King Middle School serves the most racially, ethnically, and economically diverse neighborhoods in the state of Maine. More than 120 of King's approximately 500 students speak 28 languages and come from 17 countries. On Friday, February 3, 2012 Dan Zanes will spend the day with King Middle School students and families, sharing music and teaching workshops. That evening, King Middle School will host an international potluck supper and music jam. King students who worked with Zanes will be invited to join him on stage at Hannford Hall the next day during his concert. To learn more, contact Ovations Offstage at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 207.773.3150.

For more information and to register, please contact Ovations Offstage at 207.773.3150 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Students work with visiting artist to imagine and articulate an “ideal” community and develop understanding through conversation surrounding the experience of discrimination.
$350 for one-hour workshop with Warriors Don’t Cry visiting artist

Students explore the historical context and the theatrical challenges in creating a solo performance, while asking participants to consider what it means to be a “warrior” in a contemporary and local sense.
$100 for one-hour in-school workshop with Ovations Offstage educators

Warriors Don’t Cry is a one-woman play based on the searing civil rights memoir of the same name by Dr. Melba Patillo Beals. Warriors recounts the story of the fifteen-year-old Melba Pattillo who endures violence and discrimination as she and eight other African American students integrate Little Rock, Arkansas’ Central High School in 1957. The memoir by Dr. Beals received the American Library Association Award 1995 Nonfiction Book of the Year and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. Directed by Richard C. Aven, and performed by Almeria Campbell, Warriors Don’t Cry is an emotional, powerful, and riveting experience not to be missed. 

Contains strong historically accurate language

A group of students from King Middle School will discuss their expedition “Small Acts of Courage: Memories of the Civil Rights Movement,” a project that involves students learning and telling important stories of local citizens. Julia Adams, a member of the Portland String Quartet, will join the students to discuss her experience during the Civil Rights Movement.

Join the NAACP-Portland’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration breakfast and enjoy a brief excerpt from Warriors Don’t Cry. For tickets and more information contact the NAACP-Portland at (207) 253-5074 or visit www.naacpportland.org.

Join Ovations Offstage during January’s First Friday Art Walk, when students from Wescustago Youth Chorale and Greely High School fill the heart of the Arts District with the sounds of ABBA.

Local piano students will join Christopher O’Riley onstage at Merrill Auditorium for a piano masterclass. Observers welcome, please contact Ovations Offstage for more information 207.773.3150 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Observation Fee: $10

317 Main Street Music Center hosts Matt Haimovitz for a strings workshop. For more information, please contact 317 Main Street at 207.846.9559
$25 per person

How do musicians really communicate with each other? The Lantz & Kargul Duo (violinist Ronald Lantz and pianist Laura Kargul) discuss the magic of musical collaboration. How does a team of musicians come to a unified view and play as one? How do they cultivate and maintain a musical rapport? They will demonstrate with some of their own (team-created) violin/piano transcriptions of songs by Mendelssohn, Liszt and Fauré.

SPACE Gallery

Innovative and acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz stops in at SPACE for a 'flash' concert. Presented in collaboration with Space Gallery and 317 Main Street Community Music Center.

Osher Foundation Auditorium
presented at and in collaboration with the Portland Museum of Art
 
This dynamic conversation between dancers Pandit Chitresh Das and Jason Samuels Smith explores how the unique collaboration of these exceptional artists transcends continents, generations, cultures, and communities. Together they create a new and distinct kind of dance. Individually in their home communities of India and the United States, each dancer works to preserve their individual dance traditions. Pandit Chitresh Das has received numerous awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. He ultimately sees art as a service to society and devotes time to teaching children in the slums of India, the Blind Opera of Calcutta, and teaching empowerment and self-awareness through dance to the daughters of sex workers in Calcutta, India. Jason Samuels Smith has won both an Emmy and an American Choreography Award. In 2007 he was honored with the Gregory Hines Humanitarian Award for his work to promote dance for youth in south Los Angeles and throughout the country. Alicia Anstead, editor-in-chief of the national magazine Inside Arts will moderate the discussion.

