Singers News
Member Profiles
Leslie Couse / Soprano
Where did you grow up? I grew up on a fruit farm in western NY. Now known as Orchard Dale Fruit Company, this farm has grown and changed with the times to sustain 8 generations for over 200 years. Picking cherries was my first paid summer job. Sounds romantic but it’s hot, sticky, and boring!
What is/was your work? My career has been dedicated to helping educators advance their careers. At UNH, this began as a professor of Education focused on Pre-K – 12 teachers and now my work focuses on the career success of University faculty. My work at UNH now focuses on the faculty, creating and delivering high quality faculty development that supports success in their careers.
Why do you sing? It brings me joy and feeds my soul! I love working with others to create something beautiful that none of us alone could do on our own. And I love the challenge – mentally, technically, and musically.
Whose music do you love? My tastes are eclectic. I enjoy listening to most kinds of music. Where do I tune my radio most often? Classical of course! I often stream it while working.
What’s your most memorable journey? The PPM 2015 Summer Tour of Eastern Europe. So many places I’d never been, beautiful cathedrals, and new friendships. We need to do it again!!
Who is your favorite visual artist or performer? Dancers. Again, many styles of dance – tap, jazz, modern, ballroom… I so admire the grace and elegance of the human body in motion. The art of dance is another of my favorite forms of human expression.
What is your middle name and where did it come from? Jane. It is a family name that comes from my paternal great great grandmother, great aunt, aunt, and I’ve passed it on to my daughter!
If you had to move away and could go anywhere in the world to live, where would you go? Taiwan, to be with my youngest son who lives there.
Who is your musical mentor? How did they affect you? My grandmother, hands down, had the most impact on my love of music. She was a former music teacher, who directed the church choir and brought me to my first rehearsal when I was in 3rd grade. She had an organ in the living room that she would play so we could practice the music together between rehearsals.
What’s your favorite season? Why? Spring– it’s the time of rebirth when things start fresh and summer is yet to come.
PPM 2015 tour of Eastern Europe (In front of St. Matias (St. Mathew) Cathedral, Budapest, Hungary).
Diane Day / Alto
Where did you grow up? Concord, MA
What is/was your work? Owner of Hampshire Controls Corp. Dover, NH
Why do you sing? It’s a form of spiritual ministry for me and for my Faith Community, fellow singers and those we sing to
Whose music do you love? Too many to list!!!
What’s your most memorable journey? 2015 PPM Tour of Central Europe
What living person do you most admire? My Son Ryan
What historical figure do you most admire? Jeanne D’Arc
What talent would you most like to have? Impressionistic Art Painter
Who are your favorite writers? Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), T.H. White
What are your favorite films? Leap Year, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz
What is your favorite record album? “Innocent Age” by Dan Fogelberg
Who is your favorite visual artist or performer? James Taylor
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose and why? Dog – because they give unconditional love
What is your middle name and where did it come from? Delores – A Nun friend of my mother
What foreign language do you speak? Spanish & French
What historical period sparks your interest? Middle Ages
If you had to move away and could go anywhere in the world to live, where would you go? Spain – my Soul Sister lives there and I would love to live closer to her
What superpower would you want? The ability to grant wishes
What occupation do you most admire? Surgeon
Monika Olken, Alto
Where did you grow up? I grew up in southern Germany and lived and worked in England, Belgium and Chile before coming to the U.S
What is/was your work? I was an Export and International Logistics Manager for 30 years, shipping everything from shoes to leather to frozen seafood all around the world and back. Five years ago I fell into a new career in healthcare and am now the practice manager of an OB-GYN office owned by Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.
Why do you sing? I love the liberating feeling of singing as part of a group. It’s the ultimate teamwork and detaches me from all sorts of everyday concerns. Choral singing has been part of my life since childhood and I’ve always enjoyed it.
Whose music do you love? Chopin, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mahler, Bruckner, and so many more.
