(Rockport, ME) A golden anniversary deserves to be special and Bay Chamber Concerts’ 50th Anniversary Summer Music Festival promises to be just that. Bay Chamber’s season opens this Thursday, July 1, at 8:00 pm at the Rockport Opera House with musical icons Shmuel Ashkenasi on violin and Peter Serkin on piano. There will be a pre-concert talk featuring these remarkable musicians at 7:00 pm also in the Rockport Opera House. Following the talk there will be a complimentary champagne toast to the season at 7:45 pm (for “50th Anniversary Opening Night” ticket holders only). Serkin and Ashkenasi will be performing works by Dallapiccola, Busoni, and Beethoven (his Kreutzer Sonata)!

“Shmuel and Peter have been part of the Bay Chamber family since the beginning,” says Bay Chamber’s Artistic Director and co-founder, Thomas Wolf. “Shmuel performed in our very first season, fifty years ago, and Peter in our second. I am thrilled that they agreed to open our golden anniversary celebration. It’s going to be a very special concert.”

Peter Serkin has collaborated with such esteemed musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, the Budapest, Guarneri, Vermeer and Orion string quartets and TASHI, of which he was a founding member. In 1958, at age eleven, Serkin entered the Curtis Institute of Music, and in 1959, made his New York debut followed by appearances with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras.

A founding member of the Vermeer Quartet, Shmuel Ashkenasi has performed in more than 35 seasons of Bay Chamber Concerts. An alumnus and faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Ashkenasi has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras in the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union and Japan. “50th Season Opening Night” is sponsored in memory of Anne R. & Richard W. Davidson.

A post concert reception will be held following the concert at the Center for Maine Contemporary Arts and will feature refreshments compliments of Farmers Fare in Rockport. In addition, on Thursday nights throughout July and August Farmers Fare will be offering Bay Chamber patrons a light pre-concert meal and free round-trip shuttle service in time for the pre-concert talk at 7 pm or for the concert 8 pm. Avoid Rockport Village parking and enjoy a delicious meal at Farmers Fare located at 3 Cross Street, Route 90 in Rockport! Local foods will be featured including: light fare, cheese, wine and charcuterie.

As part of the Festival of Independence weekend, Bay Chamber will be presenting a free outdoor concert in Camden Harbor Park on Saturday, July 3 at 8:30 pm. Emil Stuccio and the Classics return to Camden to perform with The Chiclettes in Bay Chamber’s “July 3rd Doo-Wop Bash” concert, which will include the evening fireworks! Join Bay Chamber; the Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce; the Camden Rotary; and downtown Camden businesses in celebrating America’s Independence! The rain location for “July 3rd Doo-Wop Bash” is the Rockport Opera House. The concert is sponsored by Camden Harbour Inn and Natalie’s.

Coming up next week: Bay Chamber opens its Wednesday Night series at the Strand Theatre in Rockland with “Flute Feste” on July 7 at 8:00 pm. A concert of rarely heard, flashy and virtuosic music for four flutes with accompanying instruments! Also, new this year, Wednesday nights will feature pre-concert Music and Art talks with Tom Wolf, Artistic Director, Michael Komanecky, Chief Curator and guests in the galleries of the Farnsworth Art Museum. Bay Chamber will also present Classical Treasures on Thursday, July 8 at 8:00 pm in the Rockport Opera House. The concert will feature works by Haydn, Brahms and Spohr.

Tickets to “50th Season Opening Night” are $50. Most events in the Summer Music Festival are $30/$40 for adults, $8 for youth ages 18 and under. Discounts are available up to 30% off tickets for subscribers and groups of 8 or more. Several events are free and open to the public. The Season Underwriter is Down East Magazine, Associate Underwriter is Samoset Resort, and Media Sponsor is Village Soup. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please contact Bay Chamber Concerts at (207) 236-2823, toll free at (888) 707-2770 or online at www.baychamberconcerts.org.

On Thursday, July 1st.

(Rockport, ME) A golden anniversary deserves to be special and Bay Chamber Concerts’ 50th Anniversary Summer Music Festival promises to be just that. Bay Chamber’s season opens this Thursday, July 1, at 8:00 pm at the Rockport Opera House with musical icons Shmuel Ashkenasi on violin and Peter Serkin on piano. There will be a pre-concert talk featuring these remarkable musicians at 7:00 pm, also in the Rockport Opera House. Following the talk there will be a complimentary champagne toast to the season at 7:45 pm (for “50th Anniversary Opening Night” ticket holders only). Serkin and Ashkenasi will be performing works by Dallapiccola, Busoni, and Beethoven (his Kreutzer Sonata)!

Special Events for the Season Planned by Community Businesses

(Rockport, ME) Bay Chamber Concerts turns 50 this summer as Midcoast Maine’s premiere presenter of the performing arts! Several special events, including Pop the Cork 2010, Natalie’s World Red Carpet, and Sneak Peek! have been planned to celebrate the special occasion and to benefit Bay Chamber Concerts and its community music school. In addition, Farmers Fare, The Farnsworth Art Museum and CMCA and Bay Chamber Concerts are planning ongoing summer collaborations as part of the anniversary season. “We are fortunate to have many generous partners to share in our celebration this summer,” said Managing Director, Monica Kelly.

