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| May 23, 2025 |
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General News: New CD Features Hudson Valley Talent
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| Ruthanne Schempf (right) and Emily Faxon created the Potluck Concerts. |
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| Schempf's new CD of piano music. |
She is a local pianist recognized by legions of Cornwall music lovers and now Ruthanne Schempf has produced her very first CD of piano music in which she performs the work of composers with ties to the Hudson Valley. The CD, entitled “An American Mirage,” features the work of Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin, Arthur Foote, Amy Marcy (Mrs. H.H.A) Cheney Beach, Edward Alexander MacDowell, and Aaron Copland.
Ruthanne Schempf says that she discovered some of the work of these early 20th-century American composers when she was researching her dissertation for a doctorate in musical arts. Alexander MacDowell, she said, had close ties to Cornwall, where his father was born, and some of his relatives spent summers at the home of Janet Dempsey, who is now the historian of the town of Cornwall.
Schempf, who is on the faculties of SUNY New Paltz and Interlochen Arts Camp, comes from a musical family. Her father, William, was a teacher of music and conductor of the U.S.Military Academy Band from 1957 to 1974. Her mother, Marjorie, has taught hundreds of Cornwall students to play the piano and she continues as the director of the handbell choir at Cornwall Presbyterian Church.
Ruthanne is the organist and choir director at the Presbyterian Church, where she and musical colleague Emily Faxon created the monthly Potluck Concerts. Faxon and Schempf are the primary performers in this series, which features work from Mozart to contemporary composers. Schempf says that she and violinist Faxon have been performing together since 1984 and had always talked about creating a chamber music society. Their collaboration gave birth to the Hudson Valley Society for Music and, eventually, the Potluck Concerts.
The entire Schempf family, which includes Kevin, a professional clarinetist, and Brian, an amateur flutist, was recognized for their contribution to the community when they were named grand marshals on the 4th of July parade in 2005.
Now, anyone can enjoy Ruthanne’s gifted piano skills on this new recording. It is available locally at Clearwater’s Distinctive Gifts at Jones Farm or online at Amazon.com.
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