Month: May 2025

2025-05-28 Maine Pops Conducts First Small Ensemble Concert in Saco

After having to cancel its initial Maine Pops Concert Band small ensemble concert last March, six of the band’s nine small music ensembles performed a 90-minute program on Wednesday, May 28 at the First Parish Congregational Church in Saco.

Prior to January of 2025, the Maine Pops had three performing small ensembles – its woodwind quintet. a flute choir, and a 19-member big band. The new year brought new opportunities as band leadership – seeking to provide a variety of entertainment options and encourage outreach to our local audiences – encouraged concert band musicians to create small groups for the purpose building sectional cohesion and performing in venues where our 100-member band could not perform.

“That is what community bands are for,” said Bob Swerdlow, president of the Maine Pops. “We play for fun. We play to learn. We play to entertain. After 36 years the Pops is better musically, stronger operationally, and larger than ever.”

A moderate-sized audience, including a good percentage of Maine Pops Concert Band members, was there to support musicians through a series of small group compositions. Four of the six ensembles made their public debut this evening.

The listing below are the ensembles and the works they performed:
The Maine Pops Flute Choir
Little Bird – Grieg (arr. Amos)
The Windmills of Your Mind – Legrand (arr. White)
Air from Suite in D, BWV 1069 – Bach (arr. Tucker)
Chitty Chitty Bang Band – Sherman & Sherman (arr. Orriss)

Uniquehorns (French horn ensemble)
Intrada – Drobinski
TV Western Medley – Drobinski

Tubby Tones (tuba/euphonium ensemble)
Helena Polka (arr. Knoener)
Songs of the British Isles: Movement 4 (arr. Werden)
Amazing Grace – Newton (arr. Wright)

Quince Woodwind Quintet
Menuet – Colomer
Shipwreck – Drobinski
Adios Muchachos – Sanders (arr. Dobrinescu)

Clarinet Chromatics
Argenteuil 1902 – Margolis
Happy Together – Gordon (transcribed Rau)
Three Blind Mice – (transcribed by Mills and Bates)

Polished Brass
Strike up the Band – G. Gershwin (arr.Naulais)
Rondeau – Mourney (transcibed by King)
Three Spirituals (arr. Barnes)

The next public performance by the Maine Pops will be Wednesday, June 25, when the full concert band will perform and outdoor concert at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunk. The concert starts at 7 p.m.

Maine Pops Concert Band Announces Public Summer Performance Schedule for 2025

The Maine Pops Concert Band has a full summer of musical engagements that will take the Scarborough-based concert band to locations ranging from Bath to Kennebunk. The 100-member concert band – under the direction of David Watts — will begin public performances on most Wednesday evenings between late June and the middle of August.

The next scheduled concert – slated for May 28 at First Parish Congregational Church in Saco – will feature six of the band’s nine small ensembles in a concert that was cancelled last March due to a late-season winter storm. Groups may include “Polished Brass” (an 11-member brass ensemble), the “Clarinet Chromatics” (clarinet ensemble), The Uniquehorns (French horn ensemble), “Tubby Tones” (tuba and euphonium ensemble), the Maine Pops Flute Choir, and “Quince” the band’s woodwind quintet. The concert begins at 7 p.m. A donation of $15 is recommended and all students are admitted free of charge.

The full Maine Pops Concert Band also has a busy summer planned with the following public engagements scheduled:

June 25 – Outdoor concert at Saint David’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunk, Maine, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
June 28 – Robert Browne Hall Day Massed Band performance, Site and time to be determined.
July 16 – Outdoor concert at Heseltine Park, Woodfords Corner neighbor, Portland, Maine, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
August 1 – Outdoor concert at Bath Library Gazebo, Bath, Maine, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
August 13 – Outdoor concert at Cape Elizabeth Village Green, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
August 15 – Outdoor concert at Scarborough Summerfest (tent adjacent to high school tennis courts), Scarborough, ME, 6 to 7 p.m.

Beach Street Big Band Opens Summer Season with Saco Concert May 15

The first in a series of full concert band and small ensemble performances this summer by elements of the Maine Pops Concert Band was held May 15 with a 7 p.m. concert featuring the Beach Street Big Band held at the First Parish Congregational Church in Saco, ME.

Under the direction of long-time music educator Tom Lizotte, the Beach Street Big Band performed before a small audience of 50 people. Although the band played held its formal debut last December as part of the Biddeford Alumni Band’s Christmas holiday concert, the May 15 event was the ensemble’s first public performance as the headline act. Between now and the end of summer, The Beach Street Big Band – taking its name from the Saco Street where the band rehearses every week – plans to perform in a series of public and private concerts to entertain audiences in the greater Portland area.

For those who were unable to attend the concert in person, the performance was recorded by Scarborough Community Access Television and is available on the band’s YouTube page. Many thanks to John Cranton of Scarborough CAT for his work.

The program for the May 15 concert included the following charts:
The Opener – Carl Stommen
Cry Me a River – Arthur Hamilton (arr. Jerry Nowak)
Only Trust Your Heart – Sammy Cahn (arr. Terry White)
The Very Thought of You – Ray Noble (arr. Terry White)
April in Paris – E.Y. Harburg (arr. Dave Barduhn)
Almost Like Being in Love – Lerner and Lowe (arr. Lenny Niehaus)
Blue Skies – Irving Berlin (arr. Robert Holmes)
Let’s Fall in Love – Harold Arlen (arr. Terry White)
Fever – Davenport and Cooley (arr. Robert Holmes)
Moten Swing – Buster and Bennie Moten, (arr. Ernie Wilkens)
Over the Rainbow – E.Y. Harburg (arr. Dave Wolpe)
Oh, Lady Be Good – George and Ira Gershwin (arr. Terry White)

OTHER MAINE POPS SUMMER ENGAGEMENTS

In addition to the big band’s performance, the Maine Pops Concert Band has a full summer of musical engagements. The next concert – also slated for May 28 at First Parish Congregational Church in Saco – will feature additional small ensembles from the Maine Pops membership in concert that was cancelled last March due to a late-season winter storm. Groups may include an 11-member brass ensemble, a clarinet, saxophone and tuba ensemble, the Maine Pops Flute Choir, and a woodwind quintet. The concert begins at 7 p.m. A donation of $15 is recommended and all students are admitted free of charge.

The full Maine Pops Concert Band also has a busy summer planned with the following public engagements scheduled:

June 25 – Outdoor concert at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunk, Maine, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
June 28 – Robert Browne Hall Day Massed Band performance, Site and time to be determined.
July 16 – Outdoor concert at Heseltine Park, Woodfords Corner neighbor, Portland, Maine, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
August 1 – Outdoor concert at Bath Library Gazebo, Bath, Maine, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
August 13 – Outdoor concert at Cape Elizabeth Village Green, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
August 15 – Outdoor concert at Scarborough Summerfest (tent adjacent to high school tennis courts), Scarborough, ME, 6 to 7 p.m.