Held in the Great Hall at Portland Museum of Art

Join the Portland Museum of Art and Portland Ovations for a special K-12 teacher workshop exploring how the visual arts and dance preserve and transform cultural traditions. Discover a thrilling collaboration between on of India’s foremost Kathak masters and one of the world’s fastest, most explosive tap dancers. Come for the teacher workshop and then stay for the special program featuring conversation with two of the world’s most dynamic dancers. Contemporary Connections is made possible by Margaret Coleman Brown Fund at the Portland Museum of Art and by Portland Ovations: Kennedy Center Partners in Education.

Sam L. Cohen Children’s Library

Get ready for Masked Marvels & Wondertales by making your own mask with Beth Wilbur from the Oak Street Studios. Sign-up at the Children’s Desk at the Portland Public Library, or contact Ovations Offstage for more information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 773-3150.
Recommended for ages 4 and up.

A group of USM Musical Theater majors join Maine singer/actor/musical director Ed Reichert in an informal performance of their favorite selections from the Broadway songbook.

Ian Watson, Handel & Haydn Society's harpsichord player, discusses the role of historic instruments in contemporary music culture.

Students investigate diverse ways to express and tell stories through words and movement.
$100 for one-hour in-school workshop with Ovations Offstage educators based on “Sylvester & the Magic Pebble”.

Sylvester & the Magic Pebble is loved by readers young and old. When he transforms himself into a rock to escape a hungry lion, Sylvester learns that magic works very well sometimes but it can also work against him. In the Enchantment Theatre Company’s adaptation of William Steig’s Caldecott-winning book, puppets, masks, and an original music score all help bring the story to life.

Students explore voice and rhythm with the artists of Creole Choir of Cuba.
$350 for one-hour in-school workshop with Creole Choir of Cuba

Students explore the rich cultures and traditions of Haiti, Dominica, and Cuba and how they inform and influence the Creole Choir of Cuba through vocal, percussion, dance, and language.
$100 for one-hour in-school workshop with Ovations Offstage educators.

Celebrating roots, resistance, and the irresistible rhythms of life, the Creole Choir of Cuba captivates audiences with their passionate melodies, richly textured harmonies and vibrant dancing. A vocal and percussion ensemble, the Choir sings in Creole—a blend of African, French, Spanish, and other languages—and fuses Caribbean tempos with Afro-Cuban beats. From laments and protests to celebrations of enduring love and freedom—each note evokes a powerful story handed down in song through the generations, promoting and preserving the rich cultures and traditions of Haiti, Dominica, and Cuba.

USM Professor of History David Carey discusses Portland and Southern Maine’s strong connection to Cuba that began in the early 19th century.  As one of the Atlantic world’s most important pots in the nineteenth century, Portland Harbor hosted a vibrant trade with Cuba. Yet the impact wasn’t just economic. In addition to the ship captain and sailors who frequently traveled between Portland Harbor and Cuba, Cuban planters and their families studied and lived in southern Maine. Those who settled here helped to create a cosmopolitan city with their vision, entrepreneurial spirit, and labor. Although this relationship waned by the close of the nineteenth century, periodic migrations continue to infuse southern Maine with Cubans and their many contributions.

USM professor and composer-in-residence Dan Sonenberg talks with composer Phil Kline about his adventurous masterwork John the Revelator, a powerful 21st century mass created for  the early music vocal sextet Lionheart, string quartet, and pipe organ and inspired by early American hymns, the writings of Samuel Beckett and poet David Shapiro, shape-note singing, and the events of 9/11.
Precedes the performance of John the Revelator at 3 pm.

Composers Phil Kline and Daniel Sonenberg discuss the nuances and importance of commissioning. Presented in collaboration with Portland Music Foundation.

Gadelle’s musician/dancers lead a workshop in authentic Canadian step dancing, a high energy improvisational foot percussion set to traditional Acadian music. All levels of dancers and musicians are invited to join in.