With Summer Music Festival, Community Music School Expansion and New Offices.

(Rockport, ME) Bay Chamber Concerts turns 50 this summer as Midcoast Maine’s premiere presenter of the performing arts! Bay Chamber is kicking off its golden anniversary by relocating to new headquarters at the historic Shepherd Block in Rockport village. The move will mark the official beginning of Bay Chamber’s Community Music School and is highlighted by the upcoming 50th Anniversary Summer Music Festival featuring an extraordinary lineup of performers.

(Image: Photograph of the Very First Bay Chamber Concert on July 13, 1961, Featuring Members of the Bay Festival String Quartet with Andrew Wolf, Pianist)

(Camden, ME) Bay Chamber Concerts Artistic Director and Co-founder, Thomas Wolf, recently announced the organization’s 50th Anniversary season. “It is a milestone for us and so many distinguished musicians from all over the world want to be part of it.” The season opens on Thursday, July 1st at the Rockport Opera House at 8:00 pm, and altogether there will be 25 summer events.

Opening night will feature Shmuel Ashkenasi, violinist and Peter Serkin, pianist. Shmuel played in the very first season, then went on to take a major prize at one of the most prestigious of International Competitions, the Tchaikovsky in Moscow. Peter Serkin played in the second season and has also gone on to an illustrious career. After the Bay Chamber concert, he will appear with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Following the July 1st concert, there will be programs starting at 8:00 pm every Thursday night in July and August at the Rockport Opera House. At 7:00 pm each Thursday before the performance, there will be free pre-concert talks featuring the musicians and Thomas Wolf. On Wednesday nights, an 8:00 pm Rockland series at the Strand Theatre will be preceded by free 7:00 pm music and art talks at the Farnsworth Art Museum. There will be two special concerts will at the Farnsworth Art Museum Wyeth Center on Wednesday, August 11th, the first concert will begin at 6:30 pm and the second at 8:45 pm. After all concerts there will be a free post-concert reception with the artists and complimentary refreshments.

In a recent interview Wolf recalled how Bay Chamber Concerts got started. “My late brother Andy and I wanted to revive the concerts that had been going on in Rockport since 1930. That was when Mary Curtis Bok established the summer school of her famous Philadelphia based conservatory – the Curtis Institute of Music – in Rockport. Our grandmother, Lea Luboshutz, was a violin professor at the school and had one of the teaching houses on Rockport Harbor. Andy and I gave our first concerts in that house. He was 13 and I was 11. Many illustrious musicians were in the audience. It was a heady experience and we caught the performing bug. We and some of our musician friends wanted to move on to a real concert hall.”

Among those who will return to Rockport this summer are such luminaries as the international violin star, Midori, and pianist Menahem Pressler, now in his eighth decade of performing. The series will be anchored by Bay Chamber Concerts’ resident ensemble, the St. Lawrence String Quartet. “We are so fortunate to have one of the leading quartets in the world today. And I am pleased that there will be ample opportunity to hear young and emerging talent. We will hold our annual concert of students from the Curtis Institute of Music appearing with their distinguished director, violist Roberto Diaz. And we will present young people from Bay Chamber Concerts’ own music school, which is in the process of moving into the newly renovated Shepherd Block in Rockport Village. It is a return to our roots, to what Bay Chamber Concerts is all about,” says Wolf, “young musicians and seasoned stars performing together as part of a vibrant musical community.”

In addition to the classical music concerts, there will be jazz – the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble will appear on Wednesday, July 14th – as well as music and film (a Buster Keaton classic with original live music on Wednesday, August 18th). “It wouldn’t be an anniversary without our share of special celebrations,” says Wolf, “and there will be many! Visit our website or stop by the office to pick up a brochure to learn more.”

Bay Chamber will be offering three free concerts as part this season – including a special 50th Anniversary outdoor concert at the Camden Harbor Park. Emil Stuccio and The Classics return to Camden to perform with The Chiclettes in Bay Chamber’s “July 3rd Doo-Wop Bash.” These popular singing groups will provide a concert to kick-off Independence Day Weekend that will include the evening fireworks in Camden.

When asked about why so many musical stars come back year after year, Wolf didn’t hesitate: “To be part of Bay Chamber Concerts is to be part of an extended family. The audience feels it and the musicians feel it. After the concerts the entire audience is invited to go out with us and socialize. Audience members can experience the authenticity of musicians as real people. The musicians come to realize just how meaningful the concerts are to the people who attend. It is wonderful to see that chemistry. It has been going on for decades and hopefully will continue for at least another 50 years!”

For more information on this season's programs, to purchase tickets or to subscribe to Bay Chamber Concerts, please call 207-236-2823 or visit their website at www.baychamberconcerts.org.

Through February 21, 2010.

The Colby College Museum of Art celebrates its 50th anniversary with a museum-wide exhibition of its collection. Art at Colby: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Colby College Museum of Art features objects from the museum’s collections of American, European, Asian, and contemporary art, and is accompanied by an audio tour and a richly illustrated book of collection highlights, with essays by a wide range of scholars and artists.

For more information, please visit the Colby College Museum of Art website.