Greater Portland Auditions & Calls for Art Maine Acoustic Festival, all middle school, high school and home schooled acoustic musicians, vocalists and songwriters from Maine, deadline for audition applications Nov. 1, MaineAcousticFestival.com to download application, auditions will be held Nov. 16, 317 Main Community Music Center, 317 Main St., Yarmouth, 846-9559. Books & Authors Wednesday […]

There are plenty of concert choices this weekend in Portland. First up is singer-songwriter John Gorka, an exemplar of the New Folk movement, who will play Friday at One Longfellow Square. Three topnotch offerings compete on Saturday. Portland Symphony Orchestra will play a Pops program devoted to the music of the late jazzman Dave Brubeck […]

Greater Portland Books & Authors Thursday 10/24 “August Gale: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Into the Storm” talk with Barbara Walsh, 7 p.m., Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Drive, Freeport, 865-3307, free. Wednesday 10/30 “Massacre Pond” by Paul Doiron discussion and signing, 7-8:30 p.m., Nonesuch Books, 50 Market St. Mill Creek, South Portland, 799-2659. “Peterson […]

In the two decades that I’ve been writing this column, I can’t remember a spate of classical music performances equal to what’s coming up over the next week. Top billing goes to the Portland Symphony Orchestra, which will play one of the most popular violin concertos of the Romantic period, featuring a guest artist who […]

As Columbus Day passes, so does the peak of southern Maine’s foliage season. But the arts and entertainment season remains at its peak, with excellent offerings in music and dance. Classical pianist Laura Kargul, a longtime favorite of mine and many others, will hold her almost-annual concert this Friday at the University of Southern Maine’s […]

Greater Portland Arts Bulletin Saturday 10/19 Maine Artisan Group Craft Fair, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Falmouth American Legion Hall, 65 Depot Road, Falmouth, 712-2788. Books & Authors Wednesday 10/9 “Living In Maine” an adult literature series, 6:30 p.m., Scarborough Public Library, 45 Gorham Road, Scarborough, 883-4723, free. Friday 10/11 “Suddenly the Cider Didn’t Taste So Good: […]

Last weekend the Portland Symphony Orchestra launched its 2013-2014 classical season. This weekend the PSO starts up its Pops season with two performances of a program that pays tribute to two of Broadway’s greatest composers: George Gershwin and Cole Porter. Maestro Robert Moody has hired a pair of outstanding Broadway stars to perform the songs: […]

Greater Portland Books & Authors Read to a Service Dog, begins Monday Oct. 7, 5-6 p.m., continues every 1st and 3rd Monday, The Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Drive, Freeport, 865-3307, sign-up required. Sunday 10/6 “A Two Hundred Year Invasion: The Story of the Vikings in Ireland” talk by author James L. Nelson, 2 p.m., […]

The sun has just entered its six-month passage below the celestial equator, marking the astronomical start of fall. Concurrently, several of the region’s major arts producers have entered their fall-winter-spring seasons. In South Portland, Lyric Music Theater is off to a sensational start with “Legally Blonde,” one of the biggest and finest productions this topnotch […]

Greater Portland Books & Authors Thursday 9/26 “The Light Between Oceans” by M.L. Stedman, discussion, 7 p.m., Merrill Memorial Library, 215 Main St., Yarmouth, 846-4763, free. Saturday 9/28 Fall Book Sale, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Plummer-Motz School, 192 Middle Road, Falmouth, 781-2351. Monday 9/30 “My Heart is an Idiot” by David Rothbart, 6:30 p.m., Portland Public Library, […]