What’s your most memorable journey? My first visit to Rome at age 12. More recently, a trip to southern Chile and Las Torres del Paine National Park.
What living person do you most admire? Madeleine Albright
What historical figure do you most admire? Eleanor Roosevelt, among others.
What talent would you most like to have? Be an accomplished violinist
Who are your favorite writers? David McCullough, Jon Meacham. I love history authors and mostly read non-fiction.
What are your favorite films? Documentaries. I don’t much care for movies otherwise.
What is your favorite record album? The Chieftains with Mick Jagger. – The Long Black Veil
Who is your favorite visual artist or performer? French Impressionist painters and Anne-Sophie Mutter
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose and why? A bird, so I could fly.
What is your middle name and where did it come from? I have two middle names, Gisela after my godmother, and Gabriele because my mother liked it.
What foreign language do you speak? German, Spanish, and French.
What historical period sparks your interest? The 18th and 19th centuries.
If you had to move away and could go anywhere in the world to live, where would you go? Somewhere overlooking the ocean and wherever my kids would be willing to visit.
What superpower would you want? Flying
What lost object would you most like to have back? My mother’s gold necklace stolen from my house.
Who is your musical mentor? How did they affect you? Rolf Koenen, my former piano teacher taught me how to really practice. I don’t do it much anymore.
Michael Gallipo, Tenor
Where did you grow up? Wallingford VT. Small town in the central part of the state between Rutland and Manchester.
What is/was your work? I spent most of my career in investing – mutual fund and bank high net worth. Now transitioning into web development/programming.
Why do you sing? Sang all through high school and then gave it up for years. Joined the Portsmouth Men’s Chorus when I first moved to NH and that led me to PPM and I have been here since the original Few Good Men concert. I like the creative outlet and the usual difficulty of the music and immense talent of the other singers have definitely pushed (and hopefully improved) me as a singer. Love how the pressure and adrenaline of live performances usually brings out the best in us as a collective.
Whose music do you love? I am probably an exception in the group because I basically don’t listen to classical outside of the group. Outside of chorus I can usually be found listening to hard rock, alternative or pop punk. To highlight a few (all of whom I have also seen live) – Skillet, Bullet for My Valentine, Three Days Grace, Disturbed, Bowling for Soup, Adelita’s Way. I also have a soft spot for movie soundtracks.
What’s your most memorable journey? Cruise from Athens to Rome. Second place – Moscow (business trip in the late 90s).
What talent would you most like to have? Playing piano or guitar because who doesn’t want to be a rock star?
Who are your favorite writers? Super hard question. I generally read 75-100 books a year. It runs the gamut from history, science, politics, and technology in non-fiction to fantasy, sci fi, alternative history, and spy thrillers on the fiction side. An all-time favorite is The Count of Monte Cristo. Some recent non-fiction highlights – Like War by PW Singer, The Red and the Blue by Steve Kornacki, and How the Internet Happened by Brian McCollough. A couple of novels of note – Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I am (imo) an interesting follow on Goodreads.
What are your favorite films? The Princess Bride is number one. Family friendly, perfect casting, great, eminently quotable dialog. Other faves – Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Matrix, Star Wars (Ep IV), and Independence Day.
What is your middle name and where did it come from? My middle name is actually Michael. My “real” first name is Jay but that was also my dad’s name so I was always called by middle name.
What foreign language do you speak? Sadly just a little bit of Spanish. Languages were probably the only academic discipline I struggled with.
What superpower would you want? Telepathy. Though magic (a la Dr Strange or Harry Potter would be cool too).
What’s your favorite season? Why? Fall. Still warm enough to do stuff but not stifling heat like summer. Plus you get the fall/octoberfest beers coming out and a lot of the fall foods like pumpkin or squash soups.
Got any good podcast recommendations? So many! But here’s a sampling. The Next Big Idea, Hidden Brain, Edict Zero FIS (sci fi audio drama), Freakonomics, Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, 538 Politics
John Martin, Bass/Baritone … (and known to occasionally sing Tenor)
Where did you grow up? I was born in Exeter, and spent the first thirteen years of my life here. In 1985, I returned to Exeter with my wife and two young sons.
