In Memoriam: Peter A. Kopher

September 29, 1956 - January 2, 2023

he photographed items through. It is magical. I felt so elated to support my friend’s work and knew I was gifting Paloma the best gift she’d receive for that year around the sun.

Peter’s smile and joy of discussing fellow artist’s work was just lovely. We also happened to have something else in common as we both worked in the film industry. I always thought that was super cool. He will be sorely missed.

Rest In Peace, friend.

Renelle Loray:

“Peter and I met at least a decade ago through the Goshen Art League, Ringwood Manor Arts and other groups. We never engaged in a long conversation about anything except our kitties, so it was ironic to learn through his wife Sally’s eulogy that we had many things in common.

Like me, he loved animals and preferred nature and a hike in the woods to city life, and he enjoyed capturing details as opposed to the big picture. His images were more about architecture, structure, and geometric design, while mine were of natural things. He had great technical skills, and his images reflected that. He was a tough competitor in the juried shows, in many of which he won awards. Quite often, he was the one to climb the tall ladder and hang artwork on the Goshen Music Hall’s high walls. Having survived so many hardships with Sally, it’s very sad they couldn’t finally age gracefully together. He will be missed by all.

Lana Privatera:

The moment I met Peter I knew he was a great guy. Every time we crossed paths, it felt like I had known him all my life. We had a passion for artistic endeavours in common, of course, but it was more than that. He was a good man and I felt very comfortable around him. Many people felt the same way. He will be missed and remembered by many. RIP, dear Peter.

Sarah Fortner Pierson: Peter was one of the first artists I got to know in the local art scene, through the Goshen Art League. He was approachable, optimistic and encouraging at a time when I was nervous and still getting oriented. Ultimately, being welcomed by the art community has led me to a rewarding career in the arts, and Peter was one of the people who helped me on that path.

As an artist, Peter could make the mundane magical and fascinating. He had an innate eye for composition and a sense for how to frame an image to maximize the drama.

Karen E. Gersch:

Peter was one of those perpetually baby-faced souls, open-minded and warm-hearted; qualities which filtered into his visionary work. I remember his travel-scape series of photographs from back road explorations. He wrote little tales about each shot’s provenance and why it appealed to him, but the allure was evident simply by seeing the image.

We saw each other periodically, mostly chance meetings dropping off work at shows or at receptions or hanging out at Goshen Art Walks. What I will always recall was his easygoing demeanor, his enthusiasm for life and art projects - no matter if they were yours or his. And that whenever I asked after Sally, his face would glow with the telling.

Even now, I can only conjure him broadly smiling, eyes twinkling, brows raised impishly. I will let that memory stay shining in me.

Chester & Goshen Writers’ Workshops

MJ Hanley-Goff is an author, writing coach and feature writer for WomanAroundTown.com.

She began her career at Newsday in the early 90’s and has continued writing professionally for other publications like the Times Herald-Record, Orange, Hudson Valley and Long Island’s Newsday.

Former editor of Hudson Valley Parent magazine, after completing her novel and a self-help book, she created MJWRITES, INC. to offer writing workshops and book coaching to first time authors, and college essay writing help to students. “I enjoy drawing attention to the off-thebeaten path kinds of stories,” she says. “It’s a great big world out there, with so many talented and creative artists, doers, and thinkers.”

Sign up for Goff’s Write Your Book Already workshops, February 18 and

March 4 at 11:00am at the Chester Public Library, 1784 Kings Highway.

For more information, visit www.chesterpubliclibrary. com or call 845-469-4252. Topics include plot creation, self publishing vs. traditional publishing, and strategies that will foster a consistent writing practice.

After a stint as a magazine editor, MJ became a “book whisperer,” assisting new authors complete their memoir, novel, or business book. Are you looking for some help in writing your memoirs or looking for writing tips?

Sign up for MJ’s Memoir Workshop on February 27 and March 6 at 6:00pm at the Goshen Public Library & Historical Society at 366 Main Street. Registration is required and limited. You are not required to attend both classes.

To register: 845-294-6606.

Harpist Joins Internationally Acclaimed Quartet for Valentine’s Concert

Join the internationally acclaimed American String Quartet, with harpist Nancy Allen, for an afternoon of chamber music masterpieces.

The quartet, which will be making its 12th appearance with Newburgh Chamber Music, was founded in 1974 by students at the Juilliard School. The ensemble has performed in all 50 states and around the world. Its recordings of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Mozart, have won widespread acclaim. Their MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets, performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius, are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertoire.

Violinist Peter Winograd joined the American String Quartet in 1990. He gave his first solo public performance at the age of 11 and was a top prize winner in the 1988 Naumburg International Violin Competition. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard.

A founding member of the American String Quartet, violinist Laurie Carney holds the distinction of performing quartets longer than any other woman in this elite field. The quartet began concertizing while she was still an undergraduate at Juilliard.

The Strad magazine hailed violist Daniel Avshalomov as “one of the finest occupants of that chair, both instrumentally and musically, of any quartet now active.”

Avshalomov was a founding member of the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble and was a frequent guest artist with the Guarneri Quartet.

Cellist Wolfram Koessel has performed as a musician, recitalist, and soloist throughout the world. As a soloist, he has performed concertos throughout the U.S. as well as with Japan’s Osaka Symphony Orchestra and orchestras in Germany and South America.

Nancy Allen joined the New York Philharmonic in June of 1999 as Principal Harp. She maintains a busy international concert schedule as well as heading the harp departments of The Juilliard School and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and teaching at Stony Brook