric Chopin
(1810-1849)
Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Opus 47
Francis Poulenc
(1899-1963)
Sextuor (Sextet) for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and piano
Allegro vivace
Divertissement: Andantino
Finale: Prestissimo
THE ARTISTS
Lisa Hennessy
Principal flute
Lisa Hennessy is principal flutist with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Landmarks Orchestra and the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and performs regularly with Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Pops, Boston Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. She also enjoys performing in chamber music ensembles with her colleagues for various events and concerts throughout New England. Lisa teaches at Phillips Acadmy in Andover in addition to her private flute studio. She has given masterclasses for the Greater Boston Flute Association, the Longy School of Music and the University of Southern Maine.
Lisa holds a Master’s in Music, with distinction in performance, from the New England Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music, summa cum laude, from the University of Houston. While earning her degrees, she studied with Byron Hester, principal flutist of the Houston Symphony, and renowned flute soloist Paula Robison. While doing her graduate studies, Lisa was the winner of Boston’s James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition and NEC’s Concerto Competition. She has been a featured soloist on WGBH radio’s Boston Performances and with the Portland Symphony and Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and has made recordings for the A & E Cable Network and the Naxos American Classics and Chandos labels.
Lisa is married to home improvement specialist, chef, and devoted classical music fan Lance Levasseur. Their son Nathan plays piano, trombone, and lots of computer games. The Hennessy- Levasseur household is presided over by two talkative and absurdly affectionate cats.
Amanda Hardy
Principal oboe
Amanda Hardy joined the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra as principal oboe in November 2013 where she occupies the Clinton Graffam Chair. An in-demand artist in New England and beyond, Amanda is a frequent performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, with whom she has both toured internationally and recorded. She has performed as guest principal oboe with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, the Des Moines Symphony, and the Boston Philharmonic. Amanda has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops in Symphony Hall (2009), the Portland Symphony, the Chelsea Music Festival, the Bach Virtuosi Festival, the NEC Bach Ensemble, and the Drake Symphony Orchestra. As a recipient of the Gillet Scholarship and Tourjée Alumni Scholarship Award, Amanda studied with BSO principal oboist John Ferrillo at the New England Conservatory (NEC). Amanda was winner of the 2010 Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award Competition. As a chamber musician, she co-founded the St. Mary’s Quarantine Series with soprano Tamra Grace Jones, a chamber music series during the pandemic that both raised money for a food pantry in Dorchester and employed musicians during the pandemic. She also is on the planning team for Boston Conservatory’s Artistry in Action Faculty Chamber Music Series.
Amanda recently joined the faculty at Boston University as Lecturer in Oboe, is Assistant Professor of Oboe at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and is on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She holds a Bachelor of Music in oboe with a piano minor from Drake University and a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from NEC. Previous festivals include the Masterworks Festival, the Chelsea Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Tanglewood Music Center in 2010 and 2011 where she was awarded the Mickey L. Hooten Memorial Award both summers. Her solo work can be heard on, Dancing with J.S. Bach (2019), on the Chelsea Music Festival Live label. Her teachers include John Ferrillo, Marilyn Zupnik, Anne Gabriele, and Jay Light; summer studies with Elaine Douvas and Richard Woodhams.
Thomas Parchman
Principal clarinet
Dr. Thomas Parchman is the Principal Clarinetist with the Portland Symphony and holds the rank of Professor at the University of Southern Maine. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California, a Master of Music from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor’s degree in both Music Education and Performance from Southern Methodist University. Principal teachers have been Clark Brody (Chicago Symphony), Larry Combs(Chicago Symphony), Robert Marcellus (Cleveland Orchestra), and Mitchell Lurie (Chicago Symphony and soloist). Dr. Parchman regularly performs as a member of the Portland Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic and concertizes throughout New England. As Principal Clarinet, Dr. Parchman has often performed as a soloist with the PSO, including the Mozart Concerto, Copland Concerto, and Krommer Concerto Op. 86, Martin Concerto for 7 Winds, the Lovreglio Rigoletto Variations, and the Luciano Berio orchestration of the Brahms Sonata in F minor.