What is/was your work? For the past 26 years I have had a house painting business. I enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. I am no longer doing big exterior jobs – now I mostly do small or medium – sized interior jobs.
Why do you sing? I sing because I love doing it. It has been a major part of my life, and singing has connected me to many friends, past and present.
Whose music do you love? I love the music of the Baroque – Handel, Bach, Purcell – especially Handel. I am grateful to have been able to sing this music both as a chorus member and as a soloist.
What’s your most memorable journey? My most memorable journey was hiking the Long Trail in Vermont – from the Massachusetts border to the Quebec border. I went to the University of Vermont, and have always loved the beauty of that state.
What talent would you most like to have? I admire a talented trumpet player as well as a talented organist. In my next lifetime, I will be both
What is your favorite record album? Anything by Johnny Cash – the Man in Black
What is your middle name and where did it come from? My middle name is James. I was named for my paternal grandfather, whom I never knew.
What foreign language do you speak? I speak no foreign languages, but would enjoy being fluent in German.
What historical period sparks your interest? I have always enjoyed the Colonial Period of American history. Recently I was a soloist at a little church in Newington dating from the early 1700’s. I like to imagine what it would have been like being there at that time.
Art Greenberg, Bass/Baritone
Where did you grow up? Brooklyn, NY- family moved to Englewood, NJ when I was 16 and in my final term in high school.
What is/was your work? I came to the University of New Hampshire in 2000 as Dean of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Professor of Chemistry. Served a five-year term as Dean then full-time in the department. I am in my first year in transition to retirement.
Why do you sing? I love singing and do it almost constantly and my wife Sue tolerates it. I had wonderful choral experiences at Erasmus Hall High School; Barbara Streisand (four years earlier) and I had the same chorus teachers. I think that’s where any possible similarities end.
Whose music do you love? Classical music- Johann Sebastian Bach; more modern American composer- Aaron Copland. Popular Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.
What’s your most memorable journey? First trip (with Sue) to Europe where we spent the second half of 1970 in Liege Belgium as I completed Ph.D. research in chemistry. Also- my first trip to China (1986).
What living person do you most admire? Ruth Bader Ginsberg
What historical figure do you most admire? I have three and can’t rank them: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela (alphabetical order)
What talent would you most like to have? Operatic baritone
Who are your favorite writers? Joseph Heller, James Baldwin
What are your favorite films? “Midnight Cowboy”, Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times”, “The Godfather”, “The Maltese Falcon”. I love the new film “Motherless Brooklyn”.
What is your favorite record album? Paul Simon’s “Graceland”
Who is your favorite visual artist or performer? Robert De Niro; Meryl Streep
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose and why? Sue’s cat
What is your middle name and where did it come from? I have none: this caused the U.S. Army great consternation in the 1970s- for them I had to write “NMI” on every form and report.
What foreign language do you speak? Chemical French (easier than conversational French)
What historical period sparks your interest? World War I and the decade following: a totally senseless human disaster (with ramifications over the next century) followed by horrendous flu pandemic followed by the rise of fascism.
If you had to move away and could go anywhere in the world to live, where would you go? Probably the upper East side of Manhattan (assuming unlimited income); however, to stay married- probably horse country in rural New Jersey.
What superpower would you want? Flying
If you suddenly found yourself with a day free of responsibilities and expectations, what would you do? Spend it with Sue watching great movies and listening to music we both enjoy.
What occupation do you most admire? Surgeon
What lost object would you most like to have back? The wooden plaque I received for being a Flatbush Boys Club Counselor in summer 1962.
Who is your musical mentor? How did they affect you? Cosimo De Pieto in high school- The Hallelujah Chorus and Vivaldi’s “Gloria”; Gary Nair- Summit Chorale (30 {yikes} years ago; and (very definitely) Priscilla French. I never learned an instrument. All three mentors have contributed enormously to my musical education.
