Pauline Rovkah

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Joined Chatham: 1998

ACADEMIC AREAS OF INTEREST

Music Education; Piano Performance; Chamber Music

PERSONAL AREAS OF INTEREST

Reading; museums; theater; traveling

BIOGRAPHY

An award winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society and the Head of Piano Program at Chatham University, Pauline Rovkah is an active performer and music educator. She is a founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music concert series at Chatham University. Ms. Rovkah presented solo recitals and chamber music programs in various Music Festivals, such as at the Chautauqua Institution, New York, in Peacham, Vermont, in Rome, Italy and at the Festival/Symposium at Cambridge University, UK, among others. She performed in various concert series in Pittsburgh area, including the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Frick Art Museum, Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University, the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University and West Liberty University, WV. Ms. Rovkah conceived, organized and performed in a number of thematic concert events at Chatham University, such as "Nature in Music," as part of the International Environmental Conference; "Canto do Sul," featuring music of South America and “Remembering September 11”. In honor of Chatham University’s Global Focus program, Ms. Rovkah designed and coordinated variety of thematic Music Festivals, among them “East Meets West” highlighting Chinese music, Festival of German music, Festival of Brazilian music, "Sounds of Africa" symposium/festival featuring music by African composers, Festival of Scandinavian Music “The Nordic Sound” and Festival of Indonesian music “Sounds of Indonesia”. She organized and performed in a number of benefit concerts, for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and a series of relief concerts, such as "Music without Boundaries", “What it means to miss New Orleans”, “Music for Haiti”, “Celebrate Japan”, “Plea for Nepal” and “Stand with Ukraine”, with the principal musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Rovkah has been an artistic director of “Music for Food” Pittsburgh chapter series, a national musician-led initiative for local hunger relief. Ms. Rovkah adjudicated at Chamber Music Competition and Concerto Competition at Carnegie Mellon University, at Young Artist Auditions in West Virginia and at the Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. Ms. Rovkah has been collaborating with Pittsburgh and internationally acclaimed artists, including principal musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra, as well as Noah Bendix-Balgley, first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic. Ms. Rovkah’s solo recitals and chamber music performances have been recorded and broadcast by the Pittsburgh Classical Radio WQED. She has been featured in numerous WQED programs, including “Performance in Pittsburgh”. Pauline Rovkah studied piano and music at the Kharkiv Specialized Music School and at the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts (Conservatory), Kharkiv, Ukraine, under Professor Mikhail Khazanovsky. After graduation, she served on the faculty of Kharkiv National University of Arts, performed as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles, and made appearances on national television and radio. In Pittsburgh since 1991, Ms. Rovkah studied privately with Eunice Norton, student of legendary Arthur Schnabel.

EDUCATION

• Private studies with Eunice Norton, student of legendary Arthur Schnabel, (Pittsburgh, PA)
• M.M. Piano Performance and Pedagogy, Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts, Ukraine
• B.M. Piano Performance, Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts, Ukraine