Wednesday, April 10 | 1PM | Union Hall

35 +: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

ADAM SWANSON, piano

One of the world’s foremost pianists and historians of vintage American popular music, including ragtime, early jazz, the Great American Songbook, and more, Adam Swanson is the only FOUR-TIME World Champion Old-Time Piano Player. He has been a featured performer and lecturer at ragtime and jazz festivals across the United States and abroad, and made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall at the age of nineteen, where he performed with Michael Feinstein. Don’t miss this 60-minute rollicking ride through American popular music in the company of a consummate entertainer!

The Midday Music Series features innovative artists and ensembles and offers a midday break in the relaxed atmosphere of Union Hall. The hour-long performances begin at 1PM. Feel free to bring your lunch! Ticket includes coffee and cookies available before the concert.

Wednesday, March 13 | 1PM | Union Hall

35 +: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

JOHN DAVID ADAMS, bass-baritone

PATRICIA STOWELL, piano

Two respected artists and beloved Music School faculty members collaborate in a program of vocal works for bass voice and piano. The repertoire, spanning the 19th through 21st centuries, encompasses a range of beauty, tenderness, and power, performed in the rich tonal colors for which the composers specifically conceived them. Highlights include the Liederkranz für die Bassstimme, Op. 145 by Carl Loewe, and the song set Everyone Sang by American composer David Conte.

John Adams is a versatile and accomplished singer, praised for performances across the country in concert, opera, recital, and Grammy Award-winning professional vocal ensembles. His rich and flexible voice adapts to a wide repertoire, from Baroque masterworks to world-premiere compositions. Patricia Stowell is an independent performing artist, chamber musician, regional adjudicator, and instructor with several award-winning students. Her career includes performances in the United States and Europe where she also studied in Germany and Austria. She is a founding member and former Chair of the Chamber Music Society at the Collins Center of the Arts in Orono, and a long-time affiliate of Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill.

PROGRAM

CARL LOEWE Liederkranz für die Bassstimme, Op. 145

EMIL SJÖGREN Romans from Three Songs for Bass Voice, Op. 2 and The Slave’s Dream (Slavens dröm), Op. 8

HARRY BURLEIGH Deep River

DAVID CONTE Everyone Sang: Four Songs for Bass and Piano

The Midday Music Series features innovative artists and ensembles and offers a midday break in the relaxed atmosphere of Union Hall. The hour-long performances begin at 1PM. Feel free to bring your lunch! Ticket includes coffee and cookies available before the concert.

Sunday, March 3 | 4PM | Union Hall

FREE!

We are thrilled to announce the return of our treasured Music School Faculty Recital! The hour-long program features Music School faculty members, all of whom have important careers as professional musicians. Performers include John David Adams (bass-baritone), April Reed-Cox (cello), Josie and Sophie Davis (violins), and Luke Fatora (violin), Ben Lary (piano), Morgan Lee (piano), Patricia Stowell (piano), Jeff Weinberger (ukulele), and Colin Wheatley (viola).

Admission is free but donations are welcome. The recital is a fundraiser for the scholarship fund at the Bay Chamber Music School. Every year more than $65,000 is awarded in financial aid to aspiring students, with over 50 percent on those enrolled receiving support.

Wednesday, February 14 | 1PM | Union Hall

35 +: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

SOPHIE DAVIS and JOSIE DAVIS, violins

COLIN WHEATLEY, viola

JU-YOUNG LEE, cello

Well-known to Midcoast audiences from their extensive performances, and educational work through Bay Chamber Music School, Halcyon is a string quartet and a collective of socially engaged musicians. As performers, artists and collaborators, the musicians strive to share their love of music in ways that foster connection, community, vibrancy, joy, warmth, and accessibility. The quartet create programs that build partnerships with local community organizations and people from all walks of life. Halcyon performances are interdisciplinary, often involving multimedia elements, creating a space to tell relevant stories and cultivate meaningful environmental stewardship.

Their program includes Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 76, No. 1, nicknamed “Jack-in-the-box” after the humorously surprising coda of its finale. Charles Burney wrote to Haydn praising the Opus 76 quartets saying “...they are full of invention, fire, good taste, and new effects.”

PROGRAM

String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 1 - Haydn

Apocryphal Dances No. 2 & 5 - Kenji Bunch

Ae Romeser - Danish String Quartet

Water Lily - Danish String Quartet

Wonderful World - Thiele & Weiss

Over the Rainbow

L-O-V-E - Nat King Cole  

Dance the Night - Dua Lipa

Bridal Trilogy II - Danish String Quartet

The Midday Music Series features innovative artists and ensembles and offers a midday break in the relaxed atmosphere of Union Hall. The hour-long performances begin at 1PM. Feel free to bring your lunch! Ticket includes coffee and cookies available before the concert.

