BAR HARBOR – Founded in 1967 by Violinist and Conductor Francis Fortier, The Bar Harbor Music Festival will celebrate its 56th season from June 26 through July 24. Performances are in Bar Harbor: solo recitals, chamber music, “Pops,” “New Composers,” opera, jazz, 2-string orchestra concerts, and a “New Composer” forum; as well as six free Young Audience Concerts. In Belfast: three piano recitals and a chamber music concert of flute music.
Wednesday June 29 at 7:30 p.m. BRASS VENTURE returns for opening night at the Criterion Theater, with special guests Eric Ewazen, composer, as well as players from the MDIHS music department. The program is full of classical favorites for brass by Bach, Brahms, Bernstein, Sousa, and Puccini, plus the “Acadia” Suite by Eric Ewazen, and the Gabrieli “Canzona” with MDIHS brass. This collaboration is made possible in part by grants from the Onion Foundation and the Margaret Burnham Charitable Trust.
Friday, July 1 at 7:30 p.m. Pianist Matthew Graybil makes his Festival debut at the Criterion Theatre. “One of the most sensitive, poetic young pianists” – Fanfare Magazine. Program of music by Chopin, Liszt, Rameau, Beethoven, and Stravinsky.
Saturday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. Festival favorite pianist Christopher Johnson, will perform a solo piano recital at the Criterion Theatre. Works by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Chopin, Liszt, and a world premiere by Deborah Fortier. Johnson is the recent winner of the first Josef Lhevinne Award to a pianist “possessing a brilliant technique coupled with a deep musical understanding.”
Tuesday, July 5 at 10:30 a.m. The Festival’s first Young Audience Concert takes place at the Criterion, featuring “Willie was Different,” by Norman Rockwell, and music for flute, clarinet, and piano. Allison Kiger, flute, Eric Thomas, clarinet, Christina Spurling, piano, with narrator Reed Muise of Blue Hill. All Young Audience Concerts are FREE to the public thanks in part to grants from the Onion Foundation and the Margaret Burnham Charitable Trust.
Tuesday, July 5 at 7:30 p.m. “A lovely flutist” – New Jersey Classical, Allison Kiger will take the stage at The 1932 Criterion Theatre for a program of music by the great Ludwig van Beethoven. She is joined by Beethoven expert Christopher Johnson on piano for Sonata in F Major, Op. 17, National Airs and Variations, Op. 105, movements from Symphonies nos 5 and 7, and the Serenade for Flute, violin, and viola Op. 25 with Concetta Abbate, violin, and Stan Renard, viola. Also on the program is the Bohème Fantasy for flute and piano, giving the audience a preview of Puccini’s melodies for the Festival’s opera production of La Bohème on July 15.
Wednesday, July 6 at 5:30 p.m. the 26th annual “New Composers” Forum will take place at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church. Composer Anna-Louise Walton leads the panel on the topic “Composers as Artist of Time,” including a Q & A with the audience. Musicians Daniel Pyle, Eric Thomas, Skip La Plante, and Allison Kiger will also preview the “New Composers” Concert. This one-hour event is FREE to the public thanks in part to a grant from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.
Thursday, July 7 at 10:30 a.m. Young Audience Concert #2 Award-winning composer and music educator Skip La Plante leads an instrument making workshop at the Jesup Memorial Library outdoor tent on Thursday, July 7 at 10:30 a.m. Free to children of all ages.
Friday July 8 at 7:30 p.m. The 38th annual “New Composers” Concert at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church will feature organist Daniel Pyle in solo and chamber works including three world premieres by Anna-Louise Walton, Skip La Plante and Eric Thomas, with Allison Kiger, flute and Laurie Bennett, vocals. Alex Ross, The New York Times, described La Plante’s music as “Bewitchingly beautiful and complex sounds.” Additional works by Daniel Weaver and David Hurd.
The “New Composers” Forum and Concert are made possible in part by a grant from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.