In this lively lecture/demonstration, step-dancers/educators Cindy Larock and Laura Scott explore the interrelated French, Scottish, and Irish roots of De Temps Antan's distinctive Quebecois music and the dance it inspires. Fiddler Ed Pearlman provides the musical insight and accompaniment as Laura and Cindy expand our understanding of the role of traditional music and dance in Maine's Franco-American community and beyond.
Precedes the performance of De Temps Antan at 8 pm.

Join the Managing Director of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players David Wannen (The Mikado himself) for an overview of Gilbert & Sullivan, their process of creating this work, and the company’s success in keeping The Mikado new and fresh for audiences of all ages.
Precedes the performance of The Mikado at 4 pm.

with Martin Steingesser from The Telling Room
Working with Portland’s first poet-laureate, students create poetry focused on the senses–creating and using imagery, simile, metaphor, associative thinking, repetition and variation, color and simplicity of style. Participants are encouraged to explore voice in their writing and the pleasures of speaking and hearing poems. (2 classroom periods)
Fee: $200 per classroom period

Using the students’ own stories and experiences, the artists from Universes guide the crafting of spoken word poems celebrating students’ voices. The exciting and youth-resonating cultural form of hip-hop, poetry and music are brought together to create a singular, yet communal, theatrical moment. (1-2 classroom periods)
Fee: $350 per period

Bronx-based Universes is an international ensemble of writers and performers who fuse poetry, theater, jazz, hip-hop, politics, down home blues and Spanish boleros. In their new work, Live From the Edge, soaring song combines with fierce rhymes, and feet and hands stomp out enthralling beats as the troupe tracks the evolution of their language from childhood and community rituals, to poetry and theater, hip-hop and gospel. Redefining what theater is and to whom it speaks, Live From the Edge is a one of a kind performance event that transforms the poem into a communal act.

A scholar joins Portland hip-hop artist Sontiago in a conversation about the evolution and significance of hip-hop theater, and helps us understand its powerful new poly-cultural performance language.
Precedes performance of Universes: Live From the Edge at 8 pm.

The extraordinary language artists of Universes lead an action packed workshop in using real life stories and experiences to create dynamic spoken word poems.

Students work with artist-educator puppeteers to design and create shadow puppets and then produce a performance based on animal poems either selected by the students or the teachers.
One-week Residency Fee: $2100 – for four classroom groups, one period a day for five days

Mime artists from Imago Theatre present two interactive in-school classroom workshops that lead students through movement and theater exercises designed to make their own stories come alive. (1-2 classroom periods)
Fee: $350 per period

A whimsical concoction of vaudeville, cirque and the zoo, Imago Theatre’s newly hatched ZooZoo uses elaborate costumes, mime and physical finesse to animate larger-than-life creatures, including the most intriguing animal of all: the human. Veteran puppeteers and actors help caterpillars to cavort, hippos to hop, penguins to play and rabbits to romp in this genre-defying production that piques the imagination and mesmerizes the mind.

Performance artist/educator Davis Robinson from Bowdoin College discusses the Maine connection to mime, mask, and physical theatre in his lecture focusing on the legacy of two of his mentors, Maine’s Tony Montanaro and the legendary Jacques Lecoq, whose teachings also inspire Imago’s work.
Precedes Imago Theatre’s “Zoozoo” in Merrill Auditorium at 7 pm.

Pianist Laura Kargul presents a lecture/demonstration focusing on how pianists make interpretive decisions. How does a musician prepare? What are the idiomatic approaches to different composers and works? She is joined by student pianists from USM’s School of Music.
Precedes the performance by Nicolai Luganski at 3 pm.

Carol and John Farrell from Maine’s renowned Figures of Speech Theatre explore the art form of puppetry with an overview of its different styles and cultural forms, including the emergence of puppets on Broadway and in film. Is the art of puppetry threatened by the business of entertainment?  
Precedes the performance of the Broadway National Tour of Avenue Q at 7:30 pm.