Our Winter recitals span over 5 days. Please see the schedule below. All recitals are free and open to the public. Join Bay Chamber Music School students, faculty, families and friends for an evening of music to culminate the spring semester of music learning.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16: 5:30PM & 6:30PM in Union Hall

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16: 6:30PM Bay Chamber Recital Hall (18 Central Street)

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17: 5:30PM & 6:30PM in Union Hall

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18: 5:30PM & 6:30PM in Union Hall

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19: 5PM & 5:30PM in Union Hall

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19: 6PM Bay Chamber Recital Hall (18 Central Street)

MONDAY, JANUARY 22: 5:30PM & 6:30PM in Union Hall

Music School Recital Series Corporate Sponsor: Allen Insurance and Financial

Tuesday, December 19 | 5PM | Union Hall

FREE

Join Bay Chamber Music School students, faculty, families and friends for an evening of chamber music to culminate the fall semester of music learning.

SOLD OUT!

Thursday, December 14 | 7PM | Rockport Opera House

SONGS OF SOLOMON GOSPEL CHOIR WITH BISHOP CHANTEL WRIGHT

A joyful holiday celebration for the whole family. Harlem-based Songs of Solomon celebrates inspirational music in an environment supportive of young people from diverse backgrounds. Founded in 2001 by veteran conductor Bishop Chantel Wright, this acclaimed choir performs varied repertoire including gospel, spirituals, anthems, and classical choral music. The ensemble has performed with notable artists including Ashford and Simpson, Elton John, and American Idol winners Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino and Ruben Studdard.

The concert will end with a full-audience sing-in of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. Learn any of the 4 parts from these rehearsal recordings and come ready to sing along!

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS

For music readers, the score can be found HERE. If you’d like to have the words only, they are HERE.

Songs of Solomon’s unforgettable previous Bay Chamber performances have consistently sold out, so get your tickets early for this healing and joyful musical experience.

Concert Sponsor: Viking, Inc.

Wednesday, November 8 | 1PM | Union Hall

35 +: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

AARON LARGET-CAPLAN, guitar

ROBERT LEHMANN, violin

KIMBERLY LEHMANN, viola

REBECCA HARTKA, cello

We are proud to welcome back to our daytime series, violinist Robert Lehmann, Director of String Studies and Orchestral Activities at the University of Southern Maine’s Osher School of Music, "a sensitive musician with a technique up to just about anything” (Portland Press Herald). He will be joined by his wife and duo partner Kimberly Lehmann viola, a player with “considerable interpretive moxie, backed with a solid technique and rich tone" (Portand Press Herald), USM’s new cello professor Rebecca Hartka, and lauded Boston-based guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan, “a unique talent not to be missed” (Washington Post). Aaron has released 10 critically acclaimed solo records, as well as performing for wildly enthusiastic audiences and critics across the globe.

PROGRAM

The quartet will perform a program of Latin-American music for guitar and strings that explores the notion of music that dances with the ancestors.

MANUEL M. PONCE Quartet, for guitar, violin, viola, cello (1946)

NICOLAS BENAVIDES Rinconcito (2018)

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA from Histoire du Tango

Bordello 1900 (guitar/violin)

Café 1930 (guitar/viola)

Revirado (guitar/cello)

ROLAND DYENS Tango En Skai (1985)

The Midday Music Series features innovative artists and ensembles and offers a midday break in the relaxed atmosphere of Union Hall. The hour-long performances begin at 1PM. Feel free to bring your lunch! Ticket includes coffee and cookies available before the concert.

Program Notes from Performer Robert Lehmann:

As Aaron and I were exploring possibilities for some concerts together, the Latin American theme always seemed to figure prominently in our repertory ideas. I am originally from Mexico City, where I lived until I was 18 and am a fierce advocate for Mexican and Latin music and composers.

It was a happy coincidence that our concert is close to the traditional observance days of “Dia de los Muertos” and that one of our pieces, “Rinconcito” by Nicolas Benavides, has to do with this idea of music bridging the worlds of the living and the departed. Rinconcito is, in the composer’s own words; “… a meeting place for the dead and the living.” It is based on one of his favorite songs “Rinconcito en el cielo” which tells of a secret little corner in heaven where one can visit departed loved ones. He uses a series of intervals, perfect fourths and fifths, to depict the departed ancestors, and thirds and sixths to represent the living.

Manuel Ponce is known for his many works for guitar, fruits of his friendship with the famous guitarist Andres Segovia, but he also played a pivotal role in developing a National ‘profile’ for the next generation of Mexican composers who sought to reconcile the European classical tradition with the native folk and indigenous music of Mexico.

