Category: News

The Maine Pops Concert held elections for half of its board of directors during the band’s end-of-season general membership meeting. The elections were conducted in conjunction with the band’s June 14 rehearsal at Scarborough High School.

Board members serve for two years and lead a variety of committees that support the band’s administrative, logical, financial, and outreach efforts. As a means of maintaining continuity within the board, the band staggers its band board terms so that half of the board members are up for reelection each year.

Reelected to board officer positions until June 2025 were Bob Swerdlow as president and percussionist Laura Merten as treasurer. Flautist/percussionist Yvonne Wentz replaces oboist Linda Hornig as the band’s vice president. Also reelected to the board in at-large positions were trumpeter Steve Barrett and clarinetist Rick Wacksman. Clarinetists Kara LaRochelle and Kathye Martin are first-time members of the board.

The remaining members of the Maine Pops board include flautist Lily King as secretary, and bassoonist Christina McCarthy as venue coordinator. McCarthy has the dual role on the board as the Maine Pops’ past president. At-large board members include saxophonists Danielle Capozza and Sue Niemoeller, flautists Patty Lawson and Nanci Goudey, and percussionist Leslie Oullette. Their terms will expire on June 30, 2024.

Band conductor David Watts serves as a non-voting member of the Maine Pops Board. Congratulations to our new officers and board members.

The performance season for Scarborough High School’s music department is nearly complete. Only a performance on June 11 at the school’s graduation ceremonies remain. The high school band and chorale had their last public performance on May 31 at a very successful spring concert.

To congratulate the musical students at Scarborough High for their school year accomplishment, and to thank the school for their support of the Maine Pops Concert Band efforts throughout the 2022-2023 season, the Maine Pops provided a selection of bakery treats from "On The Vine" in Scarborough to the music faculty and students on June 1.

Maine Pops board member and clarinetist Rick Wacksman led the effort, delivering the mid-morning snack to band director Tim Ebersold and chorale director Jeff Mosher. The snacks were greatly appreciated by all the students, who stopped by the school’s rehearsal suites during advisory period and before each class. Between 80 and 100 music students enjoyed the treats.

Both Ebsersold and Mosher sent their sincerest thanks to the Maine Pops Concert Band for its generosity and friendship as musical partners within the Scarborough community.

(All photos are by Steve Barrett.)

The summer concert season has arrived, and the Maine Pops Concert Band officially begins its 2023-2024 performance schedule with a series of concerts during June, July, and August.

Following a well-attendance performance of their 2023 Spring Concert at Scarborough High School on April 30, the band – which serves the greater Portland metropolitan area – will perform selections used during their 2022-2023 fall and spring concerts, plus one or two extra works for the 2023 summer season. Last year’s summer concert series was widely attended by audiences seeking live musical entertainment in their communities. This year, the Maine Pops summer concerts are part of the band’s 35th anniversary commemoration.

On Saturday, June 24, the Maine Pops will join 15 other community bands for the return of the annual R.B. Hall Music Festival being hosted this year in Richmond, ME. R.B. Hall was a Maine-born march composer who is honored at the festival – traditionally held annually on the last Saturday in June. The June event marks the first official R.B. Hall Festival since 2019; it was halted for three years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Maine Pops Concert Band is scheduled to perform from 1:50 to 2:30 p.m. In addition, some members of the Maine Pops will join musicians of the other bands at 12:30 p.m. for a massed band performance of R.B. Hall marches.

The band’s 2023 public performance summer schedule includes four engagements; three in the greater Portland area. Its first community performance is a return visit to Portland’s Heseltine Park on Wednesday, July 19, beginning at 6 p.m. On Friday, August 4, the band will travel to Bath, ME to perform at the city’s Freedom Park Gazebo at 6:30 p.m. and will follow that performance with a trek to Falmouth’s Village Green for a 6:30 p.m. Monday performance on August 7. Their final public summer concert will be Wednesday, August 16 with a 7 p.m. performance at the Village Green in Cape Elizabeth. All public concerts are free to attend, but the band will accept donations to cover administrative costs.

The band is also performing summer concerts at a pair of retirement communities in the Portland region. Concert venues include Portland’s Park Danforth community and at 100 State Street. Although these are the only two retirement communities currently on the Maine Pops schedule, other engagements may be added. For more information about dates, time and additions for these retirement community performances, please contact the community retirement centers directly.