In this hands-on workshop, students assemble pre-designed puppets and create their own shadow puppet theater inspired by animal poems. From learning theater cues to creating their own animal puppet parade, students engage in the creative process and use their imagination while gaining a better understanding of poetry, puppets and animals.
(1-2 classroom periods)
Fee: $460 for the day

Based on Mo Willem’s beloved Caldecott Honor-winning picture book, Knuffle Bunny is a hilarious musical tale of firsts: a stuffed animal’s first trip in the laundromat, a little girl’s first words, and a Daddy’s first time dealing with his child going “boneless.” Newly commissioned by the Kennedy Center, it’s a celebration of family, friendship, baby steps and memories that last a lifetime. Keep an eye out for a cameo by everyone’s favorite bus-driving pigeon...

Actors from Knuffle Bunny give a lecture-demonstration on-stage at Merrill Auditorium highlighting the process of making this award-winning book come to life and giving students a behind-the-scenes peek at a live production. (1 classroom period)
Fee: $350

Bring your Knuffle Bunny for a story-time, art project, and chance to win tickets to see Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical!

Our collaborators from 317 Main Street Community Music Center in Yarmouth present a lecture/demonstration of techniques for learning string instruments in classical or folk/traditional music genres. Their presentation includes a discussion of Mark O’Connor’s influence on the new American school of string playing.
Precedes the performance of the Mark O’Connor Quartet at 8 pm.

Led by Pamela Wiley. Presented in association with MSTPA (Maine String Teachers and Players Association) and the University of Southern Maine. Features a Friday afternoon visit by Mark O'Connor.

For more information and to register, contact Rob Lehmann at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Mark O’Connor’s lively and informal Fiddle vs. Violin lecture/demonstration
(Professional Development and Certification in the O’Connor Method)

A musical conversation between two friends: Mark O'Connor and Maine violin maker Jonathan Cooper discuss and demonstrate how and why different violins create diverse sounds. Hosted by our partner, Portland Music Foundation.

High school and college age intermediate and advanced dancers explore Doug Varone’s style of moving with an emphasis on breath, strength, action, and musicality.
$25 per person • To register call 207.773.3150

Dance educator and choreographer Nancy Salmon explores Doug Varone’s work and creative process. Her discussion of Chapters from a Broken Novel, his newest work which was developed in Maine through a co-commission by Portland Ovations and the Bates Dance Festival, includes an overview of the history of modern and post modern dance in Maine.   
Precedes the performance of Doug Varone & Dancers in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30.

Professor Marilyn Reizbaum from Bowdoin College asks: how did this adaptation of a Sholom Aleichem story set in revolutionary Russia became so wildly popular? Is it a post holocaust fable?  Did setting this story to music create a precursor to the controversial Holocaust “comedy”? Who (or what) is the fiddler?  
Precedes the performance of Fiddler on the Roof in Merrill Auditorium at 7:00 pm.

Capoeira Mestre Joao Cascao from Portland’s Capoeira Senzala de Santos brings to students the rich cultural Afro-Brazilian background of capoeira: its movement, music, history, instruments, and forms. Students will be up and moving, and listening to or playing music that accompanies this intense and beautiful martial art. (1 classroom period)
Fee: $125 per classroom period

Thrilling choreography, joyous rhythms, vibrant costuming, and a feisty exuberance emanate from a 38-member troupe of dancers, instrumentalists, and singers hailing from the Bahian region of northern Brazil. Performing a lush repertory of carnival and slave dances, samba and capoeira – an explosive Afro-Brazilian artform that combines martial arts, music and dance – Balé Folclórico da Bahia provides a truly authentic global experience.

Dancers from the internationally acclaimed Balé Folclórico Da Bahia lead a capoeira workshop designed for dancers of all levels and experience. Capoeira, a unique Afro-Brazilian improvisational form, combines martial arts, music, and movement.

In his action packed lecture, Portland’s capoeira Mestre Joao Bordallo helps us understand the religious, historical, and contemporary vitality of capoeira, a martial art form created by African slaves in Brazil over 400 years ago.
Precedes the performance by Bale Folclorico Da Bahia in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30.

In a time of constantly being wired in with uploads and downloads from laptops to camera phones, and where conversations no longer take place face-to-face, Damian’s passport to friendship and popularity is his computer. This new play from Canada’s Green Thumb Theatre – who for over 30 years has used the emotional impact of live performance to educate and empower young people – examines the alarming rise of cyber-bullying as Damian quickly learns that cyberspace isn’t necessarily as friendly as he had thought, and that just because it’s virtual doesn’t make it less real.