What would a Latin American program be without the iconic music of Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango? We’ve included three selections from his seminal “Histoire du Tango.” 

-Robert Lehmann

Friday, October 20 | 7PM | Union Hall

35 +: $45 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

SOO-JIN HONG, violin

SOO-KYUNG HONG, cello

JENS ELVEKJAER, piano

“We can now see the Con Brio as the worthy successors of the legendary Beaux-Arts Trio. That says it all!” (Díapason). Recognized for its exceptional musicianship, adventurous programming, and a fresh approach to the core repertoire, the prize-winning Trio Con Brio Copenhagen will perform music by Schubert and Ravel.

A fusion of two overlapping musical pairs: two sisters, violinist Soo-Jin Hong and cellist Soo-Kyung Hong, are from South Korea; pianist Jens Elvekjaer, Soo-Kyung’s spouse, is from Denmark. Founded at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in 1999, the Trio is now based in Copenhagen and is recognized for its fresh approach to the core repertoire and a commitment to bringing music to young people through their highly creative concerts.

PROGRAM

SCHUBERT Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898

RAVEL Piano Trio in A Minor

Wednesday, October 11 | 1PM | Union Hall

35 +: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

Musical Theater is alive and well in University of Southern Maine's Osher School of Music! Enormously popular with our audiences in past seasons, USM faculty member Ed Reichert returns to Bay Chamber with a cast of startlingly talented musical theater students in a program filled with favorites from the Golden Age of Broadway, sprinkled with some exciting newer works for the stage. Expect to hear songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Kander & Ebb, and Sondheim performed by Matthew Balfour, Karoline Brechter, Ben Clouse, and Rita Micklus - with Ed Reichert on piano.

The Midday Music Series features innovative artists and ensembles and offers a midday break in the relaxed atmosphere of Union Hall. The hour-long performances begin at 1PM. Feel free to bring your lunch! Ticket includes coffee and cookies available before the concert.

Sunday, August 20 | 7 PM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

NICHOLAS PHAN, tenor

JESSE BLUMBERG, baritone

GABRIEL KAHANE, singer songwriter

KENYATTA EMMANUEL, singer songwriter

JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe

JOHN MCKEAN, harpsichord

PALAVER STRINGS

The culmination of a week of music-making, conversation, and collective hope and optimism, our closing gala features performances by artists performing at Screen Door 2023, led by spectacular international vocal talents.

Hope can thrive in so many places within our hearts and minds, in our love for other people as in Gabriel Kahane’s enchanting and wistful song in which two people describe a favorite seaside spot and sing, “I hope we die here when we’re old”. Bach’s cantata contemplates the futility of earthly matters and the promise of heavenly peace in some of the most beautifully serene music ever written. Our featured composer, Nico Muhly’s song cycle written for Nicholas Phan juxtaposes settings of accounts of immigration through Ellis Island with those of texts protesting the United States’ Chinese Exclusion policies of the late-19th century. Nicholas describes his encounters with Muhly’s music as being both “artistically and personally transformative,” and recalls the Stranger’s premiere as the first time he felt his identity had been respectfully represented in a work of classical music. Our Screen Door performance of the work is a new arrangement for string orchestra, featuring Palaver Strings.

Songwriter Kenyatta Emmanuel is an artist and activist who has shared his music from Sing Sing to Carnegie Hall, offering a full live concert the same day of his return home after serving 24½ years in prison. His music and message explore the beauty of life, reminding us of all that we hold in common. Our Screen Door 2023 ends with a song by Kenyatta that embodies so much of what the music programmed this year expresses – “holding on to love, holding off despair and I’m holding out hope”.

PROGRAM

GABRIEL KAHANE Little Love

J.S. BACH Ich Habe Genug BWV 82

NICO MUHLY Stranger

KENYATTA EMMANUEL Holding Out Hope (arranged by Thomas Cabaniss)

Honorary Concert Sponsors: Ronald Stern and Elisse Walter

Sunday, August 20 | 3:30 PM | Harbor Park, adjacent to the Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

FREE!

Palaver Strings presents a FREE program specifically for children (ages 4-10) and families, celebrating hope and optimism in music for strings. Music and emotion are closely connected; music can evoke a wide range of emotions in listeners, whether it’s a feeling of happiness, sadness, excitement, or calmness. Join Palaver Strings for an afternoon of exploration through active listening, musical expression, movement, and mindfulness.

