The 59th Season of the Bar Harbor Music Festival

“…one of New England’s great music festivals”
-Nan Lincoln, The Bar Harbor Times

“Maine’s Premier Music Festival”
– WGBH Classical New England/Boston

ORDER TICKETS ONLINE
Artists and productions are subject to change

Oceanview Tea Concert – Music of the Americas for Flute and Guitar with Oren Fader, guitar and Allison Kiger, flute
Thu Jul 3, 2025 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

La Rochelle Mansion
127 West St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Legendary guitarist Oren Fader performs music inspired by the folk music of North and South America with flutist Allison Kiger. Program includes Mountain Songs by Robert Beaser, Monhegan Suite by John Kuziak, L’Histoire du Tango by Astor Piazzolla and more.

Chopin 2.0 and American Fireworks for Piano including Rhapsody in Blue
– Christopher Johnson, piano
Sun Jul 6, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Director’s Gala Dinner at Havana restaurant 6PM Tuesday July 8th
Tue Jul 8, 2025 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Havana Restaurant
318 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

​”Transformations – Songs of Change” Omar Najmi, Tenor and Brendan Shapiro, piano
Wed Jul 9, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Omar Najmi, Tenor and Brendan Shapiro, piano
Transformations
-Songs of Change-

A Young Man’s Exhortation, Op. 14 (selections) Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)
A Young Man’s Exhortation text by Thomas Hardy
Ditty
Transformations
The Dance Continued

Quatre Mélodies, Op. 8 Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Nocturne text by Maurice Bouchor
Amour d’antan
Printemps triste
Nos souvenirs

Intermission

At Last Omar Najmi (b. 1987)
Edge text by Geraldine Anello
Who
Without Daring
Letters
This Is It
Intermezzo
Happiest Day
Land
Missing
At Last
William Gregory, trumpet

American Folk Songs (selections) Steven Mark Kohn (b. 1957)
California\
Red Iron Ore
Ten Thousand Miles

Stranger in Paradise, from Kismet Robert Wright/George Forrest

Jazz Club Night with Swingin’ Overtime and Timatha Kasten
Sat Jul 12, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

The Neighborhood House
1 Kimball Rd, Northeast Harbor, ME 04662

Calling all music lovers and ballroom dancers! A great night of jazz, drinks, and dancing at Neighborhood House. Get on your feet or stay in your seat and enjoy the sounds of Swinging’ Overtime – Maine’s best jazz band players led by Shane Ellis, with guest vocalist Timatha Kasten, of the former Rainbow Room in NYC. and MDI entertainer Sara Jones. Cash Bar.

OPERA – ELIXIR OF LOVE
2PM Matinee July 15th at the Criterion Theater, Reception at Cafe This Way
Tue Jul 15, 2025 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Opera returns to Bar Harbor with a raucous and fresh retelling of one of opera’s greatest romantic comedies, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (Elixir of Love). This immersive experience, produced by Sarah Joyce Cooper and Eric Mahl and Directed by Marshall Hughes, brings love, gangsters, hilarity and joy to the Criterion theater this summer as we travel back into the 1930s. Full of color, energy and life, this production is sure to have you laughing, crying, and falling in love with our all-star cast.

Nemorino, a humble and lovesick paperboy will do anything to win the affection of Adina, the beautiful and wealthy daughter of the Mayor. When Belcore, a notorious mob boss arrives with his cronies and sets his sights on Adina, Nemorino knows that time is running out for him to win Adina’s heart. Just in the nick of time, “Doctor” Dulcamara, a quack physician and scam artist arrives with the perfect solution for Nemorino: the Elixir of Love! Scheming and hijinks ensue as this rowdy bunch competes for money, marriage, and true love.

With Sarah Joyce Cooper, soprano, Omar Najmi, tenor, Junhan Choi, bass-baritone, Eliam Ramos, bass-baritone, and Timatha Kasten, soprano, Marshall Hughes, Stage Director, and a pit ensemble conducted by Eric Mahl.

