Classic Film Series - Romantic Comedy
2024-02-18 18:00 (America/New_York) | S. Judson Dunaway Center community multi-purpose room on the lower level, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
click HERE to join the email list and learn the film title!

In response to changes in the town’s use of the Dunaway Center, and conditions mandated by film licensing requirements, OPA’s 22nd Annual Winter Classic Film Series will reflect a few changes. The changes will enable us to continue to offer free admission, parking and popcorn.
Location Still at the Dunaway Center, however, films will be screened in the community multi-purpose room on the lower level, rather than in the community auditorium. The entrance is at the back of the building, adjacent to the parking area, formerly the Police Department entrance.
2024 Film Series Selection Details Due to licensing restrictions, titles and actors can only be promoted by postings at the Dunaway Center, and through the OPA email list. If you are not already on the mailing list, you can enroll below. If you believe you have already enrolled, but have not regularly received updates about performances, you might need to check your spam or junk mailboxes. We have learned that some email host systems screen out email blasts.

Classic Film Series - Adventure Film
2024-02-18 18:00, 2024-03-03 14:00, 2024-03-17 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center community multi-purpose room on the lower level, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

Stillson School of Irish Dance
2024-03-09 18:30 | Wells Junior High School, 1470 Post Rd. (Route 1 just south of Route 109 intersection), Wells, ME, 04090, United States
Irish Stepdancing continues to be a wildly popular art form for performers and audiences alike. Ogunquit Performing Arts celebrates this unique style of dance at this most appropriate time of year. The award-winning Stillson dancers, returning to Ogunquit by popular demand, will perform a brilliant array of jigs and reels, dressed in a variety of dazzling, hand-made costumes.
The performance will consist of both the fluid soft shoe style as well as the rhythmic hard shoe popularized by shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.
At the end of the performance, the dancers will invite children and the young at heart to join them onstage to learn or try out some steps.

The Stillson School of Irish Dance is under the direction of the celebrated dancer/teacher Carlene Moran Stillson ADCRG/TCRG. She is accredited by Ad Coimisium in Dublin, Ireland and a member of IDTANA (Irish Dancing Teacher’s Association of North America). Carlene has a long tradition of dancing having started at age 4. She has competed in the New England Regional, North American, and World Championships.
In existence for more than 20 years, the Stillson School is the only certified school of Irish dancing in the state of Maine and its dancers compete all over New England and place in the New England Regional Irish Dancing Championships annually, and in competitions around the world.
In addition to the dance performance, Carlene Stillson will tell present the history of the dance and explain the reasons for the design of the many different costumes worn by the dancers. Traditional Irish dress is represented in the school dress which features embroidery designs taken from the Book of Kells.
The Stillson School of Irish Dance also has an active show team which has performed throughout New England as well as on the Ellipse at the White House. They have been featured dancers accompanying such renowned Celtic performers as Solas, Cherish the Ladies, Trinity Dance Company, Liz Carroll, Billy McComiskey and Mick Moloney, and Eileen Ivers.
Irish stepdance is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is generally characterized by a stiff upper body and fast and precise movements of the feet. It can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public dance performances, there are also stepdance competitions all over the world.
From the late 1800s, when the Gaelic League began to organize cultural festivals, Irish step dance developed a competitive element. Throughout the 20th century, structures for competition developed and spread across the globe..These competitions are often called Feiseanna (singular Feis). In Irish dance culture, a Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival.
Costumes are considered important for stage presence in competition and performance. In many cases, costumes are sold at high prices and can even be custom made. Each costume is different, with varying colors and patterns, designed to attract the judge’s eye in competitions and the audience’s eye in performance.

Classic Film Series - Musical
2024-04-07 18:00, 2024-04-21 18:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center community multi-purpose room on the lower level, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

Jason Anick's Rhythm Future Quartet with Matt DeChamplain. "A Tribute to Oscar Peterson and Stephane Grappelli"
2024-05-18 19:30 | Jonathan’s Ogunquit, 92 Bourne Ln, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Ticket Information: $25 On-line sales will be handled by Jonathans www.jonathansogunquit.com and may also be purchased at the door. Special dinner packages will be offered by Jonathan’s. All ticket sales will accrue to the benefit of Ogunquit Performing Arts.

Pianist Matt DeChamplain and violinist Jason Anick celebrate the release of their newest CD, paying tribute to jazz giants pianist Oscar Peterson and violinist Stephane Grappelli.

OPA gratefully acknowledges Jonathan’s Restaurant, Ogunquit, for graciously providing OPA with their wonderful stage and facilities for this special event, (due to the possibility that our home venue at the S. Judson Dunaway Center might not be available due to unforeseen circumstances).

Pianist Matt DeChamplain and violinist Jason Anick team up to celebrate the release of their newest CD, which pays tribute to jazz giants and frequent collaborators, pianist Oscar Peterson and violinist Stephane Grappelli. Rounding out the group for this special concert will be Max O’Rourke on Guitar and Eduardo Belo on bass.

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Listen to Jason and Matt

Jason and Matt have each performed for Ogunquit Performing Arts (OPA) in Ogunquit for more than 10 years, having been invited back to perform here numerous times to ecstatic audiences. Their new collaboration and return to our community is much anticipated both by long-time fans and jazz afficionados, old and new.
Berklee College of Music Professor Jason Anick, has earned a reputation among string players as an imaginative improviser, versatile composer, and insightful educator. Growing up playing fiddle tunes with his family and classical music with local orchestras, he developed a passion for improvisation, which led him to study jazz and classical music at Hartt Conservatory. In 2008, Anick started what would be a 10-year stint touring and recording with Grammy award-winning guitar virtuoso John Jorgenson while still a senior at Hartt Conservatory.
As a band-leader, Anick has launched a variety of musical projects over the years, including the Gypsy Jazz group Rhythm Future Quartet, an Americana-inspired Acoustic Trio, and a contemporary jazz ensemble with pianist Jason Yeager. His string of recordings (Sleepless, Tipping Point, United, Travels, Rhythm Future Quartet and Friends) has earned him praise from Downbeat Magazine as a “Rising Star in the world of jazz violin,” and from the Boston Globe: “Jason’s compositional voice is as distinctive as his virtuoso playing.”
Sought after as a sideman, Anick has shared the stage from such diverse genres as well-known artists as Stevie Wonder, Guster, and the Jim Kweksin Jug Band. Fellow artist Regina Carter described him as “Equally gifted as a musician and composer.” And veteran Christian Howes lauds him with high praise “Jason is easily one of the best jazz violinists and mandolinists of his generation.”
He has performed around the world, from China to Japan, and across Europe, and in such renowned venues as the Montreal Jazz Festival, as well as such well-known regional jazz clubs as Scullers, Blue Note and the Regatta Bar. His work has been featured on NPR and The Tonight Show.
Pianist Matt DeChamplain grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut. During high school Matt attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts studying under Jimmy Greene and Dave Santoro. He obtained his bachelors degree from the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at the Hartt School in 2010 and graduated with his masters from the University of Toledo in Ohio in 2012.
Also sought after by such musical artists from diverse musical genres, Matt has performed with such well known artists as the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Jose Feliciano and has opened for the Wynton Marsalis Quintet. In his well-received solo album, Stride Bop, Matt sought to uniquely fuse the Harlem Slide tradition with bebop and hard bob, while integrating swing and blues elements. His work has earned him praise from colleagues and jazz publications, and may be best summed up by praise from the Hartford Jazz Society : “Matt DeChamplain plays with amazing dexterity and superb taste while conveying the history of jazz piano from ragtime and slide to modern.”
Matt has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, New York’s JVC Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center and renowned regional jazz clubs such as the Regatta Bar, Smalls and Yoshi’s. In 2008, Matt was selected for the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program where he engaged in a two-week intensive composition and performance workshop under the instruction of jazz luminaries Dr. Billy Taylor, Nathan Davis and Curtis Fuller culminating in three performances filmed live from the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. That same year he was part of a group lead by bassist Nat Reeves that toured New Ross, Ireland. In 2010, Matt participated as a semifinalist in the Martial Solal Jazz Piano Competition in Paris, France.

