Breakfast with the President 2026

AMSF’s fourth annual Breakfast with the President was held on March 7th at the home of Pam Fessler and her husband, Matt Koll. Pam joined AMSF a year ago, so it was so wonderful to have a relatively new member offer her beautiful home as the venue.

Breakfast with the President is AMSF’s onboarding social for those who joined in the last 12 months. It provides our new members with an opportunity to hear more about our offerings and to meet leadership and other newbies. 

Orientation

Michelle Powell, AMSF President and event host, gave a background of AMSF and its membership, the various recital series, Master Classes, Special Events, and our Annual Party. She mentioned that AMSF has about 120 members and roughly 50 events yearly, so there is something for everyone. AMSF is a busy group. Michelle invited new members to take part in as many events as they choose, while also volunteering to help support the work necessary to make events happen.

Carol Henry, Vice President, talked about Community Outreach and Duetto. She talked about how AMSF recitals helped eliminate her performance anxiety, previously exhibited through trembling hands and feet that kept slipping off the pedals. Carol encouraged new members to share the joy of music by inviting their friends to events. Our Encore recitals and Annual Parties are our two events open to the public.

Mary Lewers, Membership Coordinator, talked about how AMSF is analogous to Toastmasters, an organization she once joined to improve her public speaking abilities. Like Toastmasters, AMSF is designed to improve our music performance abilities. Mary discussed the Prelude and Salon recitals, sharing her interest in ensemble music. She mentioned that some people may not initially be interested in joining a music performance group, perhaps thinking that performing is too nerve-racking for them. In those cases, we can let potential members know that most of our recitals are held in small and informal group settings, and that we have a series, Prelude, designed for those new to performing.

New Members

While Breakfast with the President is for new members to get to know AMSF, it also is a wonderful opportunity for leadership to meet our new members. This year, we got to know Pam Fessler, Florian Wegelein, Eli Jacks, Joelle Harris, Matt Gamser, Pam Lebeaux, Wayne Landsman, and Luke Albee. We also met Pam Fessler’s husband, Matt, who is not yet a member, but we hope he considers joining us, as we think he will enjoy our music club.

Pam Fessler joined AMSF last year but was unable to attend Breakfast with the President, so this year’s event had a double purpose for her. Pam began taking piano lessons in grade school. Like many of us, she stopped taking lessons a few years later and resumed playing the piano in retirement, with a focus on jazz piano. Pam has a Shimmel grand piano and nice acoustics in their spacious home, so she enjoys hosting socials. During this event, she requested Michelle Powell to play, and how could Michelle refuse? So, Michelle played Somewhere by Leonard Berstein and Ritual Fire Dance by Manual de Falla as a thank you for Pam’s hospitality.

Florian Wegelein recently moved to the U.S. from Germany, after his wife found a job with the German Embassy in DC. Florian plays the bass clarinet, baritone-horn, and tuba. He attended our Annual Party in September and became active immediately. He joined Carol Henry in the Christmastime brass ensemble that performed at the Lee Fendall House Museum last December.

Eli Jacks plays classical piano. He took lessons at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and resumed playing the piano as a retiree. Eli joined AMSF in August and he has attended Special Events and performed at Community Outreach and other series.

Joelle Harris, 18 and a home-schooled senior high school student, is our youngest member! Joelle, a pianist and trumpetist, is a Carol Henry recruit! We warmly welcome all our members, but we give Joelle an extra special welcome because she lowers our average age! We need more members like Joelle! She takes lessons from a Juilliard graduate, and she plans to study music at Liberty University in the fall. Joelle also joined Carol Henry’s Christmastime brass ensemble that Florian was in.

Pam Lebeaux is a pianist. She heard about AMSF through Mary Lewers, as they have the same piano teacher. Pam is interested in ensemble music. She values the connections spawned by collaborative playing as much as performing.

Matt Gamser is a classical guitarist and lutist. He is AMSF’s first lute player. Matt is active in the music community. He is a Board Member of a guitar organization in the area which hosts recitals of renowned or up-and-coming guitarists. Matt loves playing early music and is interested in ensemble music. If any of you play the recorder or harpsichord, or any instrument used in early music, Matt would love to meet you. While Matt wants to collaborate on early music, he joined AMSF to revive his classical guitar playing. 

Wayne Landsman is a pianist who writes his own arrangements. Like Joelle, Wayne is a Carol Henry recruit. He is the husband of Carol’s cousin. Wayne joined in the fall, and he recently played his arrangements at Community Outreach.

Luke Albee is a flutist. He is Pam Fessler’s friend, and he accompanied Pam at a recent Prelude recital. Luke started playing flute as a youngster and, like many of us, he is spending more time playing these days. Luke attends flute camps in the northeast. He is interested in playing with other musicians, so he is looking forward to collaborating with Mary Lewers. 

Matt Koll, Pam’s husband, is not yet a member, but we are trying to cajole him into joining! Matt is a saxophone player. He picked up the sax in his youth, played in his high school band, and has returned to music in recent years. Matt, like Pam, enjoys jazz. The two of them sometimes play piano and sax duets. They love Eva Cassidy arrangements, a Rockville native who used to sing and make her own soothing arrangements of popular pieces.

Many Thanks!