Download the School-Time Performance registration form

Piano performance students at the University of Southern Maine recommended by faculty wishing to improve technique and understanding of their working repertoire are coached by an award-winning pianist.
Open to the public for observation.

Musicologist and manager of the Olin Arts Center at Bates College, Seth Warner looks at the piano recital as a unique and vital performance medium. How and why has the format of the piano recital developed? Where does the evening’s repertoire of pianist Kirill Gerstein fit in the history and future of this distinctive concert form?
Precedes the performance by Kirill Gerstein in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30pm.

Masterclass with Paul Mehling, leader of Hot Club of San Francisco.

Composer/performer Dan Sonenberg discusses the story, music, and impact of legendary gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt in the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Precedes the performance of Hot Club of San Francisco in Hannaford Hall at 7:30.

Jamie Adkins works with intermediate and advanced circus artists to increase their skill with a focus on character and narrative development. (Ages 10 and up). Class limited to 20 students.
For more information and to register, contact Trace Salter at 207.756.9212 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Students in the musical theater program in the School of Music at USM join Maine singer/actor/musical director Ed Reichert in an informal presentation of some of the original Broadway songs that are lampooned later in the evening in Forbidden Broadway’s raucous show. The presenters also explore the unique sound of Broadway’s greatest performers and discuss why they invite parody.  
Precedes the performance of Forbidden Broadway in Merrill Auditorium at 8 pm.

The Kronos Quartet has defined the cutting edge of contemporary musical performance for more than 30 years. Join Dr. Rob Lehmann, Director of the Strings Program at USM School of Music, as he explores how the Kronos Quartet’s status as one of the world’s leading advocates for new music has re-defined what string quartets can do.
Precedes the performance of Kronos Quartet in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30 pm.

Developed by Elizabeth Streb over the last 20 years, Pop Action classes help student and professional dancers acquire new skills by posing unique challenges; the method suits all body types, ages, and level of experience.

Elizabeth Streb’s choreography embodies values that appear throughout the history of 20th century dance and performance. Paul Sarvis, Senior Lecturer in Dance Performance at Bowdoin College shows video clips and discusses the work of other artists who have likewise staged extravagant displays of risk and effort and wrestled with the tension between vulnerability and mastery.
Precedes the performance of STREB Extreme Action in Merrill Auditorium at 7 pm.

Students examine the relationship between their left and right brains to explore the world through arts and science. Topics include perspective and optics, color and chemistry, and patterns and designs found in nature. (1 classroom period)
Fee: $125 plus mileage

Students explore the mechanics and physics of simple machines and discover how simple machines used in daily life make work easier and then design/build their own simple machines. (1 classroom period)
Fee: $125 plus mileage

With masterful improvisational skills and comic interactive experiments, Doktor Kaboom — a German scientist with a penchant for bangs and blasts – keeps his audiences riveted AND rolling in the aisles. The brainchild of actor/educator David Epley, Doktor Kaboom! strives to make science accessible to all by leading students on a sidesplitting journey of increasingly spectacular (and usually successful) science experiments designed to involve, excite, educate, and entertain.

Download the School-Time Performance registration form

Join the director of Portland’s Museum of African Culture as he explores the high energy dance music of the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International. Chief Oscar Mokeme makes personal connections between the band’s infectious music, the traditions of his native Nigeria, and the contemporary cultural life of Maine’s growing African community.
Precedes the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International performance at 8 pm.

African families, musicians, dancers and cooks will serve African food and entertainment to local families from the greater Portland community.  Special African cooks will present their favorite dishes and families are encouraged to bring a dish.  Children should be accompanied by an adult.

Dance scholar Eugenia O’Brien of the Portland Ballet Company discusses the evening’s program featuring an National Endowment for the Arts/American Masterpiece Dance work by Twyla Tharp, “Sue’s Leg.” Precedes the 7:30 pm performance by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.

