FARMINGTON — The Arts Institute of Western Maine announces a weeklong visit to Farmington, Bethel and surrounding communities by the Bonifantes Boys Choir of Pardubice, Czech Republic the week of Feb. 24.
A long Czech-American musical friendship is providing the opportunity for central Maine to hear and host this group during their second tour of the United States and Canada in February and March.
Thirty-two boys, ages 10-18, will perform from Feb. 21 through March 21 in numerous cities, including Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis and Minneapolis.
Performing a varied repertoire of early and modern religious music as well as popular and folk music from Europe and America, they have been wowing audiences in Europe, America and Asia with their exuberance and artistry for more than a decade.
While in Maine for five nights, they will give public concerts at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at Telstar Regional High School in Bethel and at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at Nordica Auditorium at the University of Maine at Farmington.
On Feb. 27, they will visit the Homestead Bakery for a noon musical lunch, and will perform at a 5 p.m. vespers service at Old South Church in Farmington.
In addition, they will appear in schools in Bethel, Farmington, Kingfield and Strong on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They will be hosted by the Wilson Lake Inn in Wilton, the University of Maine at Farmington, Gould Academy in Bethel, Old South Church, the Homestead Bakery and Restaurant, Titcomb Mountain, the Narrow Gauge Cinema and the Mt. Blue Music Boosters. They will spend two nights with families in Farmington.
This visit is a collaborative project of the Arts Institute of Western Maine, the Mahoosuc Arts Council and Kingfield Pops to bring a world-class musical group to the region for performances, school programs and hospitality in the communities of Farmington, Wilton, Bethel, Kingfield and Strong.
The foundation for this visit is the musical friendship between Bruce McInnes, director of the UMF-Community Chorus and the Old South Church Choir, and Jan Misek, director of the Bonifantes Boys Choir. It grew out of the meeting of the Bonifantes and Bruce McInnes’ Mastersingers USA in a festival in Barcelona in 2005.
Bonifantes had a successful tour of the United States and Canada in 2006, and, in planning a return visit this year, decided to add Western Maine to its tour.
The Arts Institute, Mahoosuc, and Kingfield Pops expressed gratitude to the Davis Family Foundation for supporting this collaborative community arts enrichment effort, and to the Wilson Lake Inn and the University of Maine at Farmington for its support and assistance in hosting this group.
For more information on Bonifantes, visit: www.bonifantes.cz.
For more information on this series, including how to get tickets, visit www.artsinstitute.org or www.mahoosucarts.org
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