Projects & CONCERTS
Our performances combine imagery, art, data, and music to cultivate environmental stewardship and raise awareness of the impacts climate change is having on Midcoast Maine. Performances are often designed in collaboration with local partner organizations and the community.
In light of COVID-19, most of our public performances have been cancelled or postponed. While we greatly miss performing publicly, we are fortunate to be able to continue to make music. During the summer months, we gave several outdoor performances and recorded a new set of repertoire and we continue to collaborate with friends and partner organizations for virtual programming. We have a number of future collaborations in the works and are excited to present our first commission by artist, Jill Pelto. Stay tuned for a future program inspired by her painting and research!
In light of COVID-19, most of our public performances have been cancelled or postponed. While we greatly miss performing publicly, we are fortunate to be able to continue to make music. During the summer months, we gave several outdoor performances and recorded a new set of repertoire and we continue to collaborate with friends and partner organizations for virtual programming. We have a number of future collaborations in the works and are excited to present our first commission by artist, Jill Pelto. Stay tuned for a future program inspired by her painting and research!
Upcoming performances
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ECOARTS with Artist Anna Dibble and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
June 2021 | Time and location TBD In collaboration with Artist Anna Dibble and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, we will provide live music for a program focusing on the Gulf of Maine. The evening will include a round table discussion with Maine artists, scientists, and educators. More information forthcoming! |
Rising Mitigation | 2021 Art commission
We are excited to share Rising Mitigation, a commissioned work by Maine-based artist and researcher Jill Pelto. Rising Mitigation is the inspiration for "Rise Up," an upcoming program we will present in the summer of 2021 focused on sea level rise impacts in Maine. Stay tuned for more details!
Rising Mitigation, Watercolor and Colored Pencil, 13” x 17”, 2020
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About the painting:
A mix of sandy beaches, dramatic cliffs, and salt marshes shape sections of Maine’s iconic shoreline. All these places are vulnerable to sea level rise, and Rising Mitigation looks from the past to an uncertain but optimistic future. The painting demonstrates the unstoppable force of the Atlantic Ocean and associated risks to human infrastructure and the delicate ecosystems of coastal wetlands that dot the coastline. Salt marshes are vital ecosystems, prevent shoreline erosion, and protect water quality. Rising Mitigation depicts a beach house with solar panels in front of a salt marsh — an individual effort to start mitigating the collective impact of anthropogenic climate change in spite of government inaction. A stacked bar graph sits behind the house and represents Maine’s increasing use of renewable energy from 1960 to 2018 (EIA, 2018). In the foreground, sea level rise data from 1880 to present encroaches on the marsh and house (EPA, 2020). Within this 140-year period, global oceans have risen over 8 inches. Looking toward the future, low to intermediate projections for continued rise correlate with how fast we take action, including switching to majority renewable energy consumption. The dashed lines extending to the right represent how drastic and severe this outcome may be. The lowest risk scenario shows another 8 inches of rise by 2100, the intermediate-low prediction jumps to 19 inches, and the intermediate estimate shows 47 inches. Even the lowest risk scenario demonstrates a need for immediate and increased investment in mitigation, which includes ending our collective dependence on fossil fuels. |
Past performances
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HALCYON & FRIENDS
JANUARY 14, 2021 | Streamed LIVE @ 7:00 PM The Waldo, Waldoboro, Maine Join us as we celebrate and reflect on our collective experiences of winter and light in the northern latitudes. We will present an evening of chamber music and accompanying film that captures winters striking and wild beauty alongside the subtlety, quiet, and darkness that define this time of year. The program includes Vivaldi's "Winter" from the Four Seasons, Richter's On the Nature of Daylight, and works by Schubert, Debussy, Price, and others. The performance features locally filmed imagery that captures the intricacy and beauty of Maine landscapes. |
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VIRTUAL HOLIDAY CONCERT in collaboration with Down East Singers and Bay Chamber Concerts
Premiered December 11, 2020 We are thrilled to team up with Down East Singers and Bay Chamber Concerts for a festive virtual program of choral and string music. The virtual performance features members of Down East Singers, Bowdoin Chorus, and other choristers, members of the Midcoast Brass Quintet, and Jennifer McIvor, keyboard accompanist. The video created for the concert was filmed by violinist and videographer, Luke Fatora in a hayfield in Cushing. View the concert here! |
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August 23, 2020 | 6:30 PM
Moore Auditorium Schoodic Institute, Winter Harbor, Maine We return to Schoodic Institute for a live-streamed evening of chamber music in Moore Auditorium. The program includes Borodin's String Quartet No. 2, Dvorak's "American" Quartet, and music by Mozart, Piazzolla, Villa-Lobos and more. The multi-media program is accompanied by a multi-media component featuring the coastal landscape of the Downeast Maine region. |
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NEW YEAR'S BY THE BAY
