International composer and pianist Roger Steptoe, soprano Jennifer Glière and award-winning tenor Nils Neubert join Geneva’s Eleanor Stearns and Charles King in a tribute to the 150th anniversary of the birth of French composer Claude Debussy and English poet and playwright William Shakespeare at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2, in the Parish Hall of Trinity Episcopal Church, 520 S. Main St.

Featured will be songs from Debussy’s "Ariettes Oubliées" and musical settings of Shakespearean texts in French, German and Italian by Gounod, Richard Strauss and Verdi--with English settings by Roger Steptoe and Ivor Gurney. Scenes from Gounod’s "Roméo et Juliette" and Verdi’s "Falstaff" will be sung with Strauss’s setting of Ophelia’s mad songs from "Hamlet" (in German)--along with Gurney’s "Elizabethan Songs" and Steptoe’s "Five Shakespeare Songs" for tenor and piano soon be published by Edition BIM and premièred in April by the UK’s Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Roger Steptoe is one of the most respected British musicians of his generation. A composer of international renown, his impressive catalogue of works includes chamber music, four concertos, song cycles and instrumental sonatas all of which have been performed worldwide. As an admired pianist he has pioneered much neglected British music through recitals as a soloist, an accompanist to singers and a chamber music player. A sought-after instructor, he taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London for fifteen years, has given masterclasses internationally and currently teaches at the conservatoire of Brive-la-Gaillarde in the French Limousin where he lives. A disciple of British composer Alan Bush, he was the first Vaughan Williams Composer-in-Residence at the Charterhouse School and a colleague of Ursula Vaughan Williams. He is a trustee for the Incorporated Society of Musicians and artistic director of the annual "Festival de Musique Classigue de Uzerche."

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Nils Neubert earned a bachelor’s degree from Juilliard and a graduate degree from Columbia University in New York City. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall as First Prize Winner of the 2010 Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition. He has received awards in the 2009 Friday Woodmere Young Artist Competition, the 2010 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition and the Oratorio Society of New York’s Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition. He has performed with many opera companies, including the Opera Company of Brooklyn, New York Lyric Opera Theatre and Liederkranz Opera Theatre. In 2011, he starred as Prince Ramiro in American Landmark Festivals' production of Rossini’s “Cinderella" directed by Albert Bergeret at Geneva's Smith Opera House.

Jennifer Glière, from Cincinnati, OH, completed graduate work at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, where she studied with Kathryn Cowdrick. She garnered rave reviews for her portrayals of Suzel in Mascagni’s "L’amico Fritz" with Mercury Opera Rochester and Magda in Puccini’s "La rondine" with the Eastman Opera Theatre. An award winner in the 2010 Sergei & Olga Koussevitzky Competition in New York, she also appeared as Gilda ("Rigoletto") and Giulietta ("Les contes d’Hoffmann") in the 2010-11 season. Related to famed Russian composer Reinhold Glière, she is at home on both concert and operatic stages, and is described as having a tone admirably suited for song recitals. She has appeared in recital and oratorio throughout America's mid-Atlantic and midwest, has given recital tours in Mexico, and has upcoming engagements in Connecticut, New York, and the Philadelphia region.

A mainstay of the Geneva Theatre Guild, actress Eleanor Stearns has been featured in plays such as "The Belle of Amherst," "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds." She has also portrayed a number of important historical figures, such as Clara Barton, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Amelia Earhart, bringing their significance to life for children and adults.

A native Genevan, actor Charles King has performed in many Geneva Theatre Guild, Seneca Community Players and Headless Sullivan productions. He is cantor at Trinity Episcopal Church.

The parish of Trinity Church was organized in 1806. Its first church--a wooden structure--was completed in 1809. The current stone cathedral was consecrated by Bishop William De Lancey, Aug. 15, 1844. It is a nearly exact, small-scale copy of architect Richard Upjohn's Trinity Church in New York City. The interior was gutted by fire in 1932, but was rebuilt in 1934 under the supervision of Hobart Upjohn, Richard's grandson.

Founded in 1973 by Francis L. Heilbut, American Landmark Festivals is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the presentation of outstanding artists in great landmarks of historical, architectural and  scenic significance.

Tickets are $35 per couple, $20 general admission and $12 for senior citizens and students. Children in grades K through 12 are admitted free. Tickets are available at the Smith Opera House box office and Area Records and Music in Geneva, and by calling 315-781-5483.

For more information, contact American Landmark Festivals at 212-866-2086 and AmLandmarkFstvls@gmail.com or Trinity Episcopal Church at 315-789-2919. Details may also be found at www.AmericanLandmarkFestivals.org.