The Orchestra, founded in 2007, is now in its 5th season. The mission of the Orchestra is threefold: to contribute to the cultural base of the area by bringing classical symphonic music to the community, to provide an arena in which musicians of all ages come together to learn and perform, and, especially, to encourage the young student musicians of the area in their musical development.
Members of the orchestra come from St Andrews and Campobello in New Brunswick, Canada, and from many communities of Maine - including Eastport, Machias, Jonesport, Lubec and others, farther away. Summer residents also join us in the spring as they return from their winter homes. The participant age range this spring is 14 to well over 70 years. Many of our younger players have come up through the Eastport Strings, that amazing, local program for young string players.
The orchestra plays the standard orchestral repertoire, with a new program offered at each concert. Past seasons have included piano, violin and clarinet and vocal concertos or selections accompanied by the orchestra. A special piece, A Lumberjack Song, was commissioned by the orchestra from the Norwegian composer Harald Saeverud, and performed by Gene Nichols of the University of Maine, Machias (UMM) on musical saw. The audience and the orchestra were surprised and delighted by the saw that truly sang. Other programs have included Beethoven’s 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th Symphonies, the Faure Requiem, symphonies by Schubert and Franck and in November, 2011, arias by Handel, Vivaldi, and J.S. Bach, sung by mezzo=soprano Patricia Caya, and Symphony No. 6 by Anton Dvorak.
The 2012 Sping concerts will be held on:
Friday, June 15 at 7PM EDT at the Centre Street Church in Machias.
Saturday, June 16, at 7PM EDT at the Eastport Arts Center in Eastport.
Sunday, June 17, at 3PM ADT in the Van Horne Ballroom at the Algonquin Hotel, St. Andrews, NB.
The program will include: Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, 1st movement, Rossini, Overture to the Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra), Sibelius, En Saga, and a performance of Pablo Sarasate's Gypsy Air, a thrilling, racy, and colorful violin piece played by Rosa Bragdon, this year's PBSO Performance Scholarship student.
The orchestra requests a donation of $10 per person at the door. Students are admitted free. Call 853-4846 for more information.
For the past two summers PBSO has joined with SummerKeys in Lubec to provide Orchestra Weekends. SummerKeys students, local musicians and regular orchestra members rehearse for two days, and then present a concert on Sunday afternoon. The concerts are free. The rehearsals and the concerts are held at the Lubrec School cafetorium. This year Orchestra weekends will be held on July 28, 29, and August 14, and 15th.
Conductor Trond Saeverud
Maestro Saeverud is a native of Norway and grandson of Norway’s revered and loved composer, Harald Saeverud. He studied in Bergen and performed with several orchestras in Scandanavia, as well as with the Royal Philharmonic and the Orchestra of St Lukes in New York and several tours of Japan. He has made 7 CD’s. Since coming to America he earned a PhD., from the University of Kansas while conducting The Kansas City Camerata and various opera performances. He leads the Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchestra and the Farmington Community Orchestra. He is co-concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Bangor Symphony, and directed The West Side Story, the gala opening event at the Gracie Center for the Arts at Husson University. He teaches privately, and directed his own program for international student violinists.
For more information call 853-4846 or 726-5150