Due to incoming storm all classes have been cancelled today, M. March 24, after 1:00pm.

ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, March 14 with the Baroque Orchestra of Maine (BOOM) featuring Heidi Powell and Sylvia Schwartz, baroque violins; Phoebe Durand-McDonnell, baroque harp.

The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.

Baroque Orchestra of Maine's mission is to present dynamic world class period instrument performances to the rural Downeast Maine area featuring local artists. The group strives to engage and educate a wide audience about historically informed performance by presenting concerts in accessible, eclectic, non-traditional concert venues. 

To learn more about each musician, please visit: baroqueorchestraofmaine.org/

Future concerts in the 2024-2025 Midday Concert series will be held on April 25 - Danny Holt and Michael Coonrod, 4-hand piano program; and on May 23 - Clare Monfredo, cello; Conrad Winslow, piano; Edward Kass, bass.

For more information, please call 207-664-9258 or email: info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org. 

Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) is thrilled to announce a performance by the  renowned DaPonte String Quartet (DSQ) featuring the exquisite works of Franz Joseph Haydn and Erich Wolfgang Korngold on March 1 at The Barn at Woodlawn. The concert begins at 3:30pm.

The DSQ will grace audiences in various venues throughout the state, bringing their unique artistry and passion for chamber music to both traditional and contemporary settings. The quartet will captivate listeners with Haydn’s elegant quartet, known for its wit and depth, alongside the lush, romantic style of Korngold’s second quartet that beautifully blends melodic richness and effervescence. 

Performances are scheduled in cities including Portland, Brunswick, and Ellsworth, among others, showcasing the quartet's dedication to engaging communities through the power of music. Ellsworth Community Music Institute is proud to be a Featured Partner for the Woodlawn performance at 19 Black House Drive in Ellsworth, Maine.

Tickets are $25 each and available for purchase through the DaPonte String Quartet website. For more information and tickets, visit dapontequartet.org.

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): String Quartet in D Op. 20 # 4 (1772): Written at age forty, the mature composer Franz Joseph Haydn’s six string quartets Op. 20 collectively stand as a critically-important development in the history of music. Op. 20 #4 is written in a style reminiscent of central-European Zigeuner, or Gypsy, folksongs and dances, which Haydn loved and incorporated into many of his chamber works, exactly as Johannes Brahms did a century later. ~Myles Jordan

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): String Quartet #2 in E-flat Major Op. 26 (1933) “In music history there have been but three superlative child prodigies, each of whom far surpassed seasoned masters in their intuitive grasp of the art. They were: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.” The E-flat Major Op. 26 is the second of Korngold’s three ingenious string quartets. Its general character is as witty and effervescent as might be expected, to the point that it seems to stand as a counterpart to the puckish Viennese theatrical character Hanswurst, a model of sophisticated élan and the inspiration for many Viennese “personalities,” over more than a century. ~Myles Jordan

ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, February 28 with guitarist Hugh Bowden.

The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.

In Bowden’s words, “I got interested in guitar when I was about 11 years old and heard Chet Atkins on the radio. I told my folks that I wanted to do that and they bought me a Stella guitar with a blue and white body that arrived for Christmas that year. Over the following years, I taught myself the rudiments of playing because there were no people near our small town of Brooklin that gave guitar lessons. Like so many young musicians, I formed a rock 'n' roll band after I got out of the U.S. Army at age 21 and we managed to get gigs around the eastern Maine area. By my 30s, I had learned the Chet Atkins style of fingerpicking though never approaching the levels that he achieved. But I began developing fingerstyle arrangements of songs that I liked and started to compose my own instrumental pieces. For my entire musical life, Chet Atkins was always my primary influence and remains so to this day. I also got involved in jazz guitar in my 40s and enjoyed a nearly 20-year membership in a jazz quintet called A-Train that performed all over the state and did several concerts on Maine Public Radio.”

Future concerts in the 2024-2025 concert series will be held on March 14 - Heidi Powell and members of the Baroque Orchestra of Maine; on April 25 - Danny Holt and Michael Coonrod, 4-hand piano program; and on May 23 - Clare Monfredo, cello and Conrad Winslow, piano.

For more information, please call 207-664-9258 or email: info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org. 

**WE REGRET TO ANNOUNCE THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO WINTER STORM.**

Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) hosts the Blue Hill Concert Association’s (BHCA) educational engagement program on Monday, February 17 at 10:00am featuring the two-time GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet - Joel Link, violin; Bryan Lee, violin; Julianne Lee, viola; and Camden Shaw, cello.