What’s your favorite season? Spring- animals and plants spring back to life, young tadpoles at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens 60 (yikes) years ago and baseball spring training.
Got any good podcast recommendations? What’s a podcast? (Just kidding)
Catherine Ostholthoff, Soprano
Where did you grow up? Chicago, IL, then Hopkinton, NH.
What is/was your work? I’m starting a new job as a Client Services Rep/Marketing Assistant at a company that makes green, biodegradable food packaging.
Why do you sing? I can’t imagine not! It brings me joy and feels right.
Whose music do you love? Not to sound cliche, but a little of almost everything! Lately, it’s been Hozier, broadway musicals, Tchaikovsky (it’s Nutcracker season, after all), Taylor Swift, James Blake, Frank Sinatra, Maggie Rogers, and Lizzo.
What’s your most memorable journey? In September I visited London and Paris with my best friend. I lived in London for about 2 years while I got my Master’s a few years ago, so it was great to show her around. And in Paris, we rode those rentable electric scooters down the Seine and ate two crepes a day.
What historical figure do you most admire? Fred Astaire! He was my first “celebrity crush” in middle school, if you can believe it. I’ve seen every film he was ever in.
What talent would you most like to have? I wish I could whistle! It’s been years of watery attempts. It’s just not meant to be.
What are your favorite films? Old MGM musicals (Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly), Wes Anderson films, The Sound of Music, The King’s Speech
Who is your favorite visual artist or performer? I’ve loved Degas’ pastels of ballerinas forever. I’ve been a dancer my whole life, so naturally connect with his subjects. I also admire the Impressionism style in general, which he helped form. I’m a painter myself but could never achieve an Impressionist result!
What is your middle name and where did it come from? Frances, after my great grandmother.
What historical period sparks your interest? 1930’s and 40’s – the style, society…everything except the depression and the war seem lovely to me. I love historical fiction books and films from this era.
What’s your favorite season? Why? Winter! I’m one of those crazy people who goes nuts for snow. The writer Malcolm Gladwell once did a study on professional hockey players, and the times of year the best ones were born. The majority were born in the winter, had more hockey-themed birthday parties and Christmas gifts, and naturally played hockey better. My birthday’s in December, so I think a lifetime of ice-skating and snowflake-themed birthday parties has made me love winter. Plus who doesn’t love hot chocolate…?
Diana De Alvere, Soprano
Where did you grow up? Osceola, Nebraska! Never lived out of Nebraska until moving here in 2013.
What is/was your work? General Music Teacher (PreK-8)
Why do you sing? No one has ever asked me that…because I must. It used to bring me to tears if I was sick and couldn’t sing, especially at church. It’s so ingrained in me to sing, it’s just my nature.
Whose music do you love? JS Bach and Debussy. They are my top 2 fav composers.
What historical figure do you most admire? St. Teresa of Calcutta and Mary, Mother of Jesus
Who are your favorite writers? Living: Neil Gaiman. I like Fantasy/SciFi/Historical Fiction. Deceased: Douglas Adams and so many writers from the Romantic Period. The last book I read was Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is SO great! They made a series for Netflix.
What are your favorite films? Little Women, Disney movies, Stranger than Fiction, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, Kill Bill….so many. Those are my top picks though. My top TV (that I watch over and over) is Downton Abbey, Friends, Victoria, and Sex and the City.
What is your middle name and where did it come from? My middle name is Ruth. It is a family name on my mother’s side. Diana Ruth. 🙂
What historical period sparks your interest? So many. I love history. I know British history the best (besides American) and I love anything to do with the royal family. Queen Victoria is especially fascinating!
If you had to move away and could go anywhere in the world to live, where would you go? Well I already did that once…but if I had to do it again, I’d go home to Nebraska.