28th Annual Chamber Festival: Boston Chamber Music String Trio
2024-06-07 19:30 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street Ogunquit, ME 03907 United States
ONLINE TICKETS

Boston Chamber Music returns to OgunquitCelebrating the Music of
Schubert, String Trio in B-Flat MajorMozart, Divertimento in E-Flat Major andBeethoven, String Trio in G-Major

After several months of uncertainty over the use of the Dunaway auditorium, OPA is delighted to be able to return to the Dunaway Center venue for this year’s Chamber Festival.Since its inception, the Chamber Music Festival has always been a very special occasion for OPA, and in recent years, has been an on-going partnership with Boston Chamber Music. For more than two decades, the Boston-based players have put together a special ensemble for the Ogunquit Festival, unique to OPA. This year’s programming explores accessible, but lesser-known and powerful music from the Viennese School of Classical and Romantic eras.
This year’s Boston Chamber musical artists will include:

Omar Chen Guey, Violinist
Mr. Guey has performed as soloist, in recitals and chamber concerts throughout his native Brazil, the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. He has been a soloist with the Brazilian, Campinas, Goiania, Mias Gerais, Claudio Santoro National Theatre, Sao Paulo University, San Paulo Municipal, State of San Paulo Symphony Orchestras, Qatar Philharmonic, Manhattan School of Music, Stonu Brook University Symphony, Maidstone Symphony and the Seychelles International Music Festival Orchestras.
In 2023, he performed the Vivaldi Four Seasons with the Fribourg Youth Orchestra in Switzerland, having previously performed the Britten Violin Concerto with them. He is a prizewinner at both Tibor Varga and Lipizer International Violin Competitions.
He is on the faculty of Dartmouth College. He is the assistant concertmaster of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, a member of the Boston Ballet and the New England Camerata Trio. He’s been a guest artist with Radius Ensemble, Boston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players, Worcester Chamber Music Society, Walden Chamber Players and the Monadnock Music Festival. Mr. Guey’s premiere of the Violin Concerto by Jean-Charles Gandrille with the Qatar Philharmonic was released on the French recording label Paraty.

Peter Sulski, Violist
Mr. Sulski was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for seven years. While in England, he served on the faculty of the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music and Drama, as well as serving as Artistic Director of Chapel Royal Concerts which he founded in 1993. For seven years he gave the annual Viola Masterclass along with many solo recitals and chamber music concerts at the Dartington International Summer School. He made his Carnegie Hall Debut in 1999, and his first London South Bank appearance in 2001.
After a brief stint in the Middle East as Head of Strings of the National Palestinian Conservatory, Bicommunal Coordinator for chamber music for the Cyprus Fulbright Commission and Principal Violist of the Cyprus Chamber Orchestra, in 2002, he returned with his wife Anita to his native Worcester where he is currently on the faculty of Clark University and College of the Holy Cross as teacher of violin/viola/chamber music. He is a member of QX and Mistral. Peter is also Artistic Director of the Thayer Festival in Lancaster, MA and records for Centaur Records.

Brent Selby, Cellist
A cellist and teacher, Mr. Selby is from the small town of Bath, North Carolina, where he was raised on a farm. Up until age eleven he thought he would end up farming crops like his father, but after seeing Yo-Yo Ma perform on PBS he decided he was interested in music and learning to play the cello. Luckily, Doris Hamilton, a retired violinist, had recently moved to the area and agreed to teach him until she could find him a proper cello teacher. He eventually went on to study with Wendy Bissinger and then at 17, he studied with Emanuel Gruber, Cello faculty at East Carolina University.
Mr. Selby earned his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory studying with Natasha Brofsky and then went on to study privately with violinist, Mela Tenenbaum. In addition to performing with various local ensembles, he began teaching cello for Lifelong Music Academy in Franklin, MA where he has now been teaching for over a decade. Mr. Selby is passionate about providing quality music instruction for children as much as he loves performing. In 2018, Mr. Selby joined the Rhode Island Philharmonic’s cello section, and in 2021 he was appointed assistant principal cellist of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, Mr. Selby was appointed principal cellist of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and in 2024 he was appointed principal cellist of the Boston Lyric Opera. Although he never took up farming, his wife Jackie, also a cellist, often ropes him into weeding her ever expanding garden!

Featured composers for this year’s Chamber Music Festival include three of the most prodigious composers of the Classical and Romantic eras, performing and composing across virtually every musical genre. All were child prodigies, as both composers and musicians and all were thought to have crossed paths as adults in Vienna and to have influenced one another’s music.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Austrian composer, born in Vienna, he was considered the last of the Classical composers, and one of the first of the Romantic era, his music bridged both worlds. When he died at 31 years of age, he left a vast body of over 1500 works: more than 600 secular vocal works, complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, as well as a large body of piano sonatas and chamber music. His influence on later composers extends into the modern era, including harmonies used by the Beatles. Schubert’s gift for creating beautiful melodies remains almost unsurpassed in music history. Growing up in an everchanging political landscape (during his childhood, Vienna was essentially a police state) had a profound influence on his work.
Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) German composer and pianist, his works are among the most performed classical music, and spans the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era. One of the most revered figures in the history of Western music, he ranks among the most performed of the classical music repertoire. Displaying his musical talent at a young age, he moved to Vienna at age 21 and studied composition with Haydn. He gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He composed his first works for patrons at the age of 25. His first major orchestral work and first set of string quartets were published in the early 1800s. Almost completely deaf by 1814, he composed most of his most admired works during the time of increasing hearing loss. Written in his last years, his late string quartets are among his finest achievements.
Wolfgang Mozart (1756- 1791) Austrian composer widely considered one of the greatest composers in the history of Western classical music. He composed more than 800 works in almost every Western classical genre of his time: symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic and choral repertoire. The forms were not new, but Mozart advanced their technical sophistication and emotional reach. Beethoven (some 15 years younger) was deeply influenced by his work. Like his fellow composers and musicians of this period, he was a child prodigy, at the age of 5, he was already competent on keyboard and violin and had begun composing and performing at court at the age of 6. He was becoming familiar with other musicians and composers, and at age 8, visited Johann Bach, who became a significant influence. It was then that he wrote his first symphony, which he played and was most likely transcribed by his father. He became friends with Haydn who declared to Mozart’s father: “Your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute; he has taste and what is more, the greatest skill in composition.” Most of his best known symphonies, piano concertos and operas were created in the final decade of his life. The last year of his life was a time of high productivity when he composed some of his most admired works: The Magic Flute (opera), the last in his series of string quartets, final piano concerto, and the unfinished Requiem.