HONORARY CONCERT SPONSORS: Richard Franklin and Mary Joe Hughes

CORPORATE CONCERT SPONSORS: First National Bank and First National Wealth Managament

Sunday, August 20 | 1PM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

TOMMY MESA, cello

HENRY KRAMER, piano

Praised by The Cleveland Classical Review for his “astonishingly confident technique” and The New York Times for “thrilling [and] triumphant” performances, pianist Henry Kramer is developing a reputation as a musician of rare sensitivity. In 2016, he garnered international recognition with a Second Prize win in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Most recently, he was awarded a 2019 Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center – one of the most coveted honors bestowed on young American soloists.

Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. He is the recipient of the 2023 Sphinx Medal of Excellence Award, First Prize in the 2016 Sphinx Competition, and Winner of the Astral Artists 2017 National Auditions. He has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on three occasions and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, Santa Barbara, and Southwest Florida, among others.

Join two exceptional artists for a vivid program of cello and piano works anchored by Samuel Barber’s lyrical and virtuosic Cello Sonata in C Minor, Op. 6, written in the summer of 1932.

PROGRAM

BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69

RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin 

DEBUSSY Cello Sonata

LYDIA JANE PUGH Carolina’s Jig for solo cello

BARBER Cello Sonata in C Minor, Op. 6

Sunday, August 20 | 10AM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

JACQUELYN HELIN, piano

Join us for the final session of our morning lecture recital series. Pianist Jacquelyn Helin returns to continue our journey through The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, assembled in 1742, delving deeper into Bach's compositional techniques in these masterful preludes and fugues. 

We’ll look at how Bach's harmony, counterpoint, and musical structure create a profound sense of unity, coherence and expression across this vast collection of pieces. Jacquelyn Helin is the perfect guide with her deep knowledge of Bach's music and her exceptional ability to bring out the beauty and complexity of his works for keyboard. Don't miss this final opportunity to explore one of the greatest musical achievements of all time, and to discover the lasting legacy of Bach's genius.

Zoot coffee and muffins are available before the concert.

PROGRAM

A selection of Preludes and Fugues from BACH’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2

Prelude & Fugue in C Major

Prelude & Fugue in C Minor

Prelude & Fugue in D Major

Prelude & Fugue in D Minor

Prelude & Fugue in E-flat Major

Prelude & Fugue in F-sharp Minor

Prelude & Fugue in A Minor

Prelude & Fugue in B-flat Minor

Saturday, August 19 | 8:30PM| The tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

GABRIEL KAHANE, vocals and piano

Gabriel Kahane is “one of the finest, most searching songwriters of the day” (The New Yorker). He invites you on a lyrical journey in this solo vocal and piano performance of songs from his 2018 album Book of Travelers, which tells the story of attempting to rediscover and celebrate our collective humanity. The album was called “a stunning portrait of a singular moment in America” by Rolling Stone.

As a composer, Gabriel has been commissioned by many of America’s leading arts institutions, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Public Theater.

This song cycle is a series of intimate character studies from a train trip that Gabriel embarked on in 2016, while also drawing from his grandmother’s diary – written during her own solo train trip after fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939. Gabriel’s Book of Travelers asks audiences to reflect on the scars of the past, while offering a seed of hope when we step outside of our digital lives. In this way, we may discover that we have common ground even in the face of political and cultural divide.

HONORARY CONCERT SPONSORS: Mazie Cox and Brinkley Thorne

Listen to Gabriel Kahane’s “Little Love"

Saturday, August 19 | 5:30PM | The Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

BLAKE POULIOT, violin

HENRY KRAMER, piano

A program exploring different meanings of romance; towards one’s own culture in the Jewish composer Rózsa’s virtuosic variations. Derrick Skye’s piece, commissioned by Blake, navigates the connections between Persian classical, West African, Western classical and experimental electronic music and overlays pre-recorded sounds including samples of a lullaby written for Blake by his dad, making the piece immensely personal. The Clara Schumann and Brahms works are ravishingly lyrical and expressive, reflecting the composers' loving embrace of romance in their lives and music.

Described as “immaculate, at once refined and impassioned,” (ArtsAtlanta) violinist Blake Pouliot is an artist with a passion that enraptures his audience in every performance. Blake has established himself as “one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime” (Toronto Star). Praised by The Cleveland Classical Review for his “astonishingly confident technique” and The New York Times for “thrilling [and] triumphant” performances, pianist Henry Kramer is a musician of rare sensitivity who combines stylish programming with insightful and exuberant interpretations.

PROGRAM

MIKLOS ROZSA Variations on a Hungarian Peasant Song, Op. 4

CLARA SCHUMANN 3 Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22

DERRICK SKYE God of the Gaps for Violin and Electronics

BRAHMS Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108

Honorary Concert Sponsor: Edes Gilbert

Listen to Blake Pouliot perform Ravels “Tzigane”:

Saturday, August 19 | 1PM | The tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

BRIDGET KIBBEY, harp with guest musicians

Bridget Kibbey “makes it seem as though the instrument had been waiting all its life to explode with the energetic figures and gorgeous colors she was getting from it” (The New York Times).

