About the 2008 Festival

Francis Fortier, Artistic Director

Variety is the key to the Bar Harbor Music Festival, and on more than just the musical front. Concertgoers can take in everything from string orchestra concerts and nights of jazz or brass to New Composers concerts and even Opera!  Our venues are as varied as the musical menu: the Bar Harbor Congregational Church, known for its excellent acoustics; "Balance Rock Inn 1903" , the magnificent turn-of-the-century shorefront mansion built for Scottish railroad tycoon Alexander Maitland and his family; Blackwoods Campground Amphitheatre in spectacular Acadia National Park, the amazing art-deco Criterion Theater (a jewel in the heart of downtown) and the elegant Bar Harbor Regency Holiday Inn Walsh House. To quote music critic, Harty Preble Archer, "A trip to the Bar Harbor Music Festival is never disappointing."

Acclaimed by Phi Beta Baton as "one of the nations proving grounds for gifted young artists" , the Bar Harbor Music Festival has gained national recognition as one of the few music festivals in the United States whose mission is to provide essential performance opportunities for outstanding upandcoming talent. Over the past 40 years, the Festival has advanced the careers of over 1,500 aspiring professional instrumentalists, singers, and composers.

I look forward to personally welcoming you at a Bar Harbor Music Festival concert this summer.

Sincerely,
Francis Fortier
Artistic Director