Maine Friends of Music

The Maine Friends of Music is a professional chamber ensemble that has played their Baroque and Beyond repertoire in many concert venues of Midcoast Maine since 1994. The members of the group, who perform in a variety of combinations, are flutist Linda Brunner, violist Katharine Gerson DeBolt, bassoonist David DeBolt, and harpsichordist/organist Sean Fleming. Recently members of the group performed a 4-concert tour in Paris, Nice, and Frejus, France at the invitation of Parisian harpsichordist Claire Pradel. Regarding the Frejus concert, the review by a leading newspaper of the Riviera noted that: “The instrumentalists were excellent from beginning to end” (Var Matin, 6/17/07).

The group’s quick-paced programs create interesting listening experiences, with a variety of tone colors and styles. Most of the ensemble’s repertoire is from the eighteenth century Baroque, including masterworks by J.S. Bach and his sons, Telemann, Vivaldi, Handel, Marcello and Scarlatti: Mozart and Beethoven provide classic period choices. Twentieth century composers such as Debussy, Hindemith, Vaughan-Williams and Koechlin give a change of pace, and new music written for the Maine Friends of Music concerts by Bill Douglas, Bernard Garfield, Sean Fleming, and David DeBolt has expanded the repertoire further. The addition of guest singers John and Stephanie Sikora in J.S. Bach’s humorous Coffee Cantata delighted audiences in France, Ohio and Maine in recent seasons.

“Imagination and adaptation are twin themes that inspire the annual concerts by the Maine Friends of Music, one of the state’s most unusual performing ensembles. I’ve attended for the past two years, and I’ve been thoroughly delighted by the repertoire that’s presented with enthusiasm and flair.” (Scott Andrews, Times Record, Brunswick, ME).