With the harp as her muse, Bridget is in huge demand for her virtuosic and soulful performances —excavating centuries of music as a soloist and alongside today’s top performing artists — from the French Belle Époque, to the Baroque, to Persian Modes, to Latin Jazz traditions and beyond. Her much-anticipated Screen Door concert offers an insight into the diverse musical interests of this voracious artist, and features collaborations with guest musicians. Don’t miss this intimate lunchtime salon with one of today’s most acclaimed concert artists.

Honorary Concert Sponsors: Paul Velleman and Sue Michlovitz

PROGRAM

DEBUSSY Prélude to Suite Bergamasque (trans. Kibbey)

FAURÉ Une Chatelaine en sa tour

SCHUBERT Des Fischers Liebesglück (with Nicholas Phan)

ALBÉNIZ Mallorca 

PAQUITO D’RIVERA Bandoneon 

SAINT-SAËNS Fantaisie (with Julietta Curenton)

BRITTEN Suite for Harp, Op. 83

Listen to Bridget Kibbey perform Paquito D’Rivera’s Bandoneon:

Saturday, August 19 | 10AM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

JOHN MCKEAN, host and harpsichord

JULIETTA CURENTON, flute

JESSE BLUMBERG, baritone

PALAVER STRINGS

The fourth part of a series of morning lecture recitals featuring multiple artists performing at our 2023 Screen Door Festival. This year, we consider works by J.S. Bach within the historical, stylistic and familial context in which he lived and worked, and explore how Bach’s compositional techniques convey his sense of profound optimism and faith.

The six Brandenburg concertos challenge (as opposed to reflect) existing musical and social hierarchies of Bach’s time. Lutheran theology and Bach’s documented understanding of it suggests that in the next world, the heavenly one, the hierarchies of the present world will no longer be necessary. The session also includes selected vocal works performed by “easily one of the finest concert and recital singers of our generation” (I Care If You Listen), Jesse Blumberg.

Join Jesse along with performer and scholar of historical music and performance practice, John McKean, flutist Julietta Curenton, praised for her “expressive playing and sensitivity to color” (Bachtrack), and our much loved resident ensemble, Palaver Strings for our ongoing exploration of Bach’s music.

Zoot coffee and muffins are available before the concert.

PROGRAM

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

BACH A selection of vocal pieces

Friday, August 18 | 8:30PM | The tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

THE WESTERLIES

RILEY MULHERKAR, trumpet

CHLOE ROWLANDS, trumpet

ANDY CLAUSEN, trombone

WILLEM DE KOCH, trombone

with guest artist, KENYATTA EMMANUEL

Formed in 2011, the self-described accidental brass group are “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York Times), to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both "folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music). Equally at home in concert halls and living rooms, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.

Their program includes Move by our 2023 featured composer, Nico Muhly as well as an arrangement of the traditional song Saro from an arrangement by Nico and Sam Amidon.

Kenyatta Emmanuel, whose previous collaborators include celebrated mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, is a singer songwriter who explores the beauty of life, love, and the human condition in his eloquent songs reminding us of all that we hold in common. 

 The Westerlies are “…a four-piece trumpet and trombone instrumental combo earn[ing] raves from both indie-leaning music blogs and public radio while also performing at the Newport Jazz Festival and local rock clubs.” Los Angeles Times

HONORARY CONCERT SPONSORS: Mazie Cox and Brinkley Thorne

Listen to The Westerlies NPR Tiny Desk Concert:

Friday, August 18 | 5:30PM | The tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

PALAVER STRINGS with special guest – NICHOLAS PHAN, tenor

The acclaimed Portland-based, musician-led chamber orchestra returns to Screen Door as ensemble in residence. Featuring Grammy nominated tenor Nicholas Phan, this program explores our country’s rich legacy of protest songs. Repertoire includes traditional songs of protest and music inspired by social movements and historical events, including Akenya Seymour’s Fear the Lamb, and a new commission by Errollyn Wallen. Spanning genres, eras, and movements, A Change is Gonna Come provokes conversation, confronts our past and present, and celebrates the act of protest as one of our most precious rights.

Palaver Strings has distinguished itself for their sense of musical adventure and eagerness to engage with music and collaborators from many different genres and traditions. Described by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers,” tenor Nicholas Phan is praised for his charismatic stage presence and natural musicianship. He performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies.