All ages are welcome and encouraged to experience this unique community program.

Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine and “the next Guarneri Quartet” by the Chicago Tribune, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet is one of the world’s most in-demand chamber ensembles. The group’s awards include a stunning sweep of all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand and first prizes at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Its honors include the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award. The Dover Quartet is the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and Quartet in Residence at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. 

The Dover Quartet’s 2024-25 season includes premiere performances throughout North America of newly commissioned works by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and a leading composer of American Indian classical music; collaborative performances with preeminent artists that include pianists Michelle Cann, Marc-André Hamelin, and Haochen Zhang; and tours to Europe and Asia. Recent collaborators of the sought-after ensemble include Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Ray Chen, Anthony McGill, Edgar Meyer, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and Davóne Tines. The quartet has also recently premiered works by Mason Bates, Steven Mackey, Marc Neikrug, and Chris Rogerson.

The Dover Quartet’s GRAMMY-nominated recordings include its highly acclaimed three-volume recording, Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Cedille Records), which was hailed as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate” (The Strad), and The Schumann Quartets (Azica Records). 

Each year, the Blue Hill Concert Association provides four educational engagement programs in conjunction with their concerts. Generally, these programs take place in the Blue Hill Peninsula schools, though at times the chamber groups will provide open rehearsals, workshops, or master classes in a community setting. Visit bluehillconcertassociation.org/educational-outreach/ to learn more about this special program.

This program is free to the public and held at the Moore Community Center Atrium at 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. For more information, please call 207-664-9258 or email: info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org.

To learn more about the musicians, visit doverquartet.com

Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on January 31 with Duo Emma Stanley and Tyler Stanley. The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater at 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.

Holiday Community Concert with the Harborside Trio

Featuring: Cherie Magnello, Soprano, Carl Wrubel, Baritone &William Merrill, Piano

Enjoy a festive holiday concert during the lunch hour at the Moore Community Center with the Harborside Trio! We will gather in the atrium from 12:00-1:00pm and the public is welcome.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a bag lunch or sign up for lunch ($5) through Friends in Action. Lunch orders must be pre-registered by calling 207-664-6016 (option 2) before Noon on Tu. 12/3/24.

Moore Community Center, 5 General Moore Way, Ellsworth, ME

Thursday December 5, 2024

12-1pm

Free to the Public

The concert is co-hosted by Ellsworth Community Music Institute and Friends in Action and there is no fee to attend.

Noreen and Phillip Silver bring a wealth of performing experience to their highly regarded partnership. They have an enviable international reputation for chamber music playing of the highest caliber. The Duo, founded when Noreen and Phillip were students at the New England Conservatory of Music, has received accolades and acclaim from appreciative audiences and critics throughout Europe, Israel, the United States, Scandinavia, and the Czech Republic. Their imaginative programming, in which lesser-known works are given exposure alongside established repertoire favorites, has proven very popular and made them much in demand.

Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Instrument Petting Zoo from 10:00 am-12:00 pm on Saturday, October 5th,2024 at the Ellsworth Public Library. Offered as part of Heart of Ellsworth’s annual Art of Ellsworth celebration, this interactive musical instrument demonstration features the cello, violin, piano, and guitar. ECMI faculty will offer the demonstrations, allowing young children 4 and up to touch, play, and experience instruments in person.

The Instrument Petting Zoo will be held at the Ellsworth Public Library at 20 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The event is sponsored by the Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI). Admission is free to the public.

Ellsworth Community Music Institute to host Trailblazers for a Midday Concert on October 4, 2024, at 1:00 PM at the Moore Community Center in the theater. Midday Concerts are Free and open to the public.

Trailblazers-shines a spotlight on music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Henriëtte Bosmans, Ethel Smyth, and Dora Pejačević–women who were unabashedly themselves, defying the social expectations of their time against the backdrop of world wars and a global pandemic. Originally written for cello and piano, all three sonatas are presented here in new arrangements for viola and piano, marking a significant contribution to the viola repertoire. All three sonatas are featured on the new album, Trailblazers, from Acis Productions.

Brass Roots Trio to perform a Midday Concert @ 1:00 on September 20th at Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI).

ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on September 20th with Brass Roots Trio (Trumpet, French Horn, and Piano).

The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater at 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.

Brass Roots Trio (TRUMPET, FRENCH HORN, and PIANO plus the bonus of a brilliant operatic tenor) redefines the chamber music genre with a fusion of styles. With classical roots and eclectic content, Brass Roots Trio’s programs take unexpected twists and turns, from brilliant Baroque gems played on piccolo trumpet, to decadent tangos, to American masters Bernstein, Copland, and Gershwin.  

