About PCM
The Portland Conservatory of Music (PCM) is located at 202 Woodford's Street in Portland, Maine. Founded in 1995 by Carol Elowe, PCM is proud to be a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, now in its 75th year. PCM strives to provide the highest level of musical instruction for students of all ages and ability levels, and has helped thousands of students over the years to reach their personal and professional goals in music.
Our Staff
Stephen Shiman, Executive Director
Stephen was an undergraduate at Yale and has BS and MS degrees from the Juilliard School as an oboist. For 25 years he worked as Executive Director at the Newark School of the Arts in New Jersey and Third Street Music School Settlement in New York. Through the years, he has been variously a free lance oboist, a conductor of a community orchestra, photograpic exhibitor, and a private lesson instructor. In 2010, Stephen and his wife moved to Saco, Maine after many years of summer vacations in Naples, Maine. He joined the Board of the Portland Conservatory of Music, and in April 2011, became its Executive Director.
Mark Tipton, Assistant Director
Mark Tipton has studied Classical Trumpet with Ryan Anthony (Canadian Brass), Jack Sutte (Cleveland Orchestra), Vincent Penzarella (New York Philharmonic) and Roy Poper (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra). He holds a B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, an M.M. from the Mannes College of Music, and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with John Lindenau. He has performed with such artists as: Yves Abel, John Williams, JoAnn Falletta, Frederick Fennell, Quincy Jones, Bobby McFerrin, and Maria Schneider. Mark recently performed as Principal Trumpet for Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 for the 2012 New York Summer Mahler Project at Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral in Manhattan. His recent projects include a series of recitals centered around 20th-Century French Trumpet works and several Brass Ensemble engagements.
Mark has studied and performed Classical, Jazz, Folk, and World Music extensively, and has performed in 42 states and throughout Europe. He is the recipient of the Jazz Studies Award from Interlochen Arts Camp (MI) and the Herb Alpert Scholarship from the Henry Mancini Institute (UCLA). Currently he is Assistant Director and Trumpet Instructor at PCM, and Trumpet Instructor and Brass Ensemble Director at Colby College, where he also performs as Principal Trumpet in the Colby Symphony Orchestra.
An active composer, Mark has written numerous full-length Silent Film Scores (The Golem, Nosferatu, Safety Last!, etc.), and his 2012 orchestral composition, entitled Cor Cordis, was premiered by the Colby Orchestra in December of 2012. He is currently writing a score for Fritz Lang's Metropolis, as well as a Brass Quintet with Vibraphone/Percussion that explores concepts in astrophysics, and is titled Universitas Intimus.
His website can be found at www.marktiptonmusic.com.
Regina Irish, Office Manager and Registrar
Regina has worked for the Portland Conservatory since 2009 as the Office Manager and Registrar. She is responsible for all school functions that include student registration, room scheduling, bookkeeping, concert program preparation, answering phone and emails, and processing payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and office supplies. Regina holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Andover College.
Joshua DeScherer, Ph.D., PCM Concert Manager
Joshua DeScherer (b. 1977, Englewood, NJ) has received degrees from Colby College (B.A., 1999), Tufts University (M.A., 2001), and The University at Buffalo (Ph.D., 2010). Dr. DeScherer has been performing and teaching professionally since his teenage years, and has previously held teaching positions at Bennington College and the University of New England. Composition is Joshua’s primary focus, and his music has been performed by The Colby College Wind Ensemble, the Sage City Symphony, and the Tufts University New Music Ensemble. Dr. DeScherer continues to be active as a performer across many genres. He is active as a soloist, performing contemporary and experimental music for the contrabass, and also plays regularly with The Mark Tipton Quartet (jazz), and The Colby Symphony. Joshua currently teaches music theory, music history, composition, and contrabass at the Portland Conservatory and is the curator for the Frontiers of Music concert series in Brunswick, Maine.
Chiharu Naruse, Director of Professional Division
Chiharu holds a Masters Degree in Music Performance and a Masters Degree in Music Instruction from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. In Berlin, Chiharu studied piano under Klaus Baessler and Lied Accompaniment under Wolfram Riegar. Chiharu has performed throughout the world in recitals and piano competitions including a piano concert to benefit Amnesty International in Germany, the Hyogo Piano Competition in Japan (silver prize), the Clara Haskil piano competition in Switzerland, the Pescara Academie Piano Competition in Italy and the International Mozart Wettbewerb in Salzburg Austria.
In the spring of 2002, Chiharu moved to the United States to study under Frank Glazer. Since her arrival Chiharu has given several recitals at Bates College, played concerts with the Portland String Quartet, DaPonte String Quartet and Frank Glazer, performed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, Mozart Piano Concerto K466 and the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto with the Augusta Symphony, performed as a featured artist at the Ocean Park Music Festival and the Franco-American Heritage Center and, most recently, did a concert series in which she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Maine Pro Musica ensemble under conductor Janna Hymes. Chiharu has also toured extensively throughout the world playing concerts in France and Japan.
In addition to maintaining a regular performance schedule Chiharu is also a well-respected music teacher, chamber music coach, music competition adjudicator and accompanist, with many of her students receiving competition prizes. Chiharu currently is a member of the applied music faculty at Bates College and is also a faculty member and Director of the Professional Division at the Portland Conservatory of Music.
For more information on Chiharu please visit her website at www.chiharunaruse.com.