GRAMMY-winner Lucas Richman Celebrates 60th Birthday with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra All-Richman program highlights the power of music to heal BANGOR, ME April 3, 2024 | by Brian Horner Composer and GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Lucas Richman celebrates his 60th birthday with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in a series of events showcasing his music as a manifestation of his deep belief in the healing power of music. A week of festivities culminates in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s 2023-2024 season finale, featuring compositions solely by Richman, on Sunday, April 28, at 3:00pm at the Coll ..read more

By Judy Harrison. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor is a marathon for any orchestra. It takes 68 minutes to play its five movements, nearly twice as long as it takes an orchestra to play Ludwig van Beethoven’s fifth symphony. The piece, performed Sunday by the Bangor Symphony Orchestra at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono, required 74 musicians, more than the 56 on stage for the opening concert in October or the 49 used for the phenomenal January performance that wove a tapestry of sound out of new and old music. Mahler’s symphony required hiring extra musicians ..read more

At St. Joseph Healthcare, we’ve often witnessed the transformative nature of music. Jamie Eldridge was a 58-year-old man with Down syndrome who was suffering from advanced dementia. Near the end of his life, he experienced true joy after hearing a well-known melody he had always held dear. Jamie was a Special Olympian, a McDonald’s employee and an active member of the local community. His mother was his primary caregiver and shortly after she passed away, Jamie was confined to a hospital bed. He was no longer mobile or vocal and was eventually admitted to St. Joe’s. However, his love for Star ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 8, 2024 Bangor Symphony Orchestra Announces Mitchell Newman as New Concertmaster Bangor, Maine – The Bangor Symphony Orchestra (BSO) proudly announces the appointment of Mitchell Newman as its permanent Concertmaster. This significant appointment follows Newman’s impactful tenure as Interim Concertmaster, a period marked by exemplary leadership and artistic contributions. Lucas Richman, Conductor and Music Director of the BSO, is enthusiastic in welcoming him to this position: “It’s been my privilege to have shared music-making with Mitchell Newman for many year ..read more

Bangor Symphony Orchestra Conductor and Music Director Lucas Richman combined music written in the 18th, 19th and 21st centuries for  a stunning concert Jan. 28 at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono. Entitled, “Past, Present, Future: Bach and Beyond,” the performance of a new work by Nathan Shields and the performance by guest piano soloist Awadagin Pratt thrilled the audience. This concert will be remembered as one of the best ever offered under Richman’s baton in his 14-year tenure. Shields, who teaches at St. John’s College and the Brooklyn Institute for Socia ..read more

Rockland, ME – The Ellis-Beauregard Foundation is pleased to award Keith Fitch from Cleveland Heights, OH its annual $50,000 Composer Award.  With the Award, Fitch will create a new work to be performed during the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-25 season. Fitch was selected through a juried national competition and chosen from over 304 applicants. “I am thrilled and honored to have been selected as this year’s recipient of the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation’s Composer Award, and I’m very much looking forward to working with Maestro Richman and the Bangor Symphony in the creation of a new w ..read more

Mezzo-Soprano Michelle DeYoung performed Sunday with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra at the Collins Center for the Arts. Credit: Courtesy of Michal Novak Bangor Daily News, November 20, 2023 by Judy Harrison Doomed lovers were the focus of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s extraordinarily fine concert Sunday at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono. The program, titled “Star-Crossed: Romeo and Juliet,” included “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” by Claude Debussy, the Prelude and Liebestod from the opera “Tristan und Isolde” by Richard Wagner, and selections from “Romeo and Juliet ..read more

Bangor Daily News, October 4, 2023 by Judy Harrison Bangor, ME – Guest pianist Margarita Shevchenko blew the roof off the Collins Center for the Arts on Sunday in a stunningly beautiful performance of Edvard Grieg’s iconic Piano Concerto in A minor with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Shevchenko captivated the audience as the symphony kicked off its 128th season with a musical tour of Scandinavia that was splendid. The program included works by Jean Sibelius of Finland and the little known female Swedish composer Elfrida Andree. What makes Grieg’s only piano concerto unique is that it begins wi ..read more

The Bangor Symphony Orchestra is delighted to announce the appointment of Renia Shterenberg as its new Executive Director, effective September 1, 2023. Ms. Shterenberg brings a wealth of experience in arts administration and, as a former violinist, has a deep-rooted passion for classical music. In her role with the BSO, she will provide leadership and vision while assuming the role of the organization’s strategic and operational leader, overseeing the artistic, financial, and administrative aspects of the organization, continuing the BSO’s long-term goals of artistic excellence, community enga ..read more

Bangor, ME — The Bangor Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce 10 new members following the organization’s first auditions since 2019, as well as appointments based on prior auditions. Dr. Stuart Marrs, percussion, has held numerous roles with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra during his three decade tenure at the University of Maine as a professor of music. Having first subbed as a percussionist/timpanist with the BSO in 1989, he is now appointed as a member of the orchestra. As soloist, clinician, orchestral timpanist-percussionist, conductor, and teacher, Dr. Marrs’ professional experie ..read more