Capriccio Music Festival - Occidental Gypsy
2024-09-06 19:30 | Jonathan’s Ogunquit, 92 Bourne Ln, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
TICKET LINK HERE

Tickets $25. On-line sales available through Jonathan’s website www.jonathansogunquit.com – and also may be purchased at the door. Special dinner packages will be offered by Jonathan’s. All ticket sales will accrue to the benefit of Ogunquit Performing Arts.
Free Parking in Jonathan’s lot. Elevator access to venue.
An acoustic band playing an exciting blend of gypsy, jazz and folk music with burnished vocals from the first era of swing.

Occidental Gypsy, internationally acclaimed acoustic jazz band, enraptures the listener with a complex acoustic sound. Their music cannot be easily classified: it’s a bit of jazz, a strain of blues, a seismic swing experience and “a whole lotta gypsified groove.”

According to David Bromberg, “These guys have great singing, fantastic guitar and violin work, and high energy originals that leave the crowd crazy. An awesome band!”
Hailing from New England, this nationally touring acoustic jazz band performs a blend of gypsy jazz and folk music in a pioneering approach to traditional “hot club” jazz music, paying homage to Django Reinhardt and expanding the genre to include elements of western (Occidental) sounds and rhythms, including blues, Klezmer and Latin.
The quintet has played in over 200 venues in over 30 states, selling out legendary jazz clubs in Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles. They have shared the stage with such greats as Wynton Marsalis, Rikki Lee Jones, Stanley Jordan, Joe Sample, and David Bromberg.
Members include:

Brett Feldman- lead guitar, composer, co-arranger and a founder
Eli Bishop- All strings, co-arranger
Jeremy Frantz- lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Jeff Feldman- bass
John Chapman- percussion

Eli Bishop, a Nashville violin prodigy who began playing at age 3, has played with Wynton Marsalis, Bill Evans of the Miles Davis Group, Vince Gill, and the Wooten Brothers. Eli was awarded a Guinness Record for the world’s fastest clapping!
Brett Feldman is a self-taught musician and composer. His original songs are challenging to execute even by the most seasoned gypsy jazz artists and are crafted as emotional renderings of important ideas. His most notable new piece, also the title track of their recent CD- Song for Vrba: 44070- tells the story of the heroism of Rudolf Vrba, who escaped Auschwitz in WW II, and whose reporting of the atrocities led to an end of Hungarian deportation of Jews to Germany and is credited with saving the lives of over 200,000.
Jeremy Frantz is a protégé of legendary guitarist Joe Negri. He is best known for his soulful singing of classic standards. More than once, he has brought crowds to near silence through the warmth and openness of his vocals.
Jeff Feldman and John Chapman keep crowds moving with beats and complex rhythms with roots in Latin music and Klezmer, well integrated into original compositions and supporting the richness of music that almost make them sound like they could be plugged in rather than acoustic.

Their sound appeals to a wide range of audiences, from concert halls to clubs, art centers to festivals. Their between-set banter and personal dynamics add entertainment value, and audiences often find themselves dancing in the aisles!
LISTEN TO THE BAND: Listen to Over Here and #44070 by Occidental Gypsy | Occidental Gypsy (occidentalgypsyband.com)
Due to the possibility that our home venue at the S. Judson Dunaway Center might not be available due to unforeseen circumstances, OPA is grateful that Jonathan’s Restaurant, Ogunquit, graciously responded and provided OPA with their wonderful stage and facilities as an alternative venue for this event.

24th Annual Capriccio Festival of Kites
2024-09-07 09:00 - 14:00 | Ogunquit Beach, Beach Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907
In this annual celebration, kite making and kite flying activities will begin at 9 am.
Professional kite flying demonstrations, with huge, multi-dimensional kites, are an all-day feature of the festival.
Children are also offered an opportunity to design their own kites, and to enter them into a contest with a multitude of categories in order for many prizes to be awarded. Kites can also be purchased at the beach so that everyone can participate.
The finale, scheduled for noon, is the “Grand Ascension,” where the sky is filled with all of the day’s kites. Bring your cameras! It’s a spectacular sight.
The Capriccio Festival of Kites is presented by Cricket’s Corner Beach and Toy, Ogunquit Performing Arts, Ogunquit Rotary Club, Kennebunk Savings Bank, That Place in Ogunquit, and the Town of Ogunquit.
Returning to provide high-flying music for this event is Portland fiddler/singer Andy Happel and Friends, performing 2 concerts during the day, at 10:00 am and again at 2 pm, serenading beach-goers, spectators, music lovers, and over 100 kite flyers.
Andy plans to bring along some musician friends to join in the joyous fun, playing selections from his repertoire of exotic tunes and lilting rhythms.

