The 2009-2010 season marks the first full season of the newly redesigned and renamed CCA, formerly the Maine Center for the Arts. The year ahead is full of diverse and fascinating acts, ranging from the choreographed kung-fu of “Shaolin Warriors,” to a Broadway production of the musical “Cats.” The recent renovations have opened a world of possibilities in the realms of music, theater, dance and film.

“All I can say is everyone’s been working very hard,” said John Patches, executive director of the CCA. “The university administration and all the various departments and facilities have really, in the last number of weeks, pulled together.”

To ring in the opening, the CCA will be holding its gala performance this Saturday with the performance by singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. From then on, the season is full of performances from the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, concerts by Grammy Award-winning musicians like Suzanne Vega and Sweet Honey and professional musicals and ballets.

But live performances are only half the fun.

“For us, the big news would be film,” Patches said. “The great projector we’ve been able to purchase, the surround-sound system is going in next week, so that will all be in place for the [Metropolitan Operas], which are also new for this season.”

The operas are high-definition, live broadcasts straight from the Met in New York City. The CCA will be showing the entire season starting with Puccini’s “Tosca” on Oct. 10. According to Patches, special satellite dishes had to be installed on the roof to pick up the broadcasts.

In addition, a series of independent films are being played on Thursday nights in the CCA. Patches said he understands it’s important for the CCA to be as relevant and hip as possible and feels the independent film series is a great way to achieve that.

“Places such as [the CCA], that were built in the ’80s, were built in a different time in a sense, even though a very recent time,” Patches said. “This place in particular was built for classical music and for speakers, and that whole paradigm has shifted.”

Patches chuckled as he admitted he was most looking forward to the chamber music series in Minsky Auditorium for its lofty artistic merit.

He hopes that the opening of the Verve Café, run by Abe and Heather Furth — owners of Woodman’s Bar and Grille and the Verve in Orono — will help the CCA’s image as well. The café will be opening in October and will operate from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, as well as during events. There are also plans to put in a bar, according to Patches.

The eclectic mix of acts is designed so there is something for everyone this season.

“Our audience is very diverse,” Patches said. “I think a place such as this on a university campus has the responsibility to try and be all things, to all people. I believe that diversity is extremely important, particularly in this day and age. I think it’s important for students of all ages to see how other cultures approach creativity.”

Patches said he hopes to combine all the facets of the CCA together: performances, film and the collections at the Hudson Museum.

The renovations have reinvigorated the museum. The world-renowned collection, which the university acquired before Patches can even remember, has never had a proper home.

“Before there was no definition to the museum,” Patches said. With the new technology acquired during the renovations, the museum can finally display the collection properly. “Most of the general public hasn’t seen about two thirds of the collection.”

The renovations totaled $11.2 million dollars, according to Patches. The Collins family, the namesake of the center, donated $5 million.

Richard Collins told The Maine Campus last spring his family made its contribution “to keep UMaine moving ahead, to keep improving. Our interest is in the university, in education and decision making. That’s what we’re focusing on, to make sure that young people have the same benefits that we had when we were going to college.”

Collaboration has been key for the CCA. Patches said his team has been working closely with student activities and other offices around campus about speakers. This year is also the first time an event is being co-produced by the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. The “Classical Mystery Tour” — a Beatles tribute band with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra backing them up — will take place in late March.

For a complete schedule of events and performances visit: collinscenterforthearts.com

Scott Levy, producing artistic director of Penobscot Theatre for the past four years, calls it “imperative” the arts not diminish in an area like Bangor.

“The arts contribute to the sense of place. I’m not an outdoorsman, but imagine, what if Cadillac Mountain went away? It’s the same thing,” said Levy, 33, of Bangor.

Community support is high, but at this time, “the arts are not first on anybody’s mind,” said David Whitehill, the BSO’s executive director for the last year and a half. Whitehill, 30, of Bangor, said nonprofits such as health and human services are more popular for donations than arts at this time. “I can absolutely understand that, but that doesn’t mean that arts and culture shouldn’t be considered in the same breath. We do a lot for this community as far as quality of life.”

George Kinghorn, 41, of Bangor, director of UMMA since June 2008, feels similarly: “It’s important that the arts hold their strength in the state. We’re in an economic downturn at the moment, but it isn’t always going to be like that. We have to hold the boat steady. The arts are typically always the first to get cut, but they’re the most lasting bits of civilization, really.”

Practical corners were the first to be trimmed for these three Bangor bastions of “the most lasting bits of civilization.”

To save on expensive heating oil costs, the Penobscot Theatre did not perform in January and February. Levy worries the coming fiscal year will be tough. The theater will need to create a budget with 20 percent less expenses, a task he calls difficult but not impossible. The nonprofit theater employs a 10 to 12 person staff year-round and roughly 100 employees through the year. Everyone is paid. Penobscot Theatre has not closed any existing programming but has postponed new ideas. The theater puts on eight productions per season.

“How the organization operates will change. It has to change. We can’t sit back and wait for the economy to turn around. That’s ludicrous,” Levy said. “The productions next year are all smaller. One of the shows we did this year had 14 actors in it and five sets. That’s just too much.”

Levy’s plan echoes the attitude across the nation. According to a National Public Radio report last week, the Theater Communications Group surveyed 200 theaters and found 30 percent said they planned to produce plays with smaller casts.

Kinghorn said UMMA’s budget impact has not been dramatic this year. The museum’s only tangible cut thus far is four to five summer teaching positions. Kinghorn said the elimination will mean more work for the museum’s five-person staff. He continues to pursue earned income work to bring money into the museum, speaking with corporations about the benefits of supporting the museum.

To “slim down to where we become as efficient as possible,” internal overhead costs for the BSO were the first to go, according to Whitehill. Four years ago, the BSO paid five salaried employees and three contracted employees, a number that has reduced to two salaried employees, with only one working full-time, and two contracted employees. The orchestra transferred its box office responsibilities to the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine and moved its office from a visible presence on Main Street in Bangor to Husson College.

“I don’t have a photocopier anymore. We use Husson’s,” Whitehill said. “We have to balance the budget every year now, and we’ll have to make some sacrifices. But mostly we’ve taken out some of the overhead and administrative expense.”

He doesn’t think the BSO has seen the worst of the recession.

“We are not in an economic crisis,” said Whitehill, formerly an Orange County director who worked multiple Southern California orchestras. “A crisis has an end. I think this is a condition we’re going to be in for some time. I think we have to brace ourselves.”

To combat a potentially dragging Bangor arts scene, Kinghorn, Levy and Whitehill meet regularly to discuss their situations and share ideas, often with executives from Bangor’s Maine Discovery Museum and the Bangor Public Library.

“We’re not in competition. We realize there’s a lot to be had by sitting around a table and talking, because each of us might have a different perspective,” Whitehill said. They can openly discuss their revenues – as long as they’re trend together in success or lack thereof, there is solace.

“I think it’s important to be in the company of other good colleagues who are trying to do really good things for the community,” Kinghorn said. The group recently proposed a project to the Cultural Arts Commission for the City of Bangor to help package and promote all Bangor’s cultural organizations with arts district signs and an “annual printed marketing rack card so that visitors can know what is going on at the various cultural venues,” Kinghorn said.

The BSO will collaborate with UMaine’s Collins Center for the Arts to bring two artists – violinist Chee-Yun and cellist Alