NEW GLOUCESTER — Tickets are on sale for The Maine Festival of American Music concert series.
Six concerts will be held in the Shaker Meeting House on Route 26.
The Portland String Quartet will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 19. George Walker’s “String Quartet No. 1” (1946) will be presented in honor of Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.
Bates College Professor Emeritus Bill Matthews will comment on his work and the quartet’s performance of his “Lux Aeterna” in memory of Marcy Plavin (1950). The quartet will conclude the evening with a performance of George Whitefield Chadwick’s “String Quartet No. 5 in D Minor” (1898-1913).
Tickets are $20 for adults and free for students.
Kevin Siegfried & the Portsmouth Singers will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 20. He will lead the singers in a program of Shaker and other early American music. The concert intersperses Siegfriedʼs powerful choral arrangements of Shaker songs with original Shaker songs performed in unison. Audience participation is encouraged.
Between songs, Brother Arnold Hadd will share personal and historical insights about the Shaker songwriters and the past and present relevance of the songs in Shaker life.
Tickets are $20 for adults and free for students.
A Master Class performance will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, June 21. Workshop Day at the festival brings student and adult amateur players to Shaker Village to study movements from the literature with the Portland String Quartet. Emphasis on American composers and arrangement of Shaker hymns will be included in the culminating Master Class.
The program is free.
Don Roy Trio & Arnott Fiddlers will appear at 7 p.m. Friday, June 21. National Heritage Fellows and Franco-American musicians Don & Cindy Roy present the Don Roy Trio. Roy’s fiddling is crisp and straightforward. He will perform a mid-20th century folk and fiddle music with vibrant step dancing by pianist Cindy Roy and bassist Jay Young. Joining the trio are young musicians Rossby, Elsie and Oliver Arnott, the next generation of Franco-American fiddlers.
The program is free.
Shaker music will be on the schedule at 1:30 p..m Saturday, June 22. As a prelude to Saturday night’s Portland String Quartet concert, Shaker leader and historian Brother Hadd will lead in the Shakers’ chorale response to the last seven words spoken by Christ. In keeping with a Shaker practice that the Gospel be free for all, the concert is free.
The Portland String Quartet will conclude the series at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 22. Members will play Franz Joseph Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Christ — String Quartet Op. 51” (1787). Although there have been many adaptations for chorus and solo voices, it was intended as a purely instrumental work with narration prior to each “word.” Brother Hadd will provide narration and comments.
Tickets are $20 for adults and free for students.
Tickets are required for all performances and they do sell quickly. Online tickets are available 24/7 at no extra charge or call 207-926-4597 to charge by phone.
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