The Maine Pops Concert Band encourages musicians of all ages – from school-age to senior citizens, and of all abilities to foster a life-long love of music, music history, performance, and our shared heritage. The band provides opportunities for musicians to enhance their musical skills and knowledge and serve the social welfare of our communities through the study, performance, and presentation of concert band music. The band is currently recruiting musicians from the greater Portland area in its efforts to fill positions in the clarinet, trumpet, trombone, French horn, euphonium, and percussion sections.

Information regarding the summer schedule is available on the Maine Pops website at www.mainepops.org, or through its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mainepops. For questions regarding the band’s summer events, contact president@mainepops.org or sbarrett@mainepops.org.

The Maine Pops is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit corporation. Contributions may be tax-deductible.

The first in a series of 35th anniversary concerts by the Maine Pops Concert Band – its annual spring concert – will take place on Sunday, April 30 at 2:30 p.m. at the Winslow Homer Center for the Arts in Scarborough, Maine. The Winslow Homer Center is located inside Scarborough High School, located at 11 Municipal Drive.

It is the first time since November 18, 2018, that the band will perform publicly at Scarborough High, and it marks the first auditorium-based performance for the band since November of 2019.

Formed as the Italian Heritage Band in 1988, the Maine Pops is currently conducting weekly rehearsal sessions, working on 13 compositions for its spring concert. Some of the selections were chosen by Maine Pops Director David Watts as a reflection of music performed in the past by both the Italian Heritage Band and the Maine Pops. He has combined those selection with some newly acquired compositions; all to provide a wide variety of music for attendees of all ages.

The band will formally announce the performance lineup, as well as admission fees and auditorium guidelines as the concert approaches.

The Maine Pops Concert Band provides a community service to the Greater Portland area, reaching out to its audiences by “Building Community Through Music.” The band enjoyed a successful fall and holiday performance season, and will follow the spring concert with a series of summer performances in public and private settings around the Portland area.

Maine Pops continues to recruit musicians.

As the band prepares for its spring concert and summer performance schedule, it is still looking for local musicians to fill its ranks. The Maine Pops has a critical need for clarinet, trumpet, trombone, French horn, and percussion performers to help meet the band’s increasing performance schedule and repertoire. All musicians within the Maine Pops are community volunteers with a love and desire for concert band performance. The band is looking for other local musicians of all ages to join its ranks.

The band plans to reach out to local colleges, and high schools to inform and recruit potential members, but it is also soliciting through the band’s web and social media outlets to bring instrumental musicians into the band. If interested in joining the Maine Pops, please contact band president Bob Swerdlow at president@mainepops.org for more information.

The Maine Pops is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit corporation. Contributions may be tax-deductible.

Financing a non-profit musical organization takes a lot of work dedicated to soliciting donations, conducting fundraising, and writing requests for grants. For community bands like the Maine Pops Concert Band, raising funds to finance its annual operation requires the help from the community it serves.

In the spirit of the recent “Giving Tuesday” observance following Thanksgiving, the Maine Pops is again looking to its community for donations and grants that will help keep concert band music in our local communities. Contributions by its members, and through the generosity of donors – individuals and groups – are important to meet our annual expenses.

In a Maine Pops 2023 Donation Appeal Letter focused on donors and contributors that was released December 1, Maine Pops President Bob Swerdlow expressed his thanks to those donors who already support the band’s work financially, while also appealing for new donors to consider a tax-deductible gift this year.

“As an educational non-profit organization, we work to build community through music,” said Swerdlow. “Our members are diverse in age, experience, and ability. Yet, they all share one thing: a love of playing band music.”

In addition, Swerdlow said the Maine Pops will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2023, with grants and donations needed to help the band in its celebration events.

The Maine Pops – a 60-member community band serving the Greater Portland Area – does its fair share of contributing its musical talents to help raise funds for various organizations and charities. It is season-long campaign to “build community through music” began in with a series of summer concerts, an annual fall concert in Portland, and a pair of Christmas benefits performances slated for December.

Community members interested in donating to the Maine Pops can do so by sending a check made out to “Maine Pops” to Laura Merten, Maine Pops Treasurer, 72 Harbor Place, South Portland, ME 04106. Contributors may also donate using Venmo to Victoria Swerdlow at (207) 712-7119.

For more information about contributing, please send a note to president@mainepops.org.

The Maine Pops Concert Band is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit corporation.

The Portland-based Maine Pops Concert Band will again collaborate with two area churches in holiday fundraising efforts, performing a pair of Christmas Concerts to celebrate the holiday season and close out their 2022 performance schedule.