December 31, 2019 | 6 & 8 PM First Baptist Church, Belfast, Maine The 23rd Annual New Year’s By The Bay celebration will take place at venues throughout downtown Belfast, beginning at 2 PM with music and performance events all day and evening and culminating in the midnight bonfire at the Belfast Public Landing. |
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CHEBEAGUE ISLAND CONCERT
September 7, 2019 | 7:00 PM United Methodist Church, Chebeague Island, Maine We'll present the final concert of the season on the MacBeth Concert Series - sharing music by Schubert, Mozart, and more. The program will include a multimedia component combining live music with images that tell the story of Maine's changing climate and its impacts on Chebeague and its working waterfront. The program will feature artwork by Jill Pelto of Glaciogenic Art, as well as photos submitted by local photographers. For more information, visit Chebeague Events. Admission by donation. |
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CELEBRATE CITIZEN SCIENCE
August 26, 2019 | 5:30-8:30 PM Moore Auditorium Schoodic Institute, Winter Harbor, Maine Join us for an evening of music and imagery celebrating the contributions of the many volunteers who collect and record observations of the natural world at Schoodic Institute. The evening will feature music by Mozart and Dvorak and will portray the many ways every day observations become essential information for understanding our changing climate and its challenges. The work of citizen scientists amplifies research capacity, from monitoring patterns of seabird, hawk, and songbird migration, to evaluating trends in the intertidal zone at the edge of land and sea, to observing the timing of plant flowers, fruits, and seeds. This event is free and open to the public however, space is limited. |
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CAFÉ SCI
July 9, 2019 | 5:30 PM Bigelow Laboratory's Café Sci, East Boothbay, Maine We will kick off this year's Café Sci series with a collaborative program that hightlights the role of the arts in scientific communication. Our performance will be based around imagery from the Bigelow Lab’s 2015 photography exhibit, “Tiny Giants.” The performance will highlight the role marine microbes play in regulating our oceans and ultimately the ecosystems we depend on. |
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MUSIC ON THE MEDOMAK
June 22, 2019 | 7:00 PM Broad Bay Church, Waldoboro Join us for a celebration of the Medomak River and the working waterfront with music and imagery. The evening will feature music by Dvorak and Holst alongside a selection of Danish folk tunes, each paired with photographs and artwork by Midcoast artists. Through imagery, music and story, Music on the Medomak captures the many ways the river supports local fisheries from clamming and lobstering to ice fishing and the alewife run. Admission by donation. |
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ENVISIONING CHANGE
May 6th, 2019 | 1:00 PM High Mountain Hall, Camden, Maine This performance will take audience members on a musical and visual exploration of climate change impacts in Midcoast Maine. The program will combine photography and art with live string quartet music to capture the beauty, resilience, and vulnerability of the world we live in. The performance will open with a panoramic perspective of climate change that begins in the polar ice sheets and gradually zooms in to explore the impacts global changes are having in the Gulf of Maine and our Midcoast communities. Envisioning Change is intended for students and educators, however members of the public are encouraged to intend. The performance is designed to inspire new ways of thinking about and responding to the impacts of climate change by encouraging active stewardship of the places we live. |
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April 20th, 2019 | 6:00 PM
United Farmer's Market, Belfast, Maine Join us at for an evening of beautiful music and delicious food at the Belfast Farmer's Market. The concert will feature Dvorak's rousing "American" Quartet - a piece inspired by Native American and African American folk melodies. The program will be interspersed with traditional fiddle tunes that run the gamut from soulful waltzes to toe-tapping dances and span the globe from Argentina to Sweden. Tickets can be purchased at the door and are available for $10 at belfastmarket.com or by phone at 207.218.7005. A cash bar and food will be available. |
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2016 Six months before the concert, community members were invited to submit photos of the natural world in Midcoast, Maine. The images spanned all four seasons and were projected during a live performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Musicians shared their own stories and reflections of time spent in Maine throughout the performance. 2017 A Little Night Music was inspired by sunrises and sunsets. The project began with a workshop at Miller Elementary School. Josie and Sophie projected images of Waldoboro skies and played music while third grade students painted their most memorable sunrises and sunsets. The vibrant artwork was projected alongside paintings contributed by local professional artists while musicians played Mozart’s A Little Night Music in candlelight. 2018 Four local farms contributed images capturing the daily rewards and challenges of farm life. The program featured information about each farm and interviews with the farmers about how climate change is affecting their farming practices in rural Maine. Images were projected while musicians performed Tchaikovsky’s beloved Souvenir de Florence—a rousing, rustic, and joyful piece. A strawberry shortcake reception followed with berries donated by three local farms. |
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
WATERSHED SCHOOL |
Glaciogenic ART |
Climate Change Institute |
BIGELOW LABORATORY |
Schoodic Institute
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Header Photo Credit: Larry Pritchett