17th Annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham Piano Festival - Janice Weber
2024-10-04 19:30 | The Barn Gallery, 3 Hartwig Lane (off Bourne Lane at Shore Road), Ogunquit, Maine, 03907
Janice Weber is a vivacious performer with a reputation for programing the most exciting and technically challenging selections – which certainly applies to her upcoming performance for OPA! Her program includes works by Grieg and Liszt – a composer with whom she is particularly identified.
“Ms. Weber is … a concert pianist of cliffhanging panache and daredevil brilliance.” Ellen Pfeifer, The Wall Street Journal
Her world premiere recording of Liszt’s 1838 Transcendental Etudes elicited acclaim from Time Magazine: “Liszt later simplified these pieces into the still ferociously difficult Transcendental Etudes (1852 version) for fear that no one else could play them. There may now be several fire-eating piano virtuosos who can execute the original notes, but few can liberate the prophetic music they contain as masterfully as Janice Weber does here.”
Ms. Weber recorded Liszt’s last Hungarian Rhapsody, one of only two living pianists to be included in a compendium of historic performances by nineteen legendary artists. This disc subsequently won the International Liszt Prize.
Her recordings also include Rachmaninoff’s complete transcriptions; with the Lydian Quartet, Leo Ornstein’s vast Piano Quintet; flute and piano works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert; and waltz transcriptions of Godowsky, Rosenthal, and Friedman.
Her Naxos recording of Leo Ornstein’s radical works introduced the charismatic composer to a worldwide audience. She is heard in Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time on Ongaku Records and her newest disc, Cascade of Roses (Dorian Sono Luminus),features works of twenty-one composers from Adolf Jensen to Billy Mayerl.
A summa cum laude graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Janice Weber has performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, National Gallery of Art, and Boston’s Symphony Hall. She has appeared with the Boston Pops, Chautauqua Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Hilton Head Orchestra, Sarajevo Philharmonic, and Syracuse Symphony. She has performed at the Bard, Newport, La Gesse, Husum, and Monadnock summer festivals and has twice toured China under the auspices of the American Liszt Society.
She was a member of the piano faculty at Boston Conservatory for twenty-seven years and has taught at MIT and New England Conservatory.
Ms. Weber is also a published author. Her novels, most of which have something to do with music, have a worldwide following. She also produced the tones for Ivory, the worldwide bestselling virtual piano software.
She is a Steinway artist.

Ms. Weber’s Program:

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op. 35 No. 1

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)

Lyric Pieces

Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907)

To Spring, Op. 43 No. 6
March of the Trolls, Op. 54 No. 3
Butterfly, Op. 43 No. 1
Peace of the Woods, Op. 71 No. 4
Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Op. 65 No. 6

Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)

INTERMISSION

St. Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds

Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

St. Francis of Assisi Walking on the Waters

Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

Harmonies du Soir

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12

Tickets to these performances are available on this website. Click here to purchase in advance. Tickets may also be purchased at the Cricket’s Corner Beach and Toy, the Dunaway Center, and the Ogunquit Welcome Center beginning three weeks prior to the performance.
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door for both Weber and Hodgkinson concerts
Free admission for Student Recital
Free parking for the performances at the Barn Gallery

17th Annual Piano Festival - Annual Student Piano Recital
2024-10-06 15:00 - 19:30 | The Barn Gallery, 3 Hartwig Lane (off Bourne Lane at Shore Road), Ogunquit, Maine, 03907
The Festival’s Student Piano Recital, showcases up to 15 of the area’s best young pianists, performing on Ogunquit Performing Art Committee’s famed Steinway piano. The recital provides these talented local students the opportunity to perform on a world class piano before a live audience in a beautiful setting.
The Piano Festival honors the memory of Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham, founder and first chairperson of Ogunquit Performing Arts. A pianist herself, Betty studied, performed and taught piano for most of her life. She also saw to it that OPA acquired its spectacular Steinway Concert Model C Grand Piano, which still remains OPA’s greatest treasure.
The Ogunquit Performing Arts Committee was Betty’s brain-child. Her love of Ogunquit was matched by her love of the piano, which she studied and taught for most of her life. She long dreamed of the possibility that Ogunquit could support a program of musical performances to add to its attractiveness as a welcoming place for painters, sculptors and summer theatre.
When her father, S. Judson Dunaway, died in 1976, his will directed that a portion of his estate be donated to charitable causes. Betty requested that the executors include a contribution to Ogunquit to endow a fund to help support musical performances, some to be held at the Dunaway Center, which he earlier had donated to the town. When this endowment was in place, the Committee for the Performing Arts was formed and began its work, with Betty elected as chairperson.

Free admission for Student Recital
Tickets to these performances are available on this website. . Tickets may also be purchased at the Cricket’s Corner Beach and Toy, the Dunaway Center, and the Ogunquit Welcome Center beginning three weeks prior to the performance.
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door for both Weber and Hodgkinson concerts
Free parking for the performances at the Barn Gallery

17th Annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham Piano Festival - Randall Hodgkinson
2024-10-12 19:30 | The Barn Gallery, 3 Hartwig Lane (off Bourne Lane at Shore Road), Ogunquit, Maine, 03907
Renowned classical pianist, Randall Hodgkinson, returns to Ogunquit as a piano soloist, having performed in Ogunquit multiple times with the late Bruce Coppock and the Boston Chamber Music Society’s Piano Quartet.
“The finest performance I have ever heard of this very difficult piece. It was as if he was reading my mind…” Aaron Copland on hearing pianist Randall Hodgkinson performing his Piano Fantasy in Jordan Hall, Boston
Randy achieved recognition as the Grand Prize winner of the International American Music competition, sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation, winner in the JS Bach International Competition, and as the recipient of the Tanglewood Music Center’s prestigious Cabot Award. His solo orchestral performances include appearances with the Atlanta Symphony, the Philadelphia, the Boston Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the New York Symphony. He has also performed at numerous well regarded chamber music festivals, including but not limited to: Blue Hill (Maine), Chestnut Hill (Connecticut), Seattle (Washington) and Santa Fe (New Mexico).
As both of Randy’s parents were musicians, Randy began his musical career at a very young age, with his mother as his first teacher. “Discovered” at a music festival at age 15 he was encouraged to apply for admission to the New England Conservatory of music, where he earned a BA, MM and AD.
His musical repertoire spans from JS Bach to Donald Marino, and he recently performed the world premier of the piano concerto of composer Gardener Read at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He regularly performs the four hand and two piano repertoire with his talented spouse, Leslie Amper.
He currently serves on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, the Longy School of Music at Bard College in Cambridge, MA, and Wellesley College.

Mr. Hodgkinson’s Program:
Bach: Italian Concerto
Berg: Sonata in b minor
Chopin: Fantasy
Chopin: Sonata in b minor

Tickets to these performances are available on this website. Click here to purchase in advance. Tickets may also be purchased at the Cricket’s Corner Beach and Toy, the Dunaway Center, and the Ogunquit Welcome Center beginning three weeks prior to the performance.
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door for both Weber and Hodgkinson concerts
Free admission for Student Recital
Free parking for the performances at the Barn Gallery

Classic Film Series - Drama
2025-01-05 14:00, 2025-01-19 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
click HERE to join the email list and learn the film title!

Free Admission, Parking and Popcorn
In response to conditions mandated by film licensing requirements, OPA’s 23rd Annual Winter Classic Film Series will reflect a few changes. The changes will enable us to continue to offer free admission, parking and popcorn.
Location Still at the Dunaway Center, and as of now, films will be once again screened in the community auditorium on the main floor.
2025 Film Series Selection Details Titles and Actors can only be promoted by postings at the Dunaway Center, and through the Ogunquit Performing Arts email list. If you are not already on the mailing list, you can enroll by clicking the join mail list button above this text. If you believe you have already enrolled, but have not regularly received updates about performances, you might need to check your spam or junk mailboxes. We have learned that some email host systems screen out email blasts.

