Ave Maris Stella
photo by Marti Stone, 2008
Upcoming Concerts
Summer 2009
Saints & Sinners
Saturday, June 27, 7:30 p.m.
Blue Hill Congregational Church
Blue Hill
Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m
Belfast Free Library
Belfast
Sunday, July 12, at 4:00 p.m.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Chestnut Street
Camden
(reception to follow)
Ave Maris Stella, an a cappella vocal ensemble based in midcoast Maine and
dedicated to fine performances of mostly early music will perform its
popular annual summer program in June and July.
As the backbone of this summer’s program, titled "Saints & Sinners,”
the group will sing the five movements of the Ordinary of the Mass, in
order. The twist will be that each movement will be by a different composer
from a different era with secular works corresponding to that era
interspersed between them. The first mass movement, the Kyrie from the
medieval “Messe du Jour de Noel,” is thought to be by Leonin; the last will
be a contemporary setting of the Agnus Dei from the 1921 “Mass in G Minor”
by Ralph Vaughan Williams. In between will be a Gloria by Josquin , a Credo
by Johannes Ciconia (possibly the first performance of this in the state if
not the country), and the Sanctus & Benedictus from Palestrina’s glorious
six-part "Pope Marcellus Mass."
Admission is by donation, $10 per adult suggested. Tickets available at the
door.
FMI: 236-9413; www.avemarisstella.org.
"I used to drive to Boston to hear this kind of music at this level!"
All the way home, and now as I try to get into something else, I keep thinking of the evening's music. One moment I'm thinking about how amazing it is that such talented people live around me; people who can do what you do IN THEIR SPARE TIME. And the next I'm not thinking at all, but drifting off on a passage that comes back to me.
Suddenly the 'real world' around me evaporated. The music filled every crevice of my awareness. I didn't hear voices. I wasn't aware that people were singing. The music was JUST THERE, coming out of someplace beyond the air. It slipped through the molecules and left me transfixed. It was so BEAUTIFUL. I'm still on the verge of tears. It's vital to be reminded that humans can produce incredible beauty.
I'm sure you all enjoy what you do, but I hope you know that it's much more than that. Have you any idea of the powerful gift you give? I am still awe-struck -- and profoundly grateful.
to audition:
click here
Members
Dee Bielenberg
Andrea Boothby
Laura Buxbaum
Cheryl Cosby
Charlie Grey
Elena Hamilton - Music Director
John Gass
Jane Hards
Dan Kirchoff
Jane McFarland
Dominic Mercadante
Joe Mooney
Gregory Moore
Morten Moesswilde
Gretchen Piston Ogden - Executive Director
Rachel Turner
Stephen Wallace
Kenelm Winslow
In Memoriam
Katherine Brand (1952 - 2005)
Roy Salzman (1933 - 2006)
Founders
Katherine Brand
Sharon Osborne
Recent Performances:
January 14,2009
St. Peters Episcopal Church
Rockland, ME
program
January 2009
January 23, 2009
First Church
Belfast, ME
January 25, 2009
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Camden, ME
press release June 2008
June 6, 2008
St. John Baptist Episcopal Church
Thomaston, ME
June 7, 2008
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Camden, ME
June 8, 2008
St. Denis Catholic Church
North Whitefield, ME
April 19, 2008
"A Cappella Fest"
Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro, Maine
press release
poster
January 20, 2008,
First Church in Belfast, Belfast, Maine
January 25,
Camden Public Library, Camden,
Maine
January 26,
Blue Hill Congregational
Church, Blue Hill, Maine
June 17, 2007
Elan Fine Arts,
Rockport, Maine
June 15, 2007
First Church in
Belfast, Belfast, Maine
January 28, 2007
Camden Public Library Reading Room, Camden
January 21, 2007
Episcopal Church of St. John Baptist, Thomaston
October 6, 2006 - Celebration of
Life Concert
Camden Opera House
June 16, 2006 - The Oval Room, Montpelier
(General Henry Knox Mansion), Thomaston
June 18, 2006, St. Margaret’s Church, Belfast
April 22, 2006, Voices of Hope
Merrill Auditorium, Concert for the Good Shepherd Food-Bank
January 6, 2006 - St. Denis Catholic Church
298 Grand Army Road, North Whitefield
January 8, 2006 - Camden Public Library
Thursday, November 3, 2005 - Harbor Square Gallery, Rockland
opener for the International Film Festival of the Spirit