Ovations Offstage pre-curtain lectures
are funded in part by the Maine Humanities Council 

$25 per person

Explore Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and its signature contemporary ballet style and technique with a rigorous class extending the skills of intermediate or advanced dancers with Jean-Philippe Malaty.

Jean-Philippe Malaty, Executive Director, has been instrumental in building Aspen Santa Fe Ballet from the ground up.  He was born in the Basque region of France, and recently became a United States citizen.  After receiving his degree in dance, he accepted scholarships to train at Europe’s prestigious Mudra (Maurice Béjart’s school in Brussels), and John Cranko’s ballet school in Stuttgart. At the invitation of David Howard, Jean-Philippe traveled to America to study at the David Howard Dance Center in New York City. He then performed soloist roles as guest artist with various companies throughout the U.S., including Joffrey II, Los Angeles Classical Ballet, Ballet Hispanico of New York, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He is in great demand as a guest teacher and has taught at schools and universities throughout the country.  Jean-Philippe is dedicated to asserting the prominence of the arts in the West, spearheading initiatives to bring dance into the community, and fostering programs that introduce children to the arts. He continues to provide invaluable creative assistance in all facets of the company’s operations. Jean-Philippe is equally proud to have forged a company based on an American ideal of energy, invention, popularity, eclecticism, and precision in what’s been called the “all star, no star” system.
 
“Dance is a celebration of the human spirit, and not a celebration of steps. Here at Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, we foster the spirit and the love of dance.” – Jean-Philippe Malaty

Click here to download a registration form.

Geared toward choral groups, participants explore vocal and breathing exercises, creative sound methods, vocal improvisation or beat-boxing, and group composition with Philip Hamilton and Kenny “The Human Orchestra” Muhammad.

Philip Hamilton and hip-hop artist Kenny Muhammad engage students with the beauty and power of the human voice through exercises that empower participants with their own uniquely personal form of cultural expression. The artists of Voices work directly with students and educators who attend the school-time performance. Only two workshops are available. 

Stefan Jackiw is only 24 but he is already a major rising star in the classical music world, following in the footsteps of his inspiration and fellow Harvard University graduate, Yo-Yo Ma. Music lover and Portland Ovations Board Member David Nicklas explores the three Brahms Sonatas that Stefan Jackiw will perform in the evening's recital. He will also present some brief biographical information about the artist.
Precedes the 7:30 pm performance by Stefan Jackiw.

Inspired by the great beauty and power of vocal music from all over the world, innovative composer and musician Philip Hamilton brings students the Voices project, a dynamic, pan-global concert of a cappella music. Known for his work with jazz and world music artists such as Pat Metheny and Gilberto Gil as well as collaborations with Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Rennie Harris Puremovement and Ronald K. Brown, Hamilton and his “vocal tribe” draw on vocal stylings and influences from around the globe to celebrate the transcendent power of the human voice. Hamilton’s “vocal tribe” draws on song stylings, rhythms, and influences from many cultures to celebrate the transcendent power of the human voice.

Download a registration form.

SUPPORTED BY

Explore the life of George Gershwin, one of America’s foremost composers who bridged tragic opera themes with contemporary issues of African-American life, causing Porgy & Bess to be scrutinized relentlessly for its controversial content. Lecture by Ellen Chickering from USM's School of Music.
Precedes the 8pm performance of Porgy & Bess. 

This variation on the popular Make a Little More Noise! series places special emphasis on creative recycling and instrument making. Students bring objects from home or make use of items provided by Eco Maine as raw materials for instruments and creating musical soundscapes.

Download the "Make a Little More Noise Goes Green!" Guide

Musicians/instructors from 317 Main Street Community Music Center located in Yarmouth will lead a lively discussion and musical demonstration about American acoustic music – its roots and how it has evolved from the early work of Bill Monroe to today’s emerging innovators such as Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers. Precedes the 8 pm performance by the Punch Brothers.

Young musicians form Maine-featured on the public radio broadcast of From the Top at Merrill Auditorium, taped on March 24- share their love of their instruments and music with your classroom.