PROGRAM

ROBERTA SLAVITT, ALFRED HAYES, MALVINA REYNOLDS Freedom is a Constant Struggle/I dreamed I saw Joe Hill/It isn’t nice (arrangement by DOMENIC SALERNI)

HARRY BURLEIGH, LANGSTON HUGHES Lovely, Dark & Lonely One (arrangement by IAN GOTTLIEB)

ABEL MEEROPOL/BILLIE HOLIDAY Strange Fruit 

AKENYA SEYMOUR Fear the Lamb 

BOB DYLAN Blowin’ in the Wind (arrangement by DOMENIC SALERNI)

JONI MITCHELL, PHIL OCHS, PETE SEEGER Fiddle and the Drum, What Are You Fighting For?, Where Have all the Flowers Gone? (arrangement by DOMENIC SALERNI)

ERROLLYN WALLEN Songs for the People - World Premiere

SAM COOKE A Change is Gonna Come

Honorary Concert Sponsor: Robert Johnston

Errollyn Wallen Songs for the People were co-commissioned by Palaver Strings and the Tippet Rise Fund of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

Listen to Nicholas Phan sing at The Greene Space at WQXR:

Friday, August 18 | 1PM| The tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

LIVIA SOHN, violin

KAL SUGATSKI, viola

TOMMY MESA, cello

JULIETTA CURENTON, flute

JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe

JACQUELYN HELIN, piano

A program of music for winds, strings and piano featuring a remarkable ensemble of musicians. Whether finding new points of resonance and connection in Reena Esmail’s piece, the confidence and ambition in Britten’s early masterpiece, the ebuliance in Damase's Trio, Caroline Shaw’s generous world of sounds, or the energy and spirit of Cambini’s quintet, the works in this program embrace the idea of optimism and forward orientation.

“Livia Sohn … possesses a remarkably lithe and transparent tone of exceptional purity” (Strad Magazine); Kal Sugatski was Mainer of the Year for their work with Vigorous Tenderness and is a fierce advocate for contemporary music; Cuban-American cellist Tommy Mesa won first Prize in the Sphinx Competition and has appeared as soloist with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; Julietta Curenton is known for her “tone that draws in one’s ear with sounds and ideas that simply cannot be resisted” (Philadelphia Inquirer); James Austin Smith performs new and old music to rapturous acclaim across the United States and around the world; Jacquelyn Helin is known for her lucid, highly expressive interpretations of a broad range of repertoire.

Join us for this lunch-time celebration of exhilarating music and captivating performers.

PROGRAM

REENA ESMAIL Nediyā (viola and flute)

BRITTEN Phantasy Quartet, Op. 2

JEAN-MICHEL DAMASE Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano

CAROLINE SHAW Limestone and Felt (viola and cello)

GIUSEPPE MARIA CAMBINI Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello in G Major, Op.8 No.1

Honorary Concert Sponsor: Carole Brand

Listen to Caroline Shaw’s Limestone and Felt:

Friday, August 18 | 10AM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

JOHN MCKEAN, host & harpsichord

BLAKE POULIOT, violin

JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe

VIANO STRING QUARTET

The third part of a series of morning lecture recitals featuring multiple artists performing at our 2023 Screen Door Festival. This year, we consider works by J.S. Bach within the historical, stylistic and familial context in which he lived and worked, and explore how Bach’s compositional techniques convey his sense of profound optimism and faith.

This session is presented by acclaimed musicologist, chair of the Historical Performance Department at Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Maine-native, John McKean. It features excerpts from The Art of Fugue, a collection of fugues and canons, all based on a single theme, and widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements in the history of Western classical music. Also performed in this session, Bach’s double concerto featuring a rich interplay between oboe and violin that is both expressive and virtuosic.

Viano String Quartet has a “huge range of dynamics, massive sound, and spontaneity…all the warmth, balanced sound, rhythmic solidity, and elegance one could wish for” (The American Record Guide). James Austin Smith’s festival appearances include Marlboro, Lucerne, Music@Menlo, Spoleto USA, Bowdoin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Orlando, and he has recorded for the Nonesuch, Bridge, Mode and Kairos labels.

Zoot coffee and muffins are available before the concert.

PROGRAM

BACH Art of Fugue

BACH Concerto in C Minor, for violin and oboe, BWV 1060

Listen to James Austin Smith perform Bach’s Concerto for Oboe an Violin:

Thursday, August 17 | 8:30PM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

JESSE BLUMBERG, baritone

NICHOLAS PHAN, tenor

JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe

HENRY KRAMER, piano

“Golden-toned baritone” (New York Times), Jesse Blumberg leads a candlelit concert of vocal music including excerpts from Schubert’s bucolic Die schöne Müllerin in the 200th anniversary year of its composition, as well as other gorgeous songs by Schumann, Fauré and Amy Beach.

