Portland, ME. The Portland Symphony Orchestra announces its 2008/09 season, its first with new music director Robert Moody, which is designed to leave audiences buzzing from both the quality of the performances and the chemistry and electric energy between conductor, orchestra and audience.

On Thursday 29 November at 7:30 p.m. at the Rockport Opera House, Bay Chamber Concerts will present the final concert anywhere of the Vermeer Quartet before they disband as an ensemble.  The Vermeer has been quartet in residence at Bay Chamber Concerts for 34 years.  There will be a pre-concert talk with Vermeer cellist Marc Johnson at 6:30 PM, and following the concert there will be a special reception with the artists at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art.

Although the concert is currently sold out, a limited number of tickets will become available.  A waiting list has been established, and as tickets become available through returns or exchanges they will be sold to parties on it.  Also, some tickets will be available the day of the concert on a standby basis, first-come first-served, starting at 6:30 PM at the Rockport Opera House box office.

Andrew Wolf, the late former director of Bay Chamber Concerts, used to say that the two achievements of which he was most proud during his 25-year tenure were the organization's move to the Rockport Opera House and bringing the Vermeer Quartet to Rockport as quartet-in-residence.  The prestige of the Vermeer Quartet was instrumental in attracting other notable performers to the Midcoast, as other musicians saw the Vermeer's involvement as a seal of approval.  The Quartet served as the catalyst that placed Bay Chamber Concerts in the upper echelon of summer chamber music festivals nationally.

"We'll all miss the Vermeer Quartet," said Bay Chamber Concerts' artistic director Thomas Wolf.  He added: "Though the Quartet will no longer perform together, you'll see individual members on our stage for years to come.  That eases the pain somewhat."

Founded at the Marlboro Festival in 1969, the Vermeer Quartet has been performing at Bay Chamber Concerts since 1973, thirteen years after the organization's founding.  The Quartet is composed of violinists Shmuel Ashkenasi and Mathias Tacke, violist Richard Young and cellist Marc Johnson.   Johnson is also co-artistic director of Bay Chamber Concerts' Next Generation Youth Chamber Music Program. The personnel of the Vermeer Quartet has changed over the years, with Ashkenasi the only remaining original member, though Johnson joined just a few years after the founding.  All of the members of the Quartet have come to love Midcoast Maine.  Ashkenasi and Johnson have purchased homes in the area, and Johnson will make Cushing his year-round residence.

The evening's program will feature Schubert's String Quartet in Eb, Op. 125/1, D.87, Shostakovich's Quartet No.8 in c, Op. 110, and Beethoven's String Quartet in c#, Op. 131.  The concert is supported by honorary sponsors Polly Chatfield, Christina Wright and Luther Black in memory of Charles Chatfield.

Arthur Keene has been appointed new director of the Seaglass Chorale, according to Seaglass Performing Arts founder and artistic director. Jean Strazdes.

Keene will conduct two December concerts featuring Handel's Messiah and other seasonal music in Sanford and Saco.

The new maestro will also conduct Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Seaglass' Spring Concert, with details to be announced.

Conducting is a second career for Keene who provided management guidance and upper management direction  for LaGuardia and JFK air traffic control from FAA's Eastern Region Headquarters in NYC.

Crossover experience should prove a plus for this conductor who has studied with leading opera singers and pop/jazz vocalists, as well.  His MA in Music is from the University of London. He lives in Portland, ME.

Contact for futher information: Seaglass Performing Arts 207-985-8747; www.seaglassperformingarts.org.

Portand, ME, 11 October 2007. The Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is pleased to announce the recent appointment of three new orchestra members in the viola section, and a Music Librarian.

Stephanie Fong is violist in the Rice University string quartet in residence and won First Place in the 2006 Chamber Music International Young Artists Competition. She has also performed as a substitute player with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops Orchestra, New England Conservatory Philharmonic and others. Fong is completing a Master of Music in string quartet performance from New England Conservatory.

Willine Thoe currently performs with Opera Boston, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and the Hingham, MA, Symphony Orchestra, and was principal viola for the Hong Kong New Philharmonic Orchestra from 1997-2002. Thoe is completing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from Boston University.

Rose Wollman is co-principal violist with the New England Conservatory Philharmonia Orchestra. She has also performed in the symphony, chamber and opera orchestras of the University of Illinois, as well as the Ohio Light Opera Orchestra, and the Sinfonia da Camera in Urbana, IL. Wollman holds a Masters Degree from New England Conservatory.

Jonathan Poupore is the new PSO Librarian. He has performed with orchestras throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic states including the Annapolis, Lancaster, Virginia and Gettysburg symphonies and was principal viola of the Marquette, MI, Symphony Orchestra from 1998-2002. He holds a Masters of Music in Viola Performance from Catholic University and is a resident of Saco, ME.