From the Top – National Public Radio’s showcase for young musicians, hosted by acclaimed concert pianist Christopher O’Riley – will come to Portland Ovations for a live recording of the hit program on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 in Merrill Auditorium.  Portland Ovations is teaming with the producers of From the Top to identify talented young people from throughout Maine who are interested in applying to be showcased on the live taping, which will also feature renowned flutist Sir James Galway. The following FAQs explain how talented young musicians in Maine and beyond can apply and audition to perform at the live taping.

Who is eligible for From the Top?

Classical musicians ages 8 to 18 who have not yet graduated from high school.  Young performers can audition as soloists or small ensembles or as composers who have a piece they wish to have performed.  From the Top also considers applications from large ensembles.  While the show focuses mostly on the classical repertoire, from time to time other genres will be featured, especially if there is a connection with the heritage of the region in which the show is being taped.  For example, in Maine, a young fiddler or flutist in the French Canadian or Cape Breton Celtic traditions might also be considered.

Are there any scholarship opportunities connected with From the Top?

Yes.  Each year, From the Top and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation award approximately twenty $10,000 scholarships to pre-college classical musicians who appear on the show.  Students must demonstrate high levels of artistic achievement as well as financial need to be eligible for the award.  Interested applicants apply for the scholarship in tandem with their application to appear on the radio program.  More information about the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award can be found on the From the Top web site at www.fromthetop.org.

What is the timeline for casting Portland Ovations’ presentation of From the Top?

From the Top needs applicants to submit audition forms and recordings at least three to four months prior to the taping date.  This means all application materials should be received by From the Top no later than December 18, 2009 and preferably sooner.

How do musicians apply for consideration?

Musicians can submit an application and recording by mail.  The application can be downloaded at www.fromthetop.org.  There is a $20 application fee which can be paid online or by check.  The fee is waived for students with financial need who are also applying for From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award scholarship.

Where should applications be submitted?

Applications should be mailed to From the Top, 295 Huntington Avenue, Suite 201, Boston, MA 02115.

Will there be an opportunity for free studio recording sessions for musicians interested in recording audition CDs for From the Top?

Yes. Portland Ovations is collaborating with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) and the New England School of Communications to host free recording sessions in Bangor on Saturday, November 21 from 12 noon until 4pm in Gracie Theatre at Husson College. A piano will be available at the Gracie Theatre sessions for musicians whose auditions require it. A limited number of time slots remain available for these Bangor recording sessions. To schedule a session on November 21, contact Suzanne Nance at MPBN at 207.941.1010 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

The From the Top recording sessions scheduled for Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) in Portland on Thursday, December 3 from 3 to 7 pm are fully booked. No recording time slots remain at PATHS. Young musicians who have been closed out of this recording opportunity are encouraged to contact MPBN to learn if any recording slots remain for the Bangor sessions on November 21.

Debbie Blunden-Diggs, artistic director of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), gives an overview of the evening’s program and the company’s commitment to honoring the spirit and history of African-American dance. DCDC is recognized for possessing the world’s largest repertoire of works by African-American choreographers. Precedes the 8 pm performance by DCDC.

High school- and college-age intermediate and advanced dancers explore the Horton Technique as a basis for contemporary dance, led by members of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

Download a registration form here.

Explore using movement in your classroom to engage and deepen students’ learning. You don’t have to be a dancer!  Join a member of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for a 1-1/2-hour workshop to learn methods for integrating dance and creative movement into classroom curricula and presenting dance in a classroom setting.  One of the goals of the workshop is to improve student achievement by assisting teachers to be able to incorporate fine arts experiences in lesson plans.  $30 per person.   Limited Enrollment.  Contact hours are available.  To register, call or email Barri Lynn Moreau, Portland Ovations Director of Education and Outreach 207-773-3150 x3 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Dr. Elliott Schwartz, composer and retired Bowdoin music professor, discusses the new work commissioned by the St. Lawrence String Quartet from one of our country’s most prolific and controversial composers, John Adams, a New England native. Breaking down preconceptions about what classical music is and can be, Adams’s style attracts classical and new music lovers alike. Precedes the 7:30 pm performance by the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

The St. Lawrence String Quartet leads a masterclass or coaching activity with young Maine musicians recommended by our music education partners. Open to the public for observation.