Fresh off their successful fall concert held November 20, the 60-member community band has spent three weeks rehearsing 13 holiday-focused compositions. These selections will offer a wide variety of music ranging from “Feliz Navidad” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to “Greensleeves and “The Holly and the Ivy.”

And yes…the band will again perform Leroy Anderson’s holiday classic, “Sleigh Ride.”

The first of the two benefit concerts will be held Sunday, December 11, beginning at 2:30 p.m. at St. Luke’s Cathedral, located at 143 State Street in Portland. This concert continues a long-standing Maine Pops tradition of holiday fundraising with St. Luke’s.

“These are challenging times for all food pantries,” said Mary Brighthaupt, Executive Director of St. Luke’s Food Pantry – the primary focus of the concert’s fundraising effort this year. She said that throughout the year, the pantry supports nearly 600 families and has been a reliable neighborhood resource for decades. “Many are new Mainers with multiple challenges such as language, housing, and transportation. The support of Maine Pops allows us to meet these challenges.”

Three days later, the Maine Pops will return to the Mountainside Community Church, located at 18 Mountain Road in Falmouth, on December 14 for a 7 p.m. concert. Like with St. Luke’s, the Maine Pops has a long-standing relationship with the Mountainside church.

Diane Ray, the wife of Mountainside Community Church pastor Mac Ray and a member of the Maine Pops, said Mountainside is dedicating much of the concert collections to purchasing a wheelchair for a young man with special needs who needs a replacement chair. Additional money will also go into supplementing Mountainside’s homeless ministry efforts.

The Maine Pops will take a holiday break following the December 14 performance, and begin work on their spring and summer performance season on January 11 at Scarborough High School from 7 to 9 p.m. The band is slated to perform a 2:30 p.m. spring concert on April 30, and the band is recruiting for new musicians. The Maine Pops is in need for clarinet, oboe, trumpet, French horn, and percussion players, but is open to accepting all concert band musicians.

If interested in joining the band, please send a note to president@mainepops.org to apply.

The Maine Pops Concert Band is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit corporation. Contributions may be tax-deductible.

The first of three final 2022 concerts by the Maine Pops Concert Band will take place on Sunday, November 20, at 2:30 p.m. at St. Luke’s Cathedral, located at 143 State Street in Portland.

“Maine Pops Unplugged” is the theme of band’s annual fall concert, with 11 compositions slated to provide a wide variety of music for attendees of ages. The featured concert selections will include a couple of medleys featuring music from Adele and Tony Bennett, a big-band favorite, movie and television themes, and a concert march.

The band – under the direction of David Watts – is now approaching 35 years of community service to the Greater Portland area and reaching out to its audiences by “Building Community Through Music.” Following a successful summer concert series, the band is taking on new music and new challenges to provide community residents with memorable performances while continuing to recruit musicians into the organization.

“This season we are excited to welcome quite a few new players into the band,” said Watts. “As folks have moved around the state and the country, they’ve brought a wealth of musical talent with them. This has only enhanced the sound of Maine Pops as we continue to rebuild and welcome musicians back into our ranks after the COVID shutdowns.”

Watts said the fall concert is programmed to explore some of the big names in music over the last century and beyond, such Glenn Miller, John Phillip Sousa, Samuel Barber, Adele, Vaughan Williams, and Tony Bennett. “We hope to introduce you to some rarely heard pieces from well-known composers, as well as contemporary takes on classic folk songs,” said Watts. “And adding to it all are some thrilling – and perhaps even chilling – sounds from TV and film. With all of this, we bring you Maine POPS, Unplugged!”

The concert is open to the public, with donations of $10 per person accepted at the door to help defer operating costs for the performance.

Holiday Benefit Concerts in December

Once the fall concert is complete, the Maine Pops will quickly move into holiday mode and prepare for two Christmas benefit concerts in December. On December 11, the band returns to St. Luke’s for a 2:30 p.m. concert. The performance continues a long tradition of holiday concerts between the Maine Pops and St. Luke’s, with proceeds going to the church’s humanitarian efforts in and around the Portland area.

The band will conclude its holiday season with its second holiday concert on Wednesday, December 14 at the Mountainside Community Church, located at 18 Mountain Road in Falmouth, ME. As with the St. Luke’s holiday concert, proceeds from the Mountainside performance will go to humanitarian efforts in the Portland region.

For more information, please contact president@mainepops.org or sbarrett@mainepops.org.

The Maine Pops is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit corporation. Contributions may be tax-deductible.