The concert also features “one of the world’s most remarkable singers,” (Boston Globe), Nicholas Phan and James Austin Smith praised for his “bold, keen sound” (New Yorker) performing songs from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Blake Songs for tenor and oboe.  Nick joins Jesse for a captivating set of musical theater and cabaret songs and duets. Pianist Henry Kramer, praised by Gramophone UK for “exemplary flexible partnership” completes the stellar ensemble for this atmospheric and sensual vocal concert.

PROGRAM

A Three Season Porch (Jesse Blumberg and Henry Kramer)

Amy Beach - The Year’s at the Spring

Schubert - From Die schöne Müllerin (The Fair Maid of the Mill)

Das Wandern (Wandering)

Wohin? (Where To?)

Vaughan Williams - It was a Lover and his Lass (with Nicholas Phan)

Brahms - Feldeinsamkeit (Alone in Fields)

Fauré - Dans la forêt de Septembre (In the September Forest)

Schumann - Frühlingsnacht (Spring Night)

Musical Settings of William Blake (Nicholas Phan, James Austin Smith, Henry Kramer)

Vaughan WIlliams - from Ten Blake Songs

Infant Joy

Kirkland Snider - Mad Song

Vaughan WIlliams - from Ten Blake Songs

The Piper

Cruelty Has a Human Heart

The Divine Image

The Lamb

Esperanza Spalding - Little Fly (arranged by Gabriel Kahane)

All Together Now (Jesse Blumberg, Nicholas Phan, Henry Kramer)

Tom Cipullo - What We Want

Ricky Ian Gordon - Souvenir

Stephen Sondheim - Giants in the Sky

Errollyn Wallen

My Feet May Take a Little While

What Shall I Sing?

Frank Loesser - Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year

David Baker and Sheldon Harnick - Someone is sending me flowers

David Baker and Sheldon Harnick - Someone is sending me flowers

HONORARY CONCERT SPONSORS: Mazie Cox and Brinkley Thorne

Thursday, August 17 | 5:30PM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

LUCY WANG, violin

HAO ZHOU, violin

AIDEN KANE, viola

TATE ZAWADIUK, cello

A program that communicates hope in many different forms, whether it's the exuberant energy of Dvořák's delightful miniature, the transcendent beauty of Pulitzer and Grammy–winning Caroline Shaw’s offering to a tree in an evergreen forest, or the triumphant themes of Grieg's sumptuous quartet. Each work suggests that in turbulent or challenging circumstances, joy, beauty, and resilience inspire hope and optimism in the human spirit.

Praised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the Viano String Quartet achieved incredible success in their formative years, with an unbroken streak of top prizes at Osaka, Fischoff, Wigmore Hall, and Banff International String Quartet Competitions. Recent highlights include performances on three continents, including debuts in Berlin, Paris, Bremen, Brussels, Vancouver, and Beijing, among other cities.

PROGRAM

DVORAK  Humoresque

CAROLINE SHAW Evergreen

GRIEG String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27

Honorary Concert Sponsor: Cold Mountain Builders

Watch the Viano Quartet perform the finale from Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 9:

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

Thursday, August 17 | 1PM | Camden Village Green

FREE

THE WESTERLIES

The dynamic brass quartet perform a fun, FREE lunchtime set on the Green. Riley Mulherkar, trumpet, Chloe Rowlands, trumpet, Andy Clausen, trombone and Willem de Koch, trombone are committed to social impact and promoting the values of cooperation and inclusion through music. Bring a picnic and join us for a lively lunchtime break.

Listen to a performance by The Westerlies:

Thursday, August 17 | 10AM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

JACQUELYN HELIN, piano

Part 2 of a series of morning lecture recitals featuring multiple artists performing at our 2023 Screen Door Festival. This year, we consider works by J.S. Bach within the historical, stylistic and familial context in which he lived and worked, and explore how Bach’s compositional techniques convey his sense of profound optimism and faith.

This is the first of two sessions delving into Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, two collections of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard. Known as the “48,” this monumental work is one of Bach’s masterpieces and one of the greatest works for keyboard in the Western canon. Countless musicians, from Robert Schumann to Pablo Casals have considered it their “musical Bible,” and have studied it and played from it on a daily basis. Thursday’s session will focus on Book I, composed in 1722.

The lecture recital is presented by Steinway Artist Jacquelyn Helin, who consistently wins acclaim for her vibrant playing in the major musical capitals of Europe and across the United States. A committed music educator, Ms. Helin regularly presents popular lecture-recitals and has led hundreds of workshops for organizations including Lincoln Center Institute, the 92nd Street Y, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Zoot coffee and muffins are available before the concert.