If you suddenly found yourself with a day free of responsibilities and expectations, what would you do? Play strategy board games with my husband/friends, Or crochet, or cross-stitch or maybe just Netflix and chill! Or go find an adventure!
What lost object would you most like to have back? My wool sapphire blue peacoat. It was so pretty and my favorite color.
Madeleine Nossiff, Soprano
Where did you grow up?
Portsmouth, NH
What is your middle name and where did it come from?
Gleason. It is my maternal great grandmother’s maiden name.
What is your most treasured possession?
My childhood stuffed animal, Moo moo.
What is/was your work?
I am a ceramic artist and athletic coach. I make pottery out of a studio in York, ME and sell my work locally and online. I am a coach at On Target Fitness in Portsmouth and at PHS where I run my own all female strength and conditioning program.
What music have you loved in the past and haven’t listened to recently?
I’ve always enjoyed listening to classical, opera and musical theater. My mother’s a singing teacher so we grew up with lots of genres playing through the house.
If you had to move elsewhere tomorrow, where would you go?
I would move to somewhere near east or (possibly Italy) in search of a ceramics residency program.
What instrument do you wish you could play?
I always liked the idea of being able to play a string instrument. Preferably violin or viola.
With what person, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner?
A large communal dinner with my grandmothers and great grandmothers.
What historical era sparks your interest?
Ancient Egypt, and other Biblical times.
Pat Vorkink, Soprano
Where did you grow up?I was born in Quincy, MA and grew up in Hingham.
What is/was your work?
I am a psychotherapist and have a practice in Portsmouth. Before that I was living in Croatia and Turkey where I was working for local and international non governmental organizations on migration and women’s issues.
What music are you listening to these days?
I love listening to a combination of classical choral music like Bach and Faure mixed in with vintage James Taylor and Marvin Gaye.
What’s your most memorable trip?
Traveling to Tanzania to see the migration of the wildebeest while camping on the Serengeti Plain.
What living person you most admire?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Which musician, living or dead, would you most like to meet?
Mozart
What talent would you most like to have?
I would like to be an artist.
What talent would you most like to have?
I would like to be an artist.
Who are your favorite writers?
Elena Ferrante, Elizabeth Strout, Kazuo Ishiguro, and John Irving.
What are your favorite films?
Roma, Dead Man Walking, The Favorite, The English Patient.
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose?
A whale because I could sing to all my friends and relatives.
Joe Harris, Tenor
Where did you grow up?
Milford, NH
What is/was your work?
I do a lot, including teaching piano and singing professionally.
What music are you listening to these days?
I wish I could say that I plan or keep track of the music I listen to.
What’s your most memorable trip?
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
What living person do you most admire?
My mom
Which musician, living or dead, would you most like to meet?
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. I just want to hear him acoustic so I can know if those overtones are real.
What talent would you most like to have?
Being able to dance
Who are your favorite writers?
The only reading I’ve done in the last 10 years has been for college. I also did all the assigned reading, which apparently only crazy people do because it’s usually hundreds of pages for every single class. I hate reading.
What are your favorite films?
I don’t have one, but I used to fill in “Twister” on password recovery security questionnaires.
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose?
A shark, so I could swim in the ocean without being afraid of sharks.
Paul Carleton, Tenor/Baritone
Where did you grow up?
Newburyport and Amesbury, MA.
What is/was your work?
Shipfitter at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (2 years) and 47 years working at IBM in Technical Sales/Service
What music are you listening to these days?
Mostly 50’s Rock-Roll
What’s your most memorable trip?
2015 PPM Tour of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic
What living person do you most admire?
Colin Powell
Which musician, living or dead, would you most like to meet?
Liberace
What talent would you most like to have?
Play Piano
Who are your favorite writers?
Lee Child, Vince Flynn
What are your favorite films?
Star Wars Series
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose and why?
Cat, They are so independent and the BOSS of their owners.