Films will be screened two Sundays per month, at 2 pm from January-April

January 5 & 19 Drama
February 2 & 16 Musicals – Saluting a Great Film Composer
March 2 & 16 Mystery
April 6 & 27 Romance

Film titles, casts and brief synopses will be available in December, posted in the Dunaway entryway, and by email if you enroll through our website www.ogunquitperformingarts.org Updates re: film screenings will also be provided through the email list.

Classic Film Series - Musicals - Saluting a Great Film Composer
2025-02-02 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER | Classic Film Series
2025-02-16 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

Classic Film Series - Mystery
2025-03-02 14:00, 2025-03-16 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

Stillson School of Irish Dance
2025-03-08 18:30 | Wells Junior High School, 1470 Post Rd. (Route 1 just south of Route 109 intersection), Wells, ME, 04090, United States
Free parking on school grounds.
Irish stepdancing continues to be a wildly popular art form for performers and audiences alike. Ogunquit Performing Arts celebrates this unique style of dance at this most appropriate time of year. The award-winning Stillson dancers, returning to Ogunquit by popular demand, will perform a brilliant array of jigs and reels, dressed in a variety of dazzling, hand-made costumes.
The performance will consist of both the fluid soft shoe style as well as the rhythmic hard shoe popularized by shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.
At the end of the performance, the dancers will invite children and the young at heart to join them onstage to learn or try out some steps.
The Stillson School of Irish Dance is under the direction of the celebrated dancer/teacher Carlene Moran Stillson ADCRG/TCRG. She is accredited by Ad Coimisium in Dublin, Ireland and a member of IDTANA (Irish Dancing Teacher’s Association of North America). Carlene has a long tradition of dancing having started at age 4. She has competed in the New England Regional, North American, and World Championships.

In existence for more than 20 years, the Stillson School is the only certified school of Irish dancing in the state of Maine and its dancers compete all over New England and place in the New England Regional Irish Dancing Championships annually, and in competitions around the world.
In addition to the dance performance, Carlene Stillson will present the history of the dance and explain the reasons for the design of the many different costumes worn by the dancers. Traditional Irish dress is represented in the school dress which features embroidery designs taken from the Book of Kells.
The Stillson School of Irish Dance also has an active show team which has performed throughout New England as well as on the Ellipse at the White House. They have been featured dancers accompanying such renowned Celtic performers as Solas, Cherish the Ladies, Trinity Dance Company, Liz Carroll, Billy McComiskey and Mick Moloney, and Eileen Ivers.
Irish stepdance is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is generally characterized by a stiff upper body and fast and precise movements of the feet. It can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public dance performances, there are also stepdance competitions all over the world.
From the late 1800s, when the Gaelic League began to organize cultural festivals, Irish step dance developed a competitive element. Throughout the 20th century, structures for competition developed and spread across the globe..These competitions are often called Feiseanna (singular Feis). In Irish dance culture, a Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival.
Costumes are considered important for stage presence in competition and performance. In many cases, costumes are sold at high prices and can even be custom made. Each costume is different, with varying colors and patterns, designed to attract the judge’s eye in competitions and the audience’s eye in performance.

Classic Film Series - Romance
2025-04-06 14:00, 2025-04-27 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

29th ANNUAL CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring: THE DaPONTE STRING QUARTET
2025-05-17 19:30 | Ogunquit Baptist Church, 157 Shore Road, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
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THE DaPONTE STRING QUARTETCelebrating the Music of Haydn, String Quartet in D Opus 20, #4Korngold, String Quartet #2 in E-Flat Major Opus 26
Ogunquit Performing Arts is delighted to welcome back to Ogunquit, a long time favorite in the area, the Daponte String Quartet. And to welcome our local friends and visitors back to the Ogunquit Baptist Church, which has offered OPA its beautiful sanctuary as an alternative venue during the repair, planned renovation and construction of our new municipal building and S. Judson Dunaway community center.
DSQ’s program will include the String Quartet in D Major, Opus 20, No. 4 by Joseph Haydn, the great Austrian composer who was one of the most important figures in the development of the Classical style in music during the 18th century, helping establish the forms and styles for the string quartet and the symphony. This particular quartet is an example of the dramatic innovations which Haydn introduced, reflecting the influence of the “Sturm und Drang” movement of the era.

Moving forward to the 20th century, DSQ will also play a work by Austria-Hungary composer Erich Korngold who first was well known for his operas, such as Die Tote Stadt (1920). In the ‘30s, he moved to Hollywood to arrange music for film where his background in opera revolutionized cinematic music and won him an Oscar for “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” Written just before he moved to Hollywood, his Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Opus 26, has a lilting Viennese lightness and uses dance forms and touches of impressionism.
Having relocated to Maine 33 years ago from the urban musical center of Philadelphia, where they were co- founded by Ferdinand “Dino” Liva, and Myles Jordan, the DaPonte String Quartet has continued to grow- locally, nationally and internationally with their musical reach and popularity. Known for their inventive interpretations of the works they perform, the Boston Globe noted that “….whatever music they present- be it Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, or Post-Modern- the freshness of DSQ’s performances make these works appear novel and contemporary.” While so many classical musicians struggle to remain relevant in the contemporary music space by performing only new compositions, DSQ’s repertoire has been able to keep chamber music as a vital and alive art form.
Because their work is based on research, scholarship, (see quartet members introduction below) and hundreds of hours of preparation necessary to perform music of such complexity, their performances are grounded in an authority which is not stiff or aloof. Their stage manner among themselves and with their audiences is intimate and conversational. They unselfconsciously share their musical insights with their audiences which enable us to connect with the music in new ways.
They perform and teach all over the world. Their performances have been broadcast over nation-wide radio and television programs in the US and Canada.
They have received awards from but not limited to such prestigious organizations as the National Endowment of the Arts, Chamber Music America, the Music Teachers National Association, and the Maine Arts Commission.
And, some 34 years later, their deeply rooted relationship in Maine fuels their pride to call Maine home, and Maine’s pride that they chose to do so. Maine people have embraced DSQ. When they performed at Carnegie Hall, such a large contingent from Maine traveled to cheer them on that the NYT wrote: “Let it not be said that the Daponte String Quartet enters New York musical life without friends. Weill Hall was packed!”

QUARTET MEMBERS (highlights)

Philipp Elssner- Violin
Violinist, violist, and musical theorist.Joined quartet in 2024.Based in Northport, Maine.
Education: Bachelor’s from Cleveland Institute of Music, Masters in Music Theory from McGill University.
Other: Master’s Thesis “Groove in the Mix: Spatial Manipulation in Groove-based Popular music, 1970-present.” Taught music theory and musicianship at McGill and Cleveland Institute of Music and to private students at all levels, believing that music is an art form in which everyone should be able to take part.