PROGRAM

A selection of Preludes and Fugues from BACH’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1

Prelude & Fugue in C Major

Prelude & Fugue in C-sharp Minor

Prelude & Fugue in D Minor

Prelude & Fugue in E-flat Minor

Prelude & Fugue in F-sharp Major

Prelude & Fugue in B-flat Major

Prelude & Fugue in B-flat Minor

Wednesday, August 16 | 7PM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

A grand opening concert featuring many of the performers appearing throughout the week including Viano String Quartet, oboist James Austin Smith, violinists Blake Pouliot and Livia Sohn, harpist Bridget Kibbey, pianist Henry Kramer, The Westerlies brass quartet, baritone Jesse Blumberg and tenor Nicholas Phan, Jacquelyn Helin, piano, Julietta Curenton, flute as well as our much-loved resident ensemble, Palaver Strings.

The program includes music from the 2008 movie, The Reader for oboe, string quartet and piano by our 2023 featured composer, Nico Muhly.

A vibrant and hope-filled launch of our Screen Door Festival 2023, igniting a creative spark that will inspire and resonate throughout the week.

Honorary Concert Sponsors: John and Susan Jackson

PROGRAM

ARVO PART Spiegel im Spiegel (Blake Pouliot, Henry Kramer)

WILLEM DE KOCH Dover (The Westerlies)

LEILEHUA LANZILOTTI Daphne for solo oboe (James Austin Smith) US Premiere

ELGAR Salut d'Amour (Livia Sohn, Henry Kramer)

DEBUSSY  L'isle Joyeuse (Henry Kramer) and Danse sacrée et danse profane, for harp and strings (Bridget Kibbey, Viano Quartet)

TRADITIONAL Born Ten Thousand Years Ago – adapted by the Golden Gate Quartet, arranged by The Westerlies

NICO MUHLY Move (The Westerlies), Music from The Reader (James Austin Smith, Viano Quartet, Jacquelyn Helin) - Who Was She?

KINAN AZMEH Syrian Dances for String Orchestra (Palaver Strings) - III. Albourdana

BIZET Au fond du temple saint from Les pêcheurs de perles (Nicholas Phan, Jesse Blumberg, Screen Door Festival Ensemble featuring Julietta Curenton)

Wednesday, August 16 | 1PM | Camden Village Green

FREE!

We’re delighted to open our Camden Village Green program this year with a FREE lunchtime performance by the Bay Chamber Jazz Ensemble featuring faculty, friends and students from Bay Chamber Music School; Jeremiah Khan on saxophone, Chloe Root on saxophone, Neal Yetman on guitar, Nathan Perkins on piano, Annegien Zuidema on cello, Mike Whitehead on drums, Spike Hyssong on bass. Bring a picnic and join us for a jazzy lunchtime break.

Wednesday, August 16 | 10AM | Tent at Camden Public Library Amphitheatre

Age 35 +: $38 | Age 22-34: $20 | Age 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

BRIDGET KIBBEY, harp

JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe

Part 1 of our morning lecture recital series featuring multiple artists performing at our 2023 Screen Door Festival. This year, we consider works by J.S. Bach within the historical, stylistic and familial context in which he lived and worked, and explore how Bach’s compositional techniques convey his sense of profound optimism and faith.

In our first session, Bridget Kibbey and James Austin Smith explore transcriptions and arrangements that reimagine works on unexpected instruments, informed by Bach's own practice of changing the instrumentation of pieces as needed. Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of creative adaptation and discuss how transcription can bring fresh perspectives to Bach's timeless music.

Bridget has been described as the “Yo-Yo Ma of the harp” (Vogue Magazine) and “a beacon of comprehension” (Philadelphia Inquirer). James is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, co-principal oboist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and a member of the oboe and chamber music faculties of Stony Brook University and the Manhattan School of Music.

Zoot coffee and muffins are available before the concert.

PROGRAM

Sonata in C Major, BWV 1033

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565

Selections from French Suite in G Major, BWV 816

Sonata in E-Flat Major, BWV 1031

Listen to Bridget Kibbey perform Bach’s Toccata and Fugue:

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

Sunday, August 13 | 5PM | Rockport Marine Park

FREE!

CREATIVE ENSEMBLE COLLECTIVE

A FREE outdoor, two-set jazz performance on picturesque Rockport Harbor presented by the Creative Ensemble Collective, an ensemble of artists from around the world that includes saxophonist and bandleader, Donny McCaslin, keyboard player, Jeremy Huck, vocalist Jeff Taylor and bassist Mick Coady. This exceptional band will perform jazz, blues and original arrangements of pop favorites.