Liz French, Alto
Where did you grow up? I grew up abroad. Was born in Belgium, lived in Singapore, Germany, and Holland briefly. I only lived in the States for 5 years before going to college.
What is/was your work? Currently, I am an event planner for the National Criminal Justice Training Center. My background is in Higher Education Admin and have worked in international admissions, student advising and orientation programs.
What music do you love? Soft rock and country music.
What’s your most memorable trip? That’s a tough one, growing up the way I did, I have had lots of great trips. I went eurorailing with some friends after graduating from college. This was the first time I got some say in where I wanted to go. Not shocking that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. While we did have some beach time in Nice, we were happily exploring museums and the sites everywhere we went. Even bought standing room tix to watch an opera in Vienna.
Which musician, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Mozart
What talent would you most like to have? I wish I were a better piano player.
Who are your favorite writers? Michael Palmer, Patricia Cornwall, Harlan Cohen, James Rollins, David Baldacci, Sick Francis, Elizabeth George, Sarah J Mass, Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, JK Rowling. Robert Galbraith
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose and why? That’s a tough one. I would love to be a bird and be able to fly, but I sure wouldn’t mind being a dog for a day and learning what goes on in my pet’s heads!
What is your middle name and where did it come from? Ross, my grandmother’s maiden name
What foreign language do you speak? I can get by in French and German, but they are both quite rusty.
What historical period sparks your interest? Revolutionary US and early modern European.
What superpower would you most want to have? I would love to be able to travel trough time. I love exploring new places and would love to check out how they differ through time.
Shelby Pouliot, Alto
Where did you grow up? Barrington, NH
What is/was your work? I’m a program scheduler/manager. I work in the assessment division of an educational improvement company.
What music do you love? Jazz, broadway musicals, and I grew up on Billy Joel and Queen.
What living person do you most admire? My sister. She’s the mom of four boys (ages 7 -11), hosts a weekly neighbor dinner, has almost renovated her entire 1913 house (with the help of our uncle and me – her lackey), builds/designs furniture, sews beautiful clothing, etc. The list goes on…
Which musician, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Sarah Vaughan
What talent would you most like to have? Be more extroverted/ability to speak with strangers easily
Who are your favorite writers? Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Bronte, Anthony Doerr
What are your favorite films? Sense & Sensibility, Roman Holiday, Funny Face, An American in Paris, Strictly Ballroom, Waiting for Guffman (this could be a very long list).
What foreign language do you speak? I learned Latin in high school, but I neither remember most of it or speak it. Our Latin Club cheer was “Veni, Vidi, Vici, Latin isn’t geeky…”. I can complete the cheer for people upon request.
What historical period sparks your interest? The 1940’s – I was the weird 8 year old reading books about World War II and the Holocaust for fun. I also dreamed about being a big band singer with Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey.
Fred Calcinari, Bass
Where did you grow up? I grew up in New Britain, Conn., and continued to live in various parts of that state through my 30s. New Britain is famous for being the home of Stanley tools and of many other companies whose factories are found all over the city. Most of them have closed down now.
What is/was your work? I got an Information Technology job in the insurance industry right out of college. I’m at different company now but still doing IT. They say that there is an affinity between music skills and computer aptitude. It seems to work for me.
What music do you love? My first love is opera. It can transport me to emotional and psychological worlds like no other art form. I had the privilege of singing in the chorus of the Connecticut Opera for several years. The experience of being on stage and helping to make that magic happen is one of my most cherished memories.
What living person do you most admire? Bob Dylan’s music has been a part of my life since I was a teenager. His words, and the passionate delivery of his songs, gave expression to my own feelings about our society and its injustices and its heart break as well as its hopes. When he won the Nobel prize for literature in 2016, I was overjoyed.
What talent would you most like to have? I wish I could juggle. I would settle for tennis balls, but bowling pins or flaming torches would be nice too.
Who are your favorite writers? The great writers of the past are the ones that have provided my most memorable reading experiences: James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, Victor Hugo, Ernest Hemingway, and Herman Melville are at the top of my list. Among contemporary authors, Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorites.
