Olga is originally from Moscow, Russia. She has played with numerous orchestras, including the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Pensacola Symphony Orchesta and the Southwest Michigan Symphony. She is currently a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Renaissance Strings.
Joanna Steinhauser, violinist, is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Kalamazoo College and the Recruiting Liaison for the Music Department, in addition to teaching private violin lessons at Crescendo Music Academy in Kalamazoo, and The Citadel Music and Dance Center in Benton Harbor. She has actively been playing in a violin and piano duo, performing recitals in Atlanta, Interlochen, St. Louis, Virginia, France and Spain.
In December 2009 she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University, where she studied violin performance with Kevork Mardirossian and Espen Lillenslatten. Originally from Benton Harbor, Michigan, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree at Kalamazoo College as a violin student of Dr. Barry Ross, and a Master of Music at Michigan State University where she studied with Dmitri Berlinsky.
Mark Portolese received a Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Instrument Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Illinois Wesleyan University. There he studied violin with Vadim Mazo and piano with Lawrence Campbell. He also received a Masters in Music in Violin Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan where he studied violin with Stephen Shipps and piano with Louis Nagel.
Mark Portolese is an active violinist and pianist in the Western Michigan area. As violinist, he is Associate Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony and was a featured soloist with the orchestra in March 2009. He is also Associate Principal Second Violin of the West Michigan Symphony, a member of the Kalamazoo Symphony, and a substitute member of the Grand Rapids Symphony. He has been a substitute violinist of both the Opus IV String Quartet and the Arioso Trio. As pianist, Mark is a member of the Crescendo Faculty Trio with Sarah Hedlund (violin) and Luke Cook (cello). He is a staff accompanist for the ballet courses at Western Michigan University and has also accompanied students in such events as the All-State Solo-Ensemble Contest and the Stulberg Competition Master classes. He is an instructor and accompanist for Crescendo, and, through Crescendo, the instructor for the Vicksburg String Program.
• B.A., Western Michigan University
• Graduate work, University of Michigan
• Child Development Associate Certification
Audrey Lipsey has been teaching violin for 39 years and has been the Executive Director of Crescendo since 2000. She was Associate Concertmaster for the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Audrey performs widely in the community with the following groups: Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Concertmaster), Opus IV String Quartet and the Renaissance String Quartet.
Lipsey is a well-known educator in the area and serves as the conductor of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Preparatory and Training Orchestras. She taught in early childhood settings for 18 years after teaching strings in the public schools for eight years. For her significant contributions to music education, Ms. Lipsey was awarded the Community Medal of Arts from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo in 2002; the Mary McLeod Bethune Communication, Arts, & Letters Award from the Kalamazoo Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 2003; and the Prism Award for Excellence in Music Education from the Kalamazoo Alumni Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota Professional Women’s Music Fraternity, Inc. in 2006. In 2012 she was presented with a Woman of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Kalamazoo for her years of dedication to the education of area youngsters.
Patty has performed extensively in orchestras and musical touring companies throughout the United States. She is a member of Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra.