Reception with the artists THANKS to the generosity of Cafe This Way 14 Mount Desert St.

OPERA – ELIXIR OF LOVE 7:30PM July 16th at the Criterion Theater
Wed Jul 16, 2025 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

1932 Criterion Theatre
35 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Opera returns to Bar Harbor with a raucous and fresh retelling of one of opera’s greatest romantic comedies, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (Elixir of Love). This immersive experience, produced by Sarah Joyce Cooper and Eric Mahl and Directed by Marshall Hughes, brings love, gangsters, hilarity and joy to the Criterion theater this summer as we travel back into the 1930s. Full of color, energy and life, this production is sure to have you laughing, crying, and falling in love with our all-star cast.

Nemorino, a humble and lovesick paperboy will do anything to win the affection of Adina, the beautiful and wealthy daughter of the Mayor. When Belcore, a notorious mob boss arrives with his cronies and sets his sights on Adina, Nemorino knows that time is running out for him to win Adina’s heart. Just in the nick of time, “Doctor” Dulcamara, a quack physician and scam artist arrives with the perfect solution for Nemorino: the Elixir of Love! Scheming and hijinks ensue as this rowdy bunch competes for money, marriage, and true love.

With Sarah Joyce Cooper, soprano, Omar Najmi, tenor, Junhan Choi, bass-baritone, Eliam Ramos, bass-baritone, and Timatha Kasten, soprano, Marshall Hughes, Stage Director, and a pit ensemble conducted by Eric Mahl.

Janey Choi and Friends Chamber Music for Strings and Piano 10:30am POPOVER CONCERT
Sat Jul 19, 2025 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

A one-hour concert with a popover fresh from The Stadium in Bar Harbor. Chamber Music for Strings and Piano by Dohnányi and Brahms.

Janey ‘n’ Friends Evening Concert – Beethoven, Dohnányi, and Brahms for Strings and Piano
Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Beethoven Piano Trio Op. 70 no 1 in D major “Ghost” , Dohnányi Serenade for Strings in C Major, Brahms Piano Quartet no 3 in C Minor, Op. 60

Janey Choi, violin, Arthur Dibble, viola, Kirsten Jermé, cello, Vadim Serebryany, piano

Vadim Serebryany, piano recital “Music and Dreams” 10:30am POPOVER CONCERT
Wed Jul 23, 2025 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

A one-hour concert with a popover fresh from The Stadium in Bar Harbor. Music for solo piano featuring Chopin Polonaise-fantaisie, op. 61 and Carnaval. Op. 9 of Robert Schumann

Vadim Serebrayany Evening Concert – “Music and Dreams”
for piano. Music by Chopin, Debussy, Schumann, and Ives
Wed Jul 23, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

“Music and Dreams”

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Nocturne in E-flat, op. 55#2
Charles Ives (1874-1954) The Alcotts, from Sonata #2, Concord, Mass.
Chopin Polonaise-fantaisie, op. 61

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Clair de Lune, from Suite Bergamasque
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Carnaval, op. 9
Vadim Serebryany, piano

Wyrick and Friends String Trio
10:30am POPOVER CONCERT “Echoes of Eternity” Music by Schubert and Beethoven
Wed Jul 30, 2025 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

A one-hour concert with a popover fresh from The Stadium in Bar Harbor. Schubert D. 471 and Beethoven Op. 9 no. 1

Wyrick and Friends
Trio 7:30PM Evening Concert – “Echoes of Eternity” Beethoven, Schubert, and Gideon Klein for Strings
Wed Jul 30, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Schubert String Trio D. 471, Gideon Klein Trio, Beethoven String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, no 1

Eric Wyrick, violin, Alissa Wyrick, viola, Kirsten Jermé, cello

Festival Orchestra in Bar Harbor – Sibelius, Mozart, and Strauss with Pyotr Akulov, piano soloist 5PM Concert
Mon Aug 4, 2025 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

