That’s when I started taking some
voice lessons. One thing led to
another and I discovered this whole
world of Italian art songs and
French art songs. It’s really exquisite
when you listen to the piano and the
voice, interweaving and expressing
the poetry in a very intimate way. To
me, that was the ultimate. I loved it.”
southern vermont’s
leading ladies
On Manchester Music Festival
Peggie Telscher, President of the Board of the Manchester Music Festival
Peggie Telscher
Peggie Telscher is President of the Board of the Manchester Music
Festival. An accomplished opera singer and vocalist, with a degree in vocal
performance from Northwestern University, Peggie also holds a law degree
from The University of Chicago, with years of experience working in
the fields of commercial litigation and health care law. Through her work
with Manchester Music Festival, Peggie works tirelessly to bring first-rate
musical talent to the Manchester area from around the world, providing
exciting opportunities for cross-cultural and cross-generational collaboration
between some of classical music’s most talented musicians.
On Music
“My mom always wanted me to become a pianist from a very early age; I
just loved playing the piano. When I got to be about 12, I was really bitten
by the folk music bug and loved Peter, Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio,
but especially Joni Mitchell. She was just too cool. And I really wanted to be
Joni Mitchell. So I said, ‘Mom, can I take guitar lessons?’ And so that’s when
I started with that. And then I realized, ‘I want to be able to sing better, so
that I can sound better when I’m playing these folk songs on my guitar.’
42 manchester life | manchesterlifemagazine.com
“We’ve started to put Manchester
Music Festival on the map as a
household name in the world of
classical chamber music. Because of
these wonderful performers who are
faculty members for our program,
we can attract even better young
artists from all over the world.
We want to continue to attract the
artists who perform on the world’s
finest stages, [and] attract people
from the broader region to come to
Manchester to experience this. We
want to really make it a destination.
We’re trying to market this to some
people who might come from a
farther distance [and] say, ‘Okay, I’m
going to spend a week there, and I’m
going to also sample the fine theatre
that we have—Dorset Theatre
Festival, Weston Playhouse, the
wonderful Southern Vermont Arts
Center’—all of the other things that
the Manchester region has to offer.”
On Balancing Music, Law, and
Family
“There was a turning point for me in
my life—I had been told repeatedly
that for me to take my vocal career to
the next level, that it was advisable
for me to move to Europe and sing in
the many little houses in Europe and
work my way up that way. But I had
decided that I really wanted to start
a family. So, I thought ‘I’ve always
wanted to explore the other side of