Kirsten Monke – Viola
Joined Daponte in 2008, which she describes as a serendipitous occurrence, bring her back to her home state of Maine.
Her undergraduate and graduate studies were at Indiana University, and she continued her graduate studies at UC Santa Barbara. For a decade, she was principal violinist for both the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. She has taught at UC Santa Barbara, Westmont College, and is currently on the faculty at Bowdoin College and Bay Chamber Music School.

Lydia Forbes- Violin
Performed with Daponte since 2005, living the dream since age 11 of being a member of a string quartet and raising her 3 sons in the beauty of Maine.
Started musical career in the Netherlands, where she also performed with numerous European quartets. Cofounded and toured with Het Zephyr Kwartet, devoted to contemporary music, as well as performing with the Oslo Philharmonic in Norway and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble.
Musical awards from Yale University, among other prestigious international awards.

Myles Jordan- Cello
Cellist, writer, Teacher
Undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, two further degrees at Julliard, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Temple University. Subsequently, he became associate principal cellist of the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, before founding the Daponte String Quartet.
He has taught at Temple University, Wilkes University, and the University of North Texas.
Myles best describes the work of Daponte through his eyes: “ Because music is a language, the driving impetus…is to create greater awareness of historical, social, political and philosophical contexts it’s created.” He describes his own aim as “to draw as many human connections as possible between contemporary audiences and great composers.”

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ZAHILI ZAMORA AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ TRIO and their Ogunquit Premiere
2025-06-06 19:30 | The Barn Gallery, 3 Hartwig Lane (off Bourne Lane at Shore Road), Ogunquit, Maine, 03907
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Performing in Ogunquit for the first time ever, Zahili Zamora and her Afro Cuban Jazz Trio promise a unique and unparalleled jazz experience. Ms Zamora and her Trio have headlined such venues as the landmark Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Celebrity Series of Boston, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and many more.

Her awards include: the Duke Ellington Award, the Wayne Shorter Award, the 40th Annual DownBeat music Award in the Outstanding Performance Category, Finalist at the DC Jazz Prix Competition, and with her Trio MIXCLA, a two time nominee for the Boston Music Awards in the Jazz Group category.
A pianist, composer, bandleader, arranger and educator, Ms Zamora started playing piano at the age of six, in her birthplace of Manzanillo, Cuba, where she graduated from the National School of Music, as a classical pianist, with a performance diploma. Emigrating to Canada, she explored a wide range of musical genres such as traditional Ecuadorian, French, and South African, and then to Asia for 6 years, where she even performed with a pop band.
Discovering Jazz, she returned to school in the U.S. to study at the Berklee College of Music, immersing herself in the study and analysis of jazz performance and composition, and falling in love with the process of creating. She graduated summa cum laude with a dual MM degree in Jazz Composition and Jazz Piano Performance. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Piano Department.
This rich musical background, career experience and extraordinary improvisation skills, render her a leader in the modern jazz idiom and an influential and emulated musician.
She describes the evolution of her artistic identity as a Latin Jazz pianist, singer, bandleader and composer, through reconnecting with her Cuban roots, and using elements of her rhythmic idiosyncrasy with American jazz, while adding and developing skills to encompass her artistry. She describes her music as representing multiculturalism and global unity in these times when there is so much division and oppression.

Tributes from musical colleagues and journalists include:
“…[Zahili] is amongst the most notable female pianists/composers in the field of Latin Jazz today, and her skills as an improviser are unmatched.” Oscar Stagnaro
“In addition to explorations of Habanera-steeped rhythms and textures and flourishes of American big band tradition, Zamora incorporates spacious and lovely melodies that soar beyond any descriptives.. Rick Koster, The Day
“A brilliant classically-trained improviser who is a master of polyrhythms, she is also a very appealing and versatile singer.” Scott Yannow, Jazz Journalist

Please join us to experience this enormous talent, in an Ogunquit premiere performance. It will blow your musical mind!
We are pleased to welcome our local friends and visitors back to the beautiful Barn Gallery, which has stepped up once again to offer an alternative venue during the repair, planned renovation and construction of our new municipal building and S. Judson Dunaway community center. Join us in this wonderful venue for a festive evening with Zahili and her Trio!
LISTEN TO ZAHILI: VIDEOS | Zahili Zamora

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BOSTON CHAMBER MUSIC STRING QUARTET
2025-06-13 19:30 | The Barn Gallery, 3 Hartwig Lane (off Bourne Lane at Shore Road), Ogunquit, Maine, 03907
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In recent years, OPA’s Chamber Music Festival has featured an on-going partnership with Boston Chamber Music, which every year puts together a special ensemble for the Ogunquit concerts, unique to OPA.
The players this year include Omar Chen Guey, violin, Peter Sulski, violin, Noriko Futagami, viola, and David Russell, cello – three of whom have played for OPA before, with Ms. Futagami making her Ogunquit debut.
The Program:
Boston Chamber Music’s program this year will feature Haydn’s String Quartet No. 63 in B♭major, Op. 76, No. 4, (the Sunrise Quartet), a piece which evokes the rising of the sun and the stirring awakening of nature. It was selected by Boston Chamber Music as a fitting tribute to the Marginal Way Centennial, which this year marks 100 years since the deed of gift of the scenic cliff walk to the town of Ogunquit by Josiah Chase.
The Haydn quartet is nicknamed “Sunrise” due to the rising theme over sustained chords that begins the quartet, and is perhaps the most magical in all Haydn. Featuring rising themes throughout, it combines earthiness with sophisticated development, blending Hungarian or Balkan folk music with the composer’s natural elegance.
BCM’s program will also include Mozart’s Quartet in Eb Major, K. 171 (the Viennese). Written in 1773, the quartet represents a considerable advance from Mozart’s previous works and reflects the influence of Haydn.
Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums), a haunting lovely elegy written by Giacomo Puccini in 1890 in tribute to the late Amadeo I of Spain. Puccini later incorporated the beautiful, tragic melodies of this short piece into his first successful opera, Manon Lescaut.
Mendelssohn’s Quartet in Eb Major, Op. 12 concludes the program. This masterfully composed quartet of 1829, while still echoing the influence of Beethoven, features stylistic and lyrical departures from that influence as Mendelssohn continued to develop as a composer.

The Players:

Violinist Omar Chen Guey
Violinist Omar Chen Guey has performed as soloist, in recitals and chamber concerts throughout his native Brazil, the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. He is a prizewinner at both Tibor Varga and Lipizer International Violin Competitions. A faculty member of Dartmouth College, he is the assistant concertmaster of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, a member of the Boston Ballet and the New England Camerata Trio.

Violist Noriko Futagami
Violist Noriko Futagami performs with some of the area’s most celebrated ensembles. She is a member of the Radius Ensemble, as well as working with the Boston Musica Viva, Emmanuel Music, Cantata Singers, and Winsor Music on a regular basis. She holds permanent positions in the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Rhode Island Philharmonic, and is principal violist for Albany Symphony.