Merrill Auditorium Rehearsal Hall Portland Conservatory of Music Executive Director Dr. Deirdre McClure, an opera conductor, provides insight into how La Bohème went from page to stage to one of the most beloved and frequently staged operas of all. Dr. McClure also shares her opera conducting secrets during an interactive session. Precedes the 8 pm performance of La Bohème.

Join Skip Cole, Superintendent of Campobello International Park, and former parks superintendent of FDR’s home in Hyde Park, New York to discuss the longtime political relationship between the United States and Canada and their co-ownership and administration of Campobello, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s beloved getaway in New Brunswick, now an international park.  Broadening the view, our speakers Donald Soctomah, Passamaquoddy historian and author, and Jean Flahive will offer some additional cultural and historical perspectives on Campobello Island, Maine’s nearby neighbor to the north. Soctomah and Flahive have recently co-authored Remember Me: Tomah Joseph's Gift to Franklin Roosevelt.
Precedes the 8 pm performance by Ed Asner as FDR.

String quartet Brooklyn Rider is known for its creative programming and exciting collaborations with Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project and internationally acclaimed contemporary composers such as Zhou Long and Osvaldo Golijov. Dr. Dan Sonenberg speaks with Brooklyn Rider musician and composer Colin Jacobsen about his cultural and musical influences. Precedes the 8 pm performance by Brooklyn Rider.

Join Donna Cassidy, USM professor of American & New England Studies and Art History, for a discussion of the range of visual art programs tied to the New Deal through a digital slide show.  As the 1930s economic stimulus package, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal (1934-1941) provided employment for visual artists through diverse programs from the Index of American Design to the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (FAP/WPA).  This lecture will give an overview of these programs with particular attention to the Treasury Section of Fine Arts which awarded commissions for over 1000 murals across the United States, including a dozen in Maine.  These public murals not only put artists to work but helped communities and the nation define themselves at an unstable economic and historical moment.

Cassidy’s articles on early twentieth-century American art and culture have appeared in Smithsonian Studies in American Art, American Art Journal, Winterthur Portfolio, and numerous anthologies and exhibition catalogues.  She is the author of Painting the Musical City: Jazz and Cultural Identity in American Art, 1910-1940 (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997) and Marsden Hartley: Race, Region, and Nation (University Press of New England, 2005). A scholar of New England art, she served as editor for the art section of the Encyclopedia of New England (Yale University Press, 2005). She was awarded the USM Trustee Professorship for 2005-2006 for a new research project on transnationalism and American modernist art.  As part of this project, she is working on a book and exhibition entitled Beyond the Northern Border: U.S. Artists in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, 1880-1940.

Contact PortTix at 207-842-0800 for tickets to Portland Ovations’ presentation of Ed Asner as FDR, Friday, March 5, 2010 in Merrill Auditorium.

Pre-performance lectures are funded in part by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council.

Cape Verdeans have been in Maine for generations.  Join George Hillman, one of the contributors to Maine’s Visible Black History with family history back four generations from Cape Verde, to learn more about this interesting country and its cultural influences.  Precedes the 8 pm Maria de Barros performance.

Sample some eclectic music of Brooklyn Rider at the Hannaford Supermarket in Portland. Meet the quartet in the deli/bakery area of the store. Check out their CDs. Maybe get an autograph before you attend the concert on Saturday night at USM Hannaford Hall

This event has been cancelled.

Vancouver’s ScrapArtsMusic is an unparalleled sonic and visual experience, rooted in street performance, jazz, and world music traditions, using one-of-a kind instruments handcrafted from industrial scrap. Fueled by the same genius that produced the likes of Blue Man Group and Stomp, ScrapArtsMusic delivers a highly physical, power-packed percussion performance with great theatrical flair. This performance features original music, an introduction to “scrap” instruments, insight into Scrap Arts’s music and choreography, audience interaction, and a question-and-answer period. 

Download a registration form.

Download the ScrapArtsMusic Study Guide.