Community Calendar

A holiday tradition for all ages, Bangor Symphony Orchestra proudly presents the annual production of The Nutcracker with the Robinson Ballet and Bangor Area Youth Choirs. Beloved by audiences throughout Maine, please join us for a magical afternoon as Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker grace the stage of the Collins Center for the Arts as the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Area Youth Choirs, and Music Director and GRAMMY-award winning Conductor Lucas Richman bring Tchaikovsky’s score to life. Arrive early to shop at the BSO’s Nutcracker Store, offering a variety of holiday gifts, Nutcrackers, and treats.

A holiday tradition for all ages, Bangor Symphony Orchestra proudly presents the annual production of The Nutcracker with the Robinson Ballet and Bangor Area Youth Choirs. Beloved by audiences throughout Maine, please join us for a magical afternoon as Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker grace the stage of the Collins Center for the Arts as the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Area Youth Choirs, and Music Director and GRAMMY-award winning Conductor Lucas Richman bring Tchaikovsky’s score to life. Arrive early to shop at the BSO’s Nutcracker Store, offering a variety of holiday gifts, Nutcrackers, and treats.

St. Cecilia Chamber Choir will present its popular annual Lessons and Carols Christmas concerts on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 4:00 p.m. at Bowdoin College Chapel in Brunswick, and Sunday, Dec. 21 at 4:00 p.m. at Damariscotta Baptist Church. Linda Blanchard is St. Cecilia’s artistic director, assisted by organist Sean Fleming. Advance tickets are strongly encouraged for these concerts. "You were as good as ever!" "The whole thing was just beautiful!" "I’m so glad we came!" are a few of the audience comments from recent concerts.

A beautiful new setting of the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem "The Bethlehem Star" by former King's Singers member Bob Chilcott will be featured. The John Rutter favorites "Sing We To This Merry Company" and "Past Three O'Clock" will be performed, as well as Richard Francis' ever-popular "People, Look East" based on Eleanor Farjeon's Christmas poem. The Choir will sing a jazz-influenced setting of the Thomas Hardy poem "The Oxen" by former Swingle Singers music director Jonathan Rathbone. And "Drop Down, Ye Heavens" by the phenomenal organist Anna Lapwood. Also featured will be works by Stanford, Archer, and Taylor Scott Davis. A professional string quartet will accompany the group on select pieces. As a special treat, Eric Whitacre’s "Glow," composed for the "World of Color – Winter Dreams" show which premiered at Disney California Adventure Park in California, will be performed.

With audience sing-along caroling using several of David Willcocks' arrangements, this concert is sure to be a treat for the whole family.

Tickets are $25 for the Bowdoin Chapel concert and $20 for the Damariscotta Baptist Church concert. Admission is free for students and children. Tickets are available online at ceciliachoir.org, and at Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shop in Damariscotta. For more information, please email info@ceciliachoir.org, or visit facebook.com/stceciliachamberchoir and ceciliachoir.org.

Celebrate the solstice with vibrant chamber music that connects new sounds, the environment, and the community.

Vigorous Tenderness is an immersive outdoor concert series that amplifies marginalized voices in classical music and democratizes new/experimental music. This winter solstice event resembles an art museum experience, with chamber music and fires illuminating the landscape as the audience follows a path of listening and reflection.

All are welcome; this is an inclusive, family friendly event.
Please carpool; parking will be limited.
Bundle up, wear boots, bring a headlamp or flashlight.

Please arrive between 5:30 and 6:15 pm and move through the installation at your own pace.

No advance tickets required.

The snow date for this event is Monday, December 22nd.

We value inclusion and access for all participants. This concert involves moving over mostly flat paved trails (though there may be snow/ice/mud) and visiting musical sites up to a quarter mile from the parking lot. For more information about accessibility and conditions, please reach out to vigorous.tenderness@gmail.com.

Vigorous Tenderness concerts are held four times a year, on the Solstices and Equinoxes.