Violinist Peter Sulski
Violinist Peter Sulski was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for seven years. While in England, he served on the faculty of the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music and Drama, as well as serving as Artistic Director of Chapel Royal Concerts which he founded in 1993. For seven years he gave the annual Viola Masterclass, as well as many performances at the Dartington International Summer School. He made his Carnegie Hall Debut in 1999.

Cellist David Russell
Cellist David Russell was hailed as a “superb cellist” in the Boston Globe, and maintains a vigorous schedule both as soloist and as collaborator in the U.S. and Europe. He was appointed to the teaching faculty of Wellesley College in 2005 and currently serves as Director of Chamber Music. He is a regular performer with several Boston-area ensembles such as Emmanuel Music and Cantata Singers and Ensemble, and served as Principal Cello with Opera Boston from 2005-2011.

Join us for this final chamber music concert of the season, as these wonderful artists bring this superlative program to Ogunquit audiences!

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25th Annual Capriccio Festival of Kites
2025-09-06 09:00 - 14:00 | Ogunquit Main Beach, 115 Beach St, Ogunquit, United States
OPA is delighted to continue sponsorship of the 25th Annual Festival of Kites, this favorite Ogunquit event. Professional kite flying demonstrations, with huge, multi-dimensional kites, are an all-day feature of the festival.
Children are also offered an opportunity to decorate their own kites, and to enter them into a contest with a multitude of categories in order for many prizes to be awarded. Kites can also be purchased at the beach so that everyone can participate. The “Grand Ascension” where the sky is filled with all of the day’s kites occurs at approximately 12 noon. Bring your cameras! It’s a spectacular sight.
The music of Joyce Andersen and Harvey Reid will accompany the festivities with sets occurring at 11 am and 1 pm.
The Capriccio Festival of Kites is presented by Cricket’s Corner Beach and Toy, Ogunquit Performing Arts, Ogunquit Rotary Club, Kennebunk Savings Bank, That Place in Ogunquit, and the Town of Ogunquit.

Joyce Andersen and Harvey Reid
2025-09-06 11:00 - 14:00 | Ogunquit Main Beach, 115 Beach St, Ogunquit, United States
Performing at Ogunquit Beach as part of the Kite Festival, Joyce Andersen, a singing electro-acoustic fiddle troubadour, and Harvey Reid, autoharp virtuoso, a modern minstrel, pushing the limits of acoustic music, guarantee amazing musical entertainment.

Joyce Andersen, a folk musician who follows her passion in every genre, from bluegrass to rock, began playing violin as an 8 yo child. She discovered, mastered, and fell in love with every style she encountered, once stating: “I just learned how to find the music that had always been there hiding from the mainstream.” Andersen performs her own music on the violin, accompanying it with vocals, putting “a modern spin on an old art form.” With her musical influences ranging from Billie Holiday and Otis Redding to Sheryl Crow, The Rolling Stones and Louis Armstrong, she seeks to bridge all the genres in her albums and live performances.
Over the course of her 30 year career, she has performed at a number of well established venues—including Carnegie Hall and on The Conan O’Brien Show—and released numerous celebrated recordings including her early breakthrough album The Girl I Left Behind, and her solo album Swerve! (2011), where she developed an innovative solo setup using loops, effects, foot percussion and electric/acoustic fiddles to merge improvisation with multiple genres: jazz, gospel, rock, torch songs, and Appalachian tunes. Among her numerous solo albums, she has others recorded with folk musician Harvey Reid.
Joyce is recognized for playing violin and singing simultaneously in counter‑rhythms and layered textures, crafting dramatic one-woman soundscapes without prerecorded tracks. She credits Harvey, her husband and musical partner with, among other things, showing her how “to make CDs on her own label, work hard getting little concert gigs, and to earn one fan at a time.”
Joyce continues writing new songs for a proposed tenth album.

Listen To Joyce

Harvey Reid, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer and music educator, began his musical journey listening to sixties music on top forties radio stations, and began playing “recreational” guitar at age 14, performing with friends at parties and local coffeehouses. He began writing songs at the same time but never intended to become a musician. He began a period of self-education, being introduced to many of the roots of American music in the blues, bluegrass, and folk music by a local progressive FM radio station, based in Bethesda, MD and like Joyce, began honing his craft by attending regional concerts and festivals, where he had opportunities to jam with bluegrass legends, and fell in love with bluegrass and old time music, and began playing autoharp.
He is considered to be one of the modern masters and innovators of the acoustic guitar, autoharp and 6-string banjo. He has absorbed a wide range of musical styles of acoustic music, from hip-hop to slashing slide guitar blues to old time Celtic, ragtime and even classical.
His reputation as a “musician’s musician” is unparalleled. He has released over 32 recordings on the Woodpecker record label many recognized with industry accolades. Additionally he was voted as one of the Top Ten Fold CD’s of All Time, in company with Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and other musical giants. Apple Computer used his version of J.S. Bach’s Minuet in G in their iPhoto software.
He is author of dozens of music education books. Among many notable publications, he wrote the first college textbook for folk guitar, Modern Folk Guitar, the epic, The Troubadour Chronicles, blazing a new trail in music history and education. Among his many awards he has won the National Fingerpicking Guitar Competition, the International Autoharp competition, and in 2023 was inducted into the Maine Music Awards Hall of Fame.
Listen To Harvey

Harvey Reid and Joyce Andersen are traveling less to perform, while raising their two children in York, Maine. They can be found performing locally, and in 2020 began a series of livestream performances, which can be heard on their Puffin and Loon You Tube channel where their current goal is to post a daily new song for one year until 3/11/26!
How fortunate are we to call these talented artists and performers “neighbors” who are gracing us with their unique blend of multi-genre music as part of our Capriccio celebration.

Tom Snow Jazz Quartet Feat. Saxophonist Ralph Norris
2025-09-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Jonathan’s Ogunquit, 92 Bourne Ln, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Ticketing for this event will be handled by Jonathan’s. Click Here for Tickets. All $29 tickets will be automatically upgraded to front seating at no additional cost on the night of the performance, subject to availability. *NOTE: Tickets for this event will be handled by Jonathan’s only and will not be available at our typical local retail locations.
Tom Snow is best known as a celebrated and prolific songwriter, singer/songwriter and arranger, recording artist, premier pianist, and bandleader, across almost every genre of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, and has become a highly acclaimed educator. Tom and a rhythm section featuring friends and top-call Boston musicians Rick McLaughlin and Phil McGowan, will be joined by revered saxophonist, Ralph Norris to perform this special jazz concert.
Upon graduating from Berklee College of Music, with a degree in Music Composition, Tom set out to pursue a career in songwriting, postponing his dream of becoming a jazz pianist. He signed with Capitol Records as a solo performer, producing two albums before changing his focus to writing for others.
In the first year of this change in focus, his first BMI airplay award came with Rita Coolidge’s recording of “You” which he had written and performed on his first solo album, and his writing career was “off and running.”
He has been nominated for or won over multiple years, Academy Awards (such as “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”-Footloose), Emmys (such as Fame LA) , Grammys (Song of the Year, Non-Musical Show Album), Golden Globe (Best Song), Tony (Best Musical). His songs have topped the charts sung by such well known recording artists, as Selena, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Rostadt, Aaron Neville, Cher, Olivia Newton-John, Amy Grant, Barry Manilow, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Joe Cocker, Dionne Warwick, Joe Walsh, Levon Helm, and Mick Fleetwood.
Respected and beloved by other musicians and friends such as Jonathan Edwards, American singer/songwriter, “I’ve worked with many of our world’s most gifted musicians and Tom is one of the very best! He brings expertise, generosity, and soulfulness to every stage, whether as a professor, performer or friend,” and Jeff Coffin, saxophonist with Dave Matthews band and 3 time Grammy winner, “There are pianists and music educators…and then there is Tom Snow. He is brilliant, kind, resourceful and engaged (even before he sets foot on the stage!”
We are fortunate to hear him perform as a jazz pianist, a return to his roots and dreams from his student days at Berklee.