Sunday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. the annual “Pops” Concert, always a joy at the Festival, takes place at the Criterion on Sunday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. with “Golden Songs from the Golden Era.” Downeast artists Celine Mogielnicki and Isaac Bray perform songs of Richards Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein with Cara Chowing, pianist. A special pre-concert buffet dinner is available at the Fogtown Brewery in Bar Harbor, starting at 5:30 p.m.
Monday, July 11th at 10:30 a.m. Young Audience Concert #3 takes place at the Criterion Theater. Peter and the Wolf will be performed by Antonio Galera, piano and Deborah Fortier, narrator. Free to children of all ages.
Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m. Festival favorite Antonio Galera, pianist, returns to Bar Harbor to perform at the Criterion. He will perform a solo piano recital of all Spanish music by Albeniz, Asenio, De Falla, Sánchez Benimeli, Coli, and Ginastera. Critics rave “an especially refined tone poet on the piano”- John Ross
Friday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. Fully staged, “La Bohème,” Puccini’s beloved love story, will be presented by the Bar Harbor Music Festival’s Opera Theatre at The 1932 Criterion Theatre. Directed by Joseph DeSota, the cast includes some of the country’s top young operatic talent, with piano accompaniment by Music Director Cara Chowning.
Saturday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. The beloved Ardelia Trio will return to the Criterion Theater, performing music by Mozart, Smetana, Frank Bridge and Sophia Serghi, who will join the trio for special Q&A with the audience. The members of the Trio, Janey Choi, Violinist, Clara Yang, Cellist, and Jihea Hong Park, Pianist have been playing together since their early student years in Seoul, Korea. Korea’s EBS Network Evening News said it well: “… There is something very special and unique about the way they present classical music.”
Sunday July 17 at 1 p.m. Young Audience Concert no. 4 with the Wolverine Jazz Band trio at the Criterion. Free to children of all ages.
Sunday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. The Wolverine Jazz Band, one of Boston’s top Dixieland and traditional jazz and swing bands, appears for the 17th consecutive season with Jazz Night at The 1932 Criterion Theatre. John Clark, Clarinet/Sax, and Jimmy Mazzy, Banjo, lead the band.
Monday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. Pianist Kayoung An performs music by Handel, Mozart, Bolcom, and Brahms at the Criterion Theatre. “Amazement” – Yuja Wang.
Wednesday, July 20 at 11 a.m. Young Audience Concert #5 Open rehearsal with Maestro Francis Fortier and the Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra at the Criterion. Get a front row seat to the rehearsal process and enjoy music of Mozart, Vivaldi, and more with pianist Kayoung An.
Thursday, July 21 at 10:30 a.m. Young Audience Concert #6 Hawk Henries brings his beautiful Native American flutes to the Jesup Memorial Library outdoor tent for this performance/
Friday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. The 16th annual Bob Noonan Memorial Concert is scheduled at the Criterion Theatre. Francis Fortier will conduct the Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra with Kayoung An, Piano Soloist. Music by Mozart, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, and Dvorak.
Sunday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Festival Gala will bring down the curtain on the 2022 56th Season at The 1932 Criterion Theatre. Francis Fortier leads the Festival String Orchestra with an extraordinary program of music by J.S. Bach, Elgar, and more. Violin soloists Janey Choi and Erika Atchley. Pre-concert buffet dinner available at the Fogtown Brewery for $45.
Tickets are $30 and student tickets are $15. Pops, Jazz, and Gala tickets are $45, with additional pre-concert buffet available before the Pops and Gala at Fogtown Brewery for $45. Opera tickets are $35, $50, and $80. All tickets entitle the purchaser to a reserved seat. A Season Subscription for $350 saves 20 percent off the single reserved ticket price, and gives you the best seats in the house, as well as entrée to rehearsals.
For tickets and information, visit www.barharbormusicfestival.org or contact Bar Harbor Music Festival/The Rodick Building/59 Cottage Street/Bar Harbor, Maine 04609-188/telephone: 207-288-5744; email: [email protected]. Tickets are available online at www.barharbormusicfestival.org.