What are your favorite films? There are a few movies that I would gladly sit down and watch again, although I have only seen each of these only two or three times over many years: “Cool hand Luke”, “Fargo”, “North by Northwest”, and “Young Frankenstein”. I could have named a number of other movies by the Coen brothers or by Alfred Hitchcock, but the ones that I picked here are probably the respective favorites.
What is your middle name and where did it come from? I am a Junior, so both my first and middle names came from my father, who, thanks be to God, is still alive. Sometimes as a joke, when people ask me what my middle initial “R” stands for, I tell them “Arthur”, but I never do that when talking to an agent from Customs and Border Control.
What foreign language do you speak? French, Italian and German, all of which have come in handy for singing and for foreign travel. I recently started learning Spanish in preparation for a trip to that country next spring.
What historical period sparks your interest? Ancient Roman civilization was pretty remarkable. I visited Pompeii early this year, a Roman city of about 25,000 people that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption almost 2000 years ago. I was amazed by the sophistication of the building construction and the design of the streets and public squares, not to mention the art work. The Stabian Baths was more elegant than most modern health clubs.
What superpower would you most want to have? I would like to have indestructible knees. I probably should wish for all my other joints to be indestructible as well, but the knees would be a good start. Then I wouldn’t have to be so careful about how often and how far I run. I also wish I could drive 100 miles per hour without getting caught.
Mitch Shuldman, Baritone
Where did you grow up? Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
What is/was your work? I was a Media Librarian at UMass Lowell for nearly 34 years. Now retired my new job is focusing on performing classical guitar. In my early days in NH I had a nightly jazz program and weekly classical guitar program on NHPR.
What music do you love? “There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind …” Duke Ellington. I grew up on folk music. Came of age on rock ‘n roll. Developed a love and appreciation for jazz. Studied classical music in college and developed a passion for classical guitar at the age of 13 when my grandmother took me to see Andres Segovia at Carnegie Hall.
What’s your most memorable trip? The summer of 1969. When I was 15, the summer sleep-away camp I went to since I was eight (Wel-Met Camps) took 40 kids, 5 adults (and one bus driver…. poor guy) on a 6 week trip from NY to the Grand Canyon and back camping out every night and cooking all meals along the way at State and National Parks.
What musicians do you most admire? My guitar heros … Jeff Beck, David Gilmore (Pink Floyd), and my current guitar teacher classical guitarist Jason Vieaux. Jason is professor of guitar at both the Curtis and Cleveland Institutes’ of Music. He won the 2015 Grammy for best classical instrumental album. It is an honor to study with him.
What talent would you most like to have? I’d wish I had a more finely developed musical ear.
Who are your favorite writers? I read historical non-fiction (David McCullough, Ron Chernow) and love science fiction (Asimov, Herbert).
What are your favorite films? I have no problem watching films many times over. Here are just a few films I watch whenever they’re on TV – The Longest Day, Hunt for Red October, The Best Years of our Lives, and the full complement of Harry Potter films. [Was and still is a great way to bond with my daughter.] Oh … and Blazing Saddles,
If you could live for a day as an animal, which one would you choose and why? Either a bird or a whale. One floats through the sky, while the other floats through water. What a different perspective on life that would give.
What is your middle name and where did it come from? David – both my first name and middle name come from dead relatives.
What foreign language do you speak? Very bad French.
What historical period sparks your interest? The American Revolution. One of the reasons I love living in Portsmouth is because at some point during that time everyone living here would have had to make a choice – either support the crown or go rogue.
What superpower would you most want to have? I like to own the time turner that Dumbledore gave to Hermione Granger. This way I could be in two places at the (relatively) same time.
If you suddenly found yourself with a day free of responsibilities and expectations, what would you do? That is exactly my life in retirement. I practice guitar a few hours every day and take my dog (and myself) for a long walk. Who could ask for anything more?
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