Listen To Tom Snow

Featuring:

Ralph Norris, Saxophonist, has been a fixture of the New England music scene for more than 50 years. In addition to performing alongside many world renowned musicians, he has performed and recorded with beloved Maine musicians Don Doane and Terry White. For 35 years, Ralph was a part of countless concerts and two full recordings with bandleader and pianist Tom Snow. Off stage, he has dedicated many years as a coach and mentor to area high school jazz musicians.
Though he is choiceful of the gigs he performs these days, Ralph remains committed to excellence, always evaluating his playing with honesty and grace: “I try to constantly evaluate my playing so I will have the sense to pack it in before I slide too far down the slope, if you get my drift.”
Balancing a fulfilling musical life with a successful career, Ralph credits his journey to a supportive wife, understanding business partners, and the joy of collaborating with talented musicians. “Music has been a driving force in my life… Some of the most memorable moments of our lives occurred on a bandstand creating music with our friends. They are experiences that I shall never forget.”

Joined By:

Bassist Rick McLaughlin
Rick McLaughlin, Bassist, is a multi-faceted musician. In addition to being a highly talented bassist, he is an educator at Berklee College of Music, composer, arranger, author, producer, and music superfan. These roles have taken him to stages on four continents, performances and recording sessions with legendary musicians, to clinics, classrooms and private lessons. And to the microphone as a podcast guest. He has shared the stage and recorded with a wide array of international artists, such as Grammy-nominated Either/Orchestra to Ethiopian legends Mahmoud Ahmed and Mulatu Astatke.

Drummer Phil McGowan
Phil McGowan, drummer, maintains an active schedule as a drummer and music educator. Phil has been performing throughout the New England area since he picked up drumsticks at a very young age, and formed a band with his brother. He has performed at concert halls, clubs, music festivals, and cruise ships which ventured into Europe, Africa and Asia. He has shared the stage with many inspiring artists, including Judy Collins, and American Idol finalists John Stevens and Siobhan Magnus, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, Billy Pierce, Herb Pomeroy and many others, while continuing to perform regularly throughout the Greater Boston area.

TICKETS

Randall Hodgkinson and Leslie Amper: Four Hands, One Piano
2025-10-11 19:30 - 21:30 | The Barn Gallery, 3 Hartwig Lane (off Bourne Lane at Shore Road), Ogunquit, Maine, 03907
Renowned classical pianist, Randall Hodgkinson, returns to Ogunquit, where he has appeared multiple times as a soloist, and with Boston Chamber Music. This time he will be joined by equally acclaimed pianist, Leslie Amper, also his spouse, for a special performance on OPA’s Steinway, developed just for Ogunquit Performing Art’s 18th Annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham’s Piano Festival. They regularly perform together, a four hand, two piano repertoire. Perhaps their best known recording together is “The Manatee: Piano Music of Bernard Hoffer.”

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The Program:
Brahms Selections from Waltzes opus 39
Mendelssohn Nocturne and Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mozart Sonata in C
Schubert Grand Duo

Tickets to this performance are available three weeks before the concert date on this website. Click here to purchase in advance. Tickets may also be purchased at Crickets Corner Beach and Toy, 41 Shore Rd, the Ogunquit Welcome Center, 20 Shore Rd, and the Dunaway Center, 23 School St.

Randall Hodgkinson
“The finest performance I have ever heard of this very difficult piece. It was as if he was reading my mind….” Aaron Copland on hearing pianist Randall Hodgkinson performing his Piano Fantasy in Jordan Hall, Boston
Randy achieved recognition as the Grand Prize winner of the International American Music competition, sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation, winner in the JS Bach International Competition, and as the recipient of the Tanglewood Music Center’s prestigious Cabot Award. His solo orchestral performances include appearances with the Atlanta and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and internationally with the Iceland Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia in Rome. He has had successful collaborations with such well-regarded musical giants as Leonard Bernstein and Gunther Schuller.
As both Randy’s parents were musicians, Randy began his musical career at a very young age, with his mother as his first teacher. “Discovered” at a music festival at age 15, he was encouraged to apply for admission to the New England Conservatory of Music, where he earned a BA, MM, and AD.
His musical repertoire spans from JS Bach to Donald Marino, and he performed the world premier of the piano concerto of Gardner Read at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
He currently serves on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Wellesley College.
www.wellesley.edu/people/randall-hodgkinson

Leslie Amper
“The highlight of the program was a most commanding and serious performance of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations…She built the series in a mighty span, intensely engaged throughout.” New York Times
Leslie Amper launched her career with a critically acclaimed debut in the Carnegie Recital Hall. While still a conservatory student, she won the first annual Jordan Hall Honors Competition and was selected to play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto #3 at her graduation ceremony from The New England Conservatory of Music. Taking advantage of a program offered through the Pittsburgh public schools for serious high school musicians, Leslie further honed her musical talents during summers at highly regarded music camps and festivals.
A winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Fellowship Grant, she performed in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. She also toured the United States as the musical component for the Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition 1934: A New Deal for Artists. An acknowledged scholar and practitioner of contemporary music, she is equally adept at accompanying silent film, and has compiled piano accompaniments at the Harvard Film Archives for the short films of King Vidor’s The Crowd, among others. She also performed onstage piano in Peter Sellars’ production of Chekhov’s A Seagull at the American National Theater. Leslie has continued to lecture and perform internationally in England, Italy and Austria, and at Art Museums around the country, including but not limited to the National Gallery of Art, the Norton Museum of Art. In 2020, she performed virtual concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
She currently teaches at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, the New England Conservatory Preparatory Department, and Wheaton College. She has held residencies at the Universities of Washington and Arizona, and has lectured at Boston University and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as at the New Hampshire Music Festival, where she is a regular performer.
www.leslieamper.com

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