The Bar Harbor Festival Orchestra conducted by David Alexander Rahbee

Sibelius Andante festivo
Strauss Burleske in D Minor TrV 145 for piano and orchestra, Pyotr Akulov, piano soloist
Mozart Symphony no. 41 in C Major, K. 551 “Jupiter”

Pyotr Akulov piano recital “Passion and Elegy” 10:30am POPOVER CONCERT music by Chopin, Prokofiev, and more
Sat Aug 9, 2025 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

A one-hour concert with a popover fresh from The Stadium in Bar Harbor. Music for solo piano by Cooper International Competition Winner Pyotr Akulov featuring Chopin and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

Pyotr Akulov 7:30PM Evening Concert “Passion and Elegy – Chopin to Prokofiev”
Sat Aug 9, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

International competition winner and Russian pianist Pyotr Akulov in recital – music of Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

Audrey Goodner “Violin Fireworks” with Ann Sears, piano 10:30am POPOVER CONCERT
Wed Aug 13, 2025 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

A one-hour concert with a popover fresh from The Stadium in Bar Harbor. Virtuosic violin music by Fritz Kreisler and the Franck Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano. Prizewinning young sensation Audrey Goodner with Ann Sears, piano.

Audrey Goodner Violin Fireworks 7:30PM Evening Concert – Kreisler, Franck, Stravinsky with Ann Sears, piano
Wed Aug 13, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Virtuosic violin music by Fritz Kreisler including the Praeludium and Allegro, Liebeslied and Liebesfreud, and the Franck Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano. Prizewinning young sensation Audrey Goodner with Ann Sears, piano.

TRISTAN TRIO 10:30am POPOVER CONCERT Music for piano trio by Debussy and Mendelssohn
Sat Aug 16, 2025 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

TRISTAN TRIO 7:30PM Evening Concert – “Threads of Light and Memory” music by Debussy, Saariho, and Mendelsson
Sat Aug 16, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Tristan Piano Trio
Thomas Cooper, violin, Tyler Michael James, cello, Aljoša Jurinić, piano
Debussy Piano Trio in G Major, L. 5
Kiaja Saariho Light and Matter
Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66

41st Annual New Composers Concert – World premieres by Josh Mastel, Beth Weimann, and Skip La Plante
Wed Aug 20, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

New Music for a combination of traditional and micro-tonal and invented instruments. World premieres by Josh Mastel, Skip La Plante, and Beth Weimann. Pre-concert lecture at 6PM. Featuring performers Skip La Plante, percussion. Laurie Bennett, vocalist, Allison Kiger, flute, Jameson Platte, cello, Ann Sears, piano. PRE-CONCERT LECTURE by Joshua Mastel at 6PM.

ALL-BEETHOVEN BLOCKBUSTER 10:30am POPOVER CONCERT -Christopher Johnson, piano
Sat Aug 30, 2025 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

A one-hour concert with a popover fresh from The Stadium in Bar Harbor. Beethoven Sonatas by Festival favorite pianist Christopher Johnson

Christopher Johnson 7:30PM Evening Concert – “ALL-Beethoven Blockbuster”
Sat Aug 30, 2025 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Christopher Johnson “An ALL-BEETHOVEN Blockbuster” with “Moonlight,” “Pathétique,” and “Waldstein” piano sonatas.

“20th Century America through Music” 5PM Flute music of Piston, Copland, Barber, Capers, Coleman with Allison Kiger
Sun Oct 12, 2025 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church
41 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Compositions often contain rich insights about the era in which they were written. The experience of being an American in the 20th Century is revealed through great works by Walter Piston, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Valerie Capers, and “Portraits of Langston” by Valerie Coleman. Allison Kiger, flute, Eric Thomas, clarinet, and Christina Spurling, piano. With a world premiere tribute to Allan Kleinman by Eric Thomas.