A century of music One venue celebrates a 100th birthday amongst 100+ concert offerings BY BECCA DEWAN
	Where to find it Arcady Summer Music Festival: www.arcady.org/ Bay Chamber Concerts Series: www.baychamberconcerts.org Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ: www.foko.org/ Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival: www.kneisel.org/ Mount Desert Festival of Chamber Music: www.mtdesertfestival.org/ Opera House as Boothbay Harbor: www.opera-house.org/ Portland Chamber Music Festival: www.pcmf.org/ Portland Conservatory of Music: www.portlandconservatory.net/ PortOpera: www.portopera.org/ Salt Bay Chamber Fest: www.saltbaychamberfest.org/ Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival: www.sebagomusicfestival.org/ Bowdoin International Music Festival: www.summermusic.org/

Already, the weather is looking more promising than last summer. It actually feels like that elusive season that follows spring. Warm weather brings thoughts of barbeques, beaches, and a bounty of classical music.

Tourism fuels Maine’s economy, and the multiple music festivals happening around the state certainly will boost the industry. Tourists will flock, but don’t let that be an excuse for you to stay away. These are top-notch performers coming to our state. The school year is about ensemble and solo performances, but summer in Maine is filled with chamber music. I’ve found a dozen or so festivals and concert series happening around the state. I’ll start close to home.

Events at the Portland Conservatory, I feel, are sometimes overshadowed by other bigwigs in Portland like PCA and PSO. But this month, the Portland Conservatory of Music shines as they host their second International Piano and Chamber Music Festival. A highlight of the festival will be a performance by piano duo Evan Hirsch and Sally Pinkas — four hands of immense talent are better than two. Not only are the performers from all over the globe, but the students who come to study at this event hail from countries such as Holland, Russia, Bulgaria, and China. The Portland String Quartet will perform with Russian pianist Tamara Poddubnaya (watch for PSQ’s Colby workshop later in the summer).

While the Portland Symphony Orchestra puts on only one event this summer — Independence Pops at various locations around the fourth of July — the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ (FOKO) has a summer-long Tuesday night series. The season opens June 14 with Ray Cornils and the Kotzschmar Festival Brass. Other organists featured this summer are Erik Suter from the Washington National Cathedral, Gabriel Dessauer of Germany, and Paul Jacobs from the Julliard School of Music. While most of the concerts are classical, two will feature all pop music. And ever wonder where all the sound of the mighty Kotzschmar comes from? Three noontime demonstrations of the organ, followed by a tour of the inside of the organ, will be given throughout the summer.

During the last two weekends of August, we can enjoy the Portland Chamber Music Festival. Four formal concerts bring together 19 big-time musicians. Pieces include "Tapestries," by Maine composer Elliott Schwartz; the "Ghost" piano trio, by Beethoven; and Bach’s "Brandenburg No. 4." PCMF also puts on family-oriented concerts on Sunday afternoons.

While PCA brings opera to us during the year, PORTopera is Portland’s only opera company performing fully staged operas. How sad that it only runs during the summer. This year, PORT will put on Bizet’s Carmen, a story filled with gypsies and soldiers, love, lust and rage. Maine-native Kate Aldrich, who recently sung opposite Placido Domingo, will sing the title role.

Moving out of the Portland area, the Bowdoin International Music Festival is in its 42nd year. Bowdoin’s is a festival of four components. MusicFest is a concert series on Friday evenings featuring the Aeolian Chamber Players, the Ying and Cassatt string quartets, and faculty and guest artists of the festival. For midweek concerts, follow the Upbeat! series, which features world premieres, contemporary music, and traditional repertoire. The week-long Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music presents works of living composers, including those by the festival’s composer-in-residence and composition students. The final component of the Bowdoin festival is the student recitals, which happen several times a week throughout the festival (check our listings or the Web site for details).

Bay Chamber Concerts’ Summer Music Festival is another that has a strong dedication to young musicians. The festival is held in Rockport during July and August in the Rockport Opera House. The final concert in their series features musicians who all occupy first chairs in their respective orchestras — first chair bassoon, principal violist, etc. New this year, Bay Chamber Concerts will introduce a Wednesday-night series in Rockland’s newly renovated Strand Theatre.

The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor has an eclectic summer season planned. Opening weekend, July 1, is PORTopera’s Maine Emerging Artists in concert. Sandwiched between zydeco music and blues, we find DaPonte String Quartet August 10. While the Cabaret nights scheduled in July don’t exactly fit under the "classical music" heading of this column, they sure sound like fun.

Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill puts on 10 concerts, each program performed Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. Programmed next to Brahms, Beethoven, and Schubert, we find Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Frank Bridge, and George Walker. Hurrah for performances of lesser-known music! On a few concerts, students at Kneisel Hall will have the opportunity to perform alongside their mentors and teachers. Stay tuned, also, for Young Artist Concerts and Kneisel Hall Children’s Concerts throughout the summer.

Salt Bay Chamberfest in Damariscotta is in its 11th season, with four concerts held on Tuesday evenings in August. The opening concert features Ravel and Faure, and Kevin Volans’s Walking Song, Leaping Dance balancing the French music. The concert that follows is one of octets, one each by Hindemith and Schubert. For the scholarly and curious, each concert is preceded by a pre-concert lecture. New this year is Salt Bay’s first masterclass. Violinist Scott St. John will work with students August 23.

Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival is one of many organizations that uses the Deertrees Theatre and Cultural Center in Harrison. Founded in 1972, this five-concert festival provides a wide variety of chamber music for its devoted audience. Highlights include short works for string quartet by Gershwin, Puccini, and Bridge; Beethoven’s "Archduke" Piano Trio; and Dvorak’s "Piano Quartet Op. 23 in D Major." The Festival also puts on concerts for kids held in South Paris, Harrison, and Chebeague Island.

In its 42nd season, the Mt. Desert Festival of Chamber Music puts on five concerts in the historic Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor. The Miami, Borromeo, and Brentano string quartets, three fantastic chamber ensembles, are returning this summer. To celebrate the 100th birthday of the Neighborhood House, August 9’s concert will feature Beethoven’s "Septet for Strings and Winds"; and Schubert’s "Shepherd on the Rock," with violinist Stephanie Chase, violist Hsin-Yun Huang, soprano Jayne West, and others. Todd Crow, pianist and music director of the festival, will perform on each concert. For all you Beethoven lovers, the Festival is continuing its project of performing all of Beethoven’s string quartets over the next few seasons.

The Arcady Music Society is dedicated to bringing quality classical music to central, northern, and Downeast Maine. Now in its 25th year, the Arcady Summer Music Festival was founded by pianist Masanobu Ikemiya. This festival really takes its goal of spreading music throughout Maine seriously. Unlike other festivals, there isn’t one venue for all concerts. For each of the six weeks of the festival, a different program is taken on a mini-tour to Bar Harbor, Bangor/Orono, Dover-Foxcroft, and Bucksport.

Phew! That was a super-speedy run-down of the dozen venues I’ve found. But if that isn’t enough, check out the Center for Cultural Exchange, St. Lawrence Arts & Community Center, LL Bean’s outdoor concert series, Summer Art Series in Yarmouth, local churches, and summer camps for more concerts.

As a closing note: I’ve plotted all the concerts happening this summer in my handy iCal program and have come upon an odd phenomena. While Tuesdays and Fridays are jam-packed with concerts, almost none happen on Saturdays. Keep that in mind while you’re planning your weekends.

With a dozen venues and more than 100 concerts happening this summer, you have no excuse not dip your toe into the engaging world of classical music.

Becca DeWan can be reached at beccadewan@mac.com