Category: News

The Maine Pops Concert Band completed its 2024 fall concert before a fairly large audience inside the Westbrook Performing Arts Center in Westbrook, ME on November 3, 2024.

Nearly 85 members of the Maine Pops performed seven compositions in its first performance since its summer concert at the Bath Library Gazebo in August.

In the concert program, Director David Watts wrote, "My inspiration for selecting our repertoire for this season came from people listening to music and making the comment, ‘What’s the name of that song? I can’t place where I’ve heard it before.’”

Watts emphasized to the audience the role of this fall concert. "Some music simply transcends understanding. It
moves our soul," said Watts. "It lives in the recesses of our minds and can bring us joy, sadness, or simply Transport us to another time or location. Let the pieces today transport you."

The band performed the following compositions:

Eighties Flashback (medley)
The Rakes of Mallow
Excerpts from Appalachian Spring
Summer of ’69 (medley)
Adagio for Strings
Light Cavalry Overture
Seventy-Six Trombones

The event opened with a pre-concert performance by the Maine Pops Flute Choir as patrons entered the center.

The next Maine Pops Concert will be its annual Christmas Benefit Concert, slated for Sunday, December 15 at Falmouth High School in Falmouth, Maine. Doors will open at 2 p.m. for a 2:30 p.m. concert.

The colorful sight of fallen leaves on the often-damp streets and lawns of Southern Maine continue the transition from summer fun along the beaches to the anticipation of snow and colder weather. With the autumn chill comes the need for indoor entertainment as local music programs begin performances marking the fall and leading to the holiday season.

One of those local bands is the Scarborough-based Maine Pops Concert Band, which will perform their annual fall concert – “Great Composers – Greater Music” – on Sunday, November 3 at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center, located at 471 Stroudwater Street in Westbrook, Maine. The 90-minute performance begins at 2:30 p.m.

To celebrate the great composers, Maine Pops Director David Watts has selected a variety of compositions for performance in Westbrook. The fall concert features music ranging from marches to medleys and classical to popular music. These works include compositions by Leroy Anderson, Aaron Copland, Franz von Suppe, Meredith Willson, and Samuel Barber. Watts also selected a pair of medleys for audience members looking for a “flashback” to the 1960s and 1980s.

The band is soliciting a recommended $15 donation per person to attend the fall performance. Students can attend free of charge.

Now in its 36th year, the Maine Pops – under the direction of Watts – has become one of the largest community concert bands in Maine. There are currently over 100 musicians registered to perform with the band during the 2024-2025 season. Most will be in performance on November 3; the band’s first concert since their August engagement at the Library Park Gazebo in Bath, Maine.

For more information about scheduling, joining, contributing, or sponsoring the Maine Pops Concert Band, please visit http://www.mainepops.org.

Although delayed a month due to thunderstorm activities on July 17, the Maine Pops Concert Band was able to return to Portland’s Heseltine Park to perform for residents of the Woodfords Corner Community.

There were no weather problems this evening, but the band did have to make a few modifications to the original program, dropping "Jupiter" from the evening event. However, David Watts added "A Joyful Fanfare" and "Amparito Roca" to the playlist for a fairly large audience that brought lawn chairs, a picnic dinner and ice cream from the vendor adjacent to the park.

This evening’s performance consisted of:
The Star-Spangled Banner
A Joyful Fanfare
The Gallant Seventh
A Motown Portrait
I’m Shipping Up to Boston
A Closer Walk with Thee
633 Squadron
The Rolling Stones on Tour
Amparito Roca
Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Stars and Stripes Forever

The Maine Pops Concert Band will conclude its 2024 summer season with a performance at Bath’s Library Park Gazebo on Friday, August 16 at 6:30 p.m. Once completed, the band will take a two-week break before fall concert rehearsals begin in September.

The last of the Maine Pops Concert Band private concerts took place at the senior community center located at 100 State Street in Portland.

About 55 members of the concert band squeezed into the performance terrace to entertain residents who sat either in the complex courtyard or listened from their apartments. The band performed 11 compositions under overcast skies and the threat of circling seagulls.

Tonight’s program:

The Star-Spangled Banner
Where Eagles Dare
Just A Closer Walk with Thee
633 Squadron
Italian Festival
Victory at Sea
The Dam Busters
The Rolling Stones on Tour
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Shipping up to Boston
The Stars and Stripes Forever

The band will take a two-week break, returning to performance on Wednesday, August 14 with a 6:30 p.m. concert at the Cape Elizabeth Village Green in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Due to the arrival of potentially hazardous thunderstorms entering the Portland area this evening, the scheduled Maine Pops Concert Band July 17 performance at 7 p.m. in Portland’s Heseltine Park has been cancelled.

The band regrets not being able to perform tonight in the Woodfords Corner community park for its residents and the Portland community. However, safety of the residents and the members of band is most important. The band thanks you for understanding.

No date for a potential rescheduled performance has been set at this time.

It was called "Pops and Popsicles"- the first of the Maine Pops Concert Band’s private concerts held July 3 at Ketcha Outdoors in Scarborough.

The band performed a series of music from both its 2023 Fall Concert and its 2024 Spring Concert before a private audience of Ketcha Outdoors parents and children enrolled in Ketcha’s summer programs. In performing at Ketcha, tonight’s 70-member band also provided thanks to the staff for their year-round support as one of the band’s back-up rehearsal sites.

Music performed at Ketcha Outdoors included:

Star Spangled Banner
Where Eagles Dare
Shipping up to Boston
Just A Closer Walk With Thee
Motown Portrait
The Rolling Stones On Tour
The Year 1812, Solemn Overture, Op. 49
Dam Busters March
Stars & Stripes Forever

The Maine Pops is conducting a private performance on Wednesday, July 10. It’s next public concert will be Wednesday, July 17 at 7 p.m. in Portland’s Heseltine Park.