Travis Heath (trumpet & flugelhorn), Douglas Lundeen (French horn, Native American Flute & vocalist) and Rosetta Senkus Bacon (piano) infuse their music with exuberant energy. Their warmhearted presentation, with commentaries that are informative and often humorous, makes an immediate connection with the audience.

A pioneer of this instrumentation, Brass Roots Trio has performed in every corner of the US and England since 2004.  In 2009 the trio was honored to perform for President and Mrs. Obama and their guests at the White House. Individually the artists have demonstrated their prodigious talents across the country and around the world with engagements at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in NY, and at Cultural Centers and festivals in Switzerland, England, Ireland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Lithuania, Japan, China and Taiwan.

Exhilarating performances and imaginative programming have established BRASS ROOTS TRIO as one of the most compelling ensembles of the 21st century.

For more information, please call 207-664-9258 or email: info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org. 

First day of the Fall Semester begins September 9, 2024. To register contact Riah at riahjaffrey@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org.

Registration for the fall semester opens on August 12, 2024, for the 2024-2025 school year. Returning students will receive registration forms. New students should register here.

Questions can be submitted to Riah at riahjaffrey@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org

Student chamber music program, Arthur Russell Week (ARW), culminates in public performances; including one to benefit the Westside Food Pantry - July 11 and 12 Southwest Harbor -

Arthur Russell Week (ARW) will present two concerts on July 11 and 12, 2024, at 5:30 pm, at St. John Episcopal Church. Both concerts are free of charge and open to the public.

Named for cellist-songwriter Arthur Russell, Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) again presents the much-loved student chamber music program Arthur Russell Week on July 8-12, this year in collaboration with Camp Beech Cliff.

Esteemed faculty for the festival are Noreen Silver (ARW Artistic Director) cello, Phillip Silver, piano, and Emily Stodola, violin. The week culminates in two public performances: Thursday, July 11 at 5:30 pm will be a benefit concert for Westside Food Pantry, featuring adult ARW students, faculty, and accomplished student mentors. The performance will be a celebration of mixed genres - classical music, and the music of composer Arthur Russell.

Friday, July 12, young students will perform at 5:30 pm. Both concerts will be held at St. John Episcopal Church, 315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor, Maine.

About ARW Arthur Russell Week (ARW) is the summer festival of ECMI. Both adult and young musicians travel to Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island for a week of playing music together, receiving professional coaching, and performing for eager audiences. In 1998, Arthur Russell Strings was founded to honor the legacy of an avant-garde cellist, composer, singer, and musician with ties to Mount Desert Island, Maine. Arthur’s work spanned the genres of classical, disco, folk, and rock.

Student chamber music program, Arthur Russell Week (ARW), culminates in public performances; including one to benefit the Westside Food Pantry - July 11 and 12 Southwest Harbor -

Arthur Russell Week (ARW) will present two concerts on July 11 and 12, 2024, at 5:30 pm, at St. John Episcopal Church. Both concerts are free of charge and open to the public.

Named for cellist-songwriter Arthur Russell, Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) again presents the much-loved student chamber music program Arthur Russell Week on July 8-12, this year in collaboration with Camp Beech Cliff.

Esteemed faculty for the festival are Noreen Silver (ARW Artistic Director) cello, Phillip Silver, piano, and Emily Stodola, violin. The week culminates in two public performances: Thursday, July 11 at 5:30 pm will be a benefit concert for Westside Food Pantry, featuring adult ARW students, faculty, and accomplished student mentors. The performance will be a celebration of mixed genres - classical music, and the music of composer Arthur Russell.

Friday, July 12, young students will perform at 5:30 pm. Both concerts will be held at St. John Episcopal Church, 315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor, Maine.

About ARW Arthur Russell Week (ARW) is the summer festival of ECMI. Both adult and young musicians travel to Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island for a week of playing music together, receiving professional coaching, and performing for eager audiences. In 1998, Arthur Russell Strings was founded to honor the legacy of an avant-garde cellist, composer, singer, and musician with ties to Mount Desert Island, Maine. Arthur’s work spanned the genres of classical, disco, folk, and rock.

Student Recital information to come.

Register for the student workshop by emailing administration at info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org.

Youth ages 6-12 from 3:30-4:30pm

Youth ages 12-18 from 4:45-5:45pm

Register for the Adult Student Workshop with Administration at info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org