Thomas ParchmanHe was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Early musical training was in public school bands and youth orchestras, and his first opportunity to perform in an opera was as a member of the on-stage banda in Verdi’s Aida with the Metropolitan Opera when it toured to Memphis. As the Orchestra Manager and Principal Clarinet for Opera Maine, he contracts the orchestra and has the opportunity to continue performing the music first introduced to him by the Met on tour many years ago.
In addition to the clarinet studio at USM, he teaches courses in American Popular Music, Music Fundamentals, A Senior Seminar/Capstone, and a course focused on antisemitism in music.
Janet Polk
PRINCIPAL bassoon
Janet Polk is principal bassoonist with Portland (ME) Symphony, Vermont Symphony Opera North, Opera Maine as well as various ensembles at Dartmouth College. As a soloist, she has performed with the orchestras of Portland, Vermont (including on stage collaborations with Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson and Anthony McGill), Indian Hill, Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire and with the Furman University Concert Band. Recent chamber music performances have included performing with Amici in Asheville NC and Baltimore, MD and with Classicopia in the Hanover NH area. In addition to her performing career, Janet is on the faculties of Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire.
Lauren Winter
PRINCIPAL horn
Lauren Winter is known as one of the top freelancers in New England. She is principal horn of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Symphony Orchestra. She is also third horn with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, and formerly Principal Horn of Symphony New Hampshire. Prior to moving to New England, Lauren held positions in the Canton Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Opera Orchestra. She regularly performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and Emmanuel Music. She has also previously performed with the Cleveland Orchestra.
A native of Texas, Ms. Winter received her Bachelor in Music Performance degree from Baldwin-Wallace College and her Master of Music Performance degree from Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with David Brockett, Richard King and Richard Solis. She has performed with various music festivals, including Aspen Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, Breckenridge Music Festival, and was a soloist with the Tanglewood Music Center. Lauren currently teaches at Northeastern University, New England Conservatory Preparatory Department, as well as maintaining a private studio of students. In her spare time, she loves to garden, cook, bake, and spend time with her family – husband Michael, children – Elise and Tyler, and fur babies – Oliver and Rosie cats.
Diane Walsh
piano
The award-winning Steinway Artist Diane Walsh has toured the globe, with performances in forty-six of the fifty States and twenty-three other countries. Highlights include recitals at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonia in St. Petersburg, and Dvorak Hall in Prague.
Ms. Walsh has appeared as piano soloist with the San Francisco, Indianapolis, Portland, Austin, Springfield, Rochester, New Bedford, Delaware, Syracuse and American symphonies. She has toured the United States with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, toured Europe with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and soloed with orchestras in Germany, Brazil, Russia, the Netherlands and Czechia. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include David Zinman, Seiji Ozawa, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Leon Botstein, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Eliahu Inbal, John Giordano, Kevin Rhodes, John Nelson, and Peter Bay.
In 2009 she was the onstage pianist in the Broadway production of Moisés Kaufman’s play 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda, during which she gave 113 performances of Beethoven’s Variations on a Waltz of Diabelli.
Diane Walsh has been awarded many honors including the top prizes at the Munich, Salzburg Mozart, Concert Artists Guild, Young Concert Artists international competitions; she was also a prizewinner at the Ferruccio Busoni, Van Cliburn and William Kapell international competitions.
Summer chamber music festivals where she has performed include Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bard, Chesapeake, and Cape Cod. She was also artistic director of the Skaneateles Festival for five years.
Ms. Walsh has released nineteen recordings on the Bridge, Newport, Sony, Nonesuch, Koch, Stereophile, CRI, Jonathan Digital, Naxos and Navona labels. Her newest release, The New Epoch, contains works by Debussy, Ravel, Boulanger, and Fauré. She holds degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Irwin Freundlich, and from the Mannes School of Music, where she studied with Richard Goode. She was an associate professor at Mannes for 32 years, and has also taught at Vassar College and Colby College. In 2024-2025 she is Artist-in-Residence at the Portland Conservatory of Music in Portland, Maine.