our musicians

Ashley Dannewitz, another terrific soprano, has concertized all over the country and now calls Charleston home.  She studied with the legendary Sherill Milnes and Ashley Putnam, both Met Opera Stars. She has performed at Cavendish Hall several times. 

 Paulo Steinberg, Ian Jessee, and Susan Lamb Cook put on a splendid array of virtuosity when they did an evening of piano trios on one of our chamber concerts. The crowd loved these dazzling artists.  Ian hails from Charleston, Paulo lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Susan Lives in Northern California. They have toured extensively and stopped off for one of our concert performances.

 Paulo Steinberg and Eric Ruple, pianists and faculty members at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, have been frequent guests at Cavendish Hall, both individually and as a duo. Their tour de force recitals were Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Gershwin’s An American in Paris for two pianos. The concerts were simply fabulous and the audience absolutely loved them.

 Sandra Armstrong Groce has played at Cavendish Hall many times. As principal violist with the West Virginia Symphony, her talent is superb. Her studies have taken her to Yale and the Eastman School of Music, and she received a Master of Music Performance degree from the University of Oregon. She is married to Larry Groce, the retired star of Mountain Stage.

Gerald Lee has played several full length piano recitals here.  He is a stunning performer  who started out and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan, received his Master of Music at Indiana University, and a Doctorate of Performing Arts from the University of Michigan.  He has won several major piano competitions and has toured extensively. Audiences love his performances.

Oboe/English Horn  Currently, the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, Dr. Richard Kravchak, who was formerly the Dean of the Music School at Marshall University in Huntington is a world-class woodwind player, playing all the instruments. Dr. Kravchak is a rare musical talent who  is as passionate about bringing the transformation of education to his listeners as he is about performing. He has performed to critical acclaim in Mexico, France, El Salvador, Cuba, Germany, China, and many other countries as well as across the United States and Canada. His debut solo album, California Oboe, received high marks and is available on iTunes. Dr. Kravchak hold performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard school, and Florida State University. We think that his recital in November 2023 was one of the best recitals that we have ever had.  The crowd sure loved it…

Bob has been principal clarinet the for the West Virginia Symphony, formerly the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, since 1985. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he has concertized extensively playing everything from Dixieland and jazz to 21st century avant-garde music. In addition to his playing duties, he is also the conductor of the Marietta Symphony Orchestra Ohio and has been for many years. His brilliant playing is always welcome in Cavendish Hall, where he has played many times, both solo and in ensemble.

 Roger and Deborah Lucas who had brilliant careers all over this country and in Europe and returned to Charleston to raise a family. A wonderful thing they did was bring sensational artistry to Charleston and the ability to teach voice to dozens of singers. They gave variety programs and added to Broadway musicals many times in Cavendish Hall.

Sheri Greenawald, who was a world-famous soprano and at one time was a collaborator with Leonard Bernstein at Lincoln Center and was the lead in many operatic productions. She taught at the Boston Conservatory of Music and for many years directed the Merola program at the San Francisco Opera. Her magnificent voice was heard on numerous occasions in Cavendish Hall. She lived in Charleston for several years while touring.

 Patrick Cafizzi, who is currently on the roster at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, now in his 27th year there, came and sang a brilliant operatic and Broadway concert in late 2019. His connection to Charleston is his mother lives in Kanawha City. He wanted to do a concert in her honor and they chose Cavendish Hall. About 80 people reveled to this magnificent bass-baritone who stole everybody’s hearts with his brilliant musicianship.

 Peter Amstutz, who is now retired from the faculty at the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University in Morgantown but for 25 years was the artist in residence there. He played a spectacular piano concert here in 1998, the first full-length solo piano concert that had been in the hall. He gave a masterly performance of Schubert’s monumental Sonata #960 in B-flat, along with other timeless classics. It was a concert to remember.

 Sonya Baker, soprano, trained at Yale University and Florida State, where she got her Doctorate in Musical Performance degree. She has concertized extensively across the United States and on tour with the Yale University chorus as a soloist in Europe. She is currently a professor of voice at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and a marvelous singer. She has performed at Cavendish Hall several times, always to rave reviews.