Ring in the New Year with Winter Harbor Music Community Opera offering 2 performances at their 4th annual New Year’s Eve Celebration, featuring Johann Strauss II’s sparkling comic opera, Die Fledermaus (The Bat) with the Downeast Chamber Orchestra. The story takes place at a Viennese New Year’s party where Dr. Falke has plotted a comical revenge. Many years earlier Gabriel von Eisenstein had abandoned Falke at a costume party, drunk in a Bat costume, to be the laughingstock of the evening. Now at the eccentric prince Orlofsky’s New Year’s party, Dr. Falke will take his revenge by orchestrating Eisenstein into similarly embarrassing situations. The action of Act II at Orlofsky’s ball will take place in the house where audience members will interact with the characters of the opera. Dress attire is encouraged but not required and attendees will be able to sing with the chorus.
Performers include Andy Boggs as Alfred, Brenna McFarland as Rosalinda, Isabel Silva as Adele, Theodore Dumas as Blind, Joshua Gurwitz as Eisenstein, Deiran Manning as Frank, Henry Horstmann as Falke, Cassandra Petrie as Orlofsky, Roland Dube as Frosch, Sonia Berghoff as Ida, and many more local artists.
The production will be directed by Winter Harbor Music Festival’s Executive Director Deiran Manning. Since the inception of the WHMF Community Opera program, Deiran has produced, directed and coached 5 operas in the region, including a fully socially distanced outdoor production of La Serva Padrona in August of 2020. His directing draws on experience working with noted directors such as Atlanta Opera Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun and noted directors Candace Evans and Garnett Bruce. His experience as a vocal coach, singer and director gives him a unique perspective into the inner workings of opera.
The Downeast Chamber Orchestra will be conducted by Michael Haigler. Mr. Haigler is a conductor of operatic, orchestral, and choral music, as well as a pianist, organist, published author and composer, and teacher. He holds a Magna cum Laude performance degree from the Eastman School of Music where he studied conducting with David Effron and Donald Hunsberger and is an alumnus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and the International Fine Arts Institute in Moscow.
He currently serves as Music Director at Christ Church in Oyster Bay, Long Island, home to the Christ Church Festival Orchestra with which he has conducted requiems by Mozart, Fauré, Brahms, and Rutter, and symphonies such as Mendelssohn’s Italian, Beethoven’s Ninth, and Mahler’s Resurrection (complete). Mr. Haigler also holds positions as Artistic Director of the Hudson Valley Chorale, Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master at the Bronx Opera, and co-director of Pianos on the Point, a new summer workshop in Vermont.
Don’t forget to toast to the New Year, enjoy the annual paper mache lobster drop and celebrate with the performers.

In this inventive program, cellist Nora Willauer and pianist Marlene McCarthy explore the sparks of creativity born from close artistic relationships in the 20th century. From the youthful brilliance of Benjamin Britten’s First Cello Suite to the many colors of Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs, and Sonata for Cello and Piano by Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans, the duo invites listeners into the space where music and human connection intertwine.

Nora says each piece in their Midday Music program carries “a spicy compositional history.” Through storytelling between pieces, Nora and Marlene lay out how these masterpieces emerged from artistic friendships, love, and collaboration. A rich hour of music and discovery awaits.

The Bangor Symphony Orchestra invites guest flutist Anthony Trionfo performing Mozarts first flute concerto, in this third Masterworks performance of the 130th season. The program also includes a world premier by Ellis
Ludwig-Leone, winner of the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer's Award, alongside Beethoven's 6th Symphony. This program is to be conducted by Grammy Award winning Music Director Lucas Richman.

Breathtaking power, lyrical beauty, and moments of pure musical magic — right here in Sanford, without the trip to New York or Boston, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8.

Internationally acclaimed pianist Ilya Yakushev has earned a reputation as one of the most electrifying performers of his generation. A winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition, Yakushev’s performances have been praised for their dazzling technique, emotional depth, and magnetic stage presence, playing everywhere from captivating audiences from Carnegie Hall to the BBC Proms. Known for his brilliant interpretations of Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Beethoven, Yakushev blends impeccable artistry with sheer virtuosity, making each performance an unforgettable experience.
Program selections include Haydn's Sonata in D major, Three Preludes by Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Celebrate love, legacy, and lyrical beauty this Valentine’s Day with an unforgettable musical evening featuring violinist Callie Brennan and pianist Laura Kargul. Returning for the Osher School of Music’s beloved Valentine’s concert, this dynamic duo continues a cherished tradition established by the iconic Lantz-Kargul partnership.

Tickets go on-sale September 5th.

Tickets available through PortTIX, the official box office for the Osher School of Music.

PHONE 207-842-0800
ONLINE www.porttix.com
IN-PERSON 400 Congress St Suite A, Portland, ME 04101

Event Details
Parking

Due to limited resources, parking is not free on our Portland and Gorham campuses. You must purchase a parking permit or paid parking session to park on campus. We recommend reserving your parking in advance at https://events.parkengage.com/usm.

For easy access to the Crewe Center for the Arts, choose either Parking Garage 1 (attached to the Abromson Community Education Center), Lot P1 (off of Bedford St. by Luther Bonney) or Lot P6 (off of Exeter St. or Deering Ave by the former Maine Law building).

Disability Access and Accommodations

If you have questions about disability access or need to request disability accommodations (e.g. sign language interpreters, materials in electronic format, etc.), please contact Hanna Flewelling at (207) 780-5256 or hanna.flewelling@maine.edu. Requests should be made as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for the accommodation process.

As winter in Maine comes to its end, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra has put together a program that captures the welcoming of spring through music. This program features Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture and Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, in addition to other works. This program is to be conducted by Grammy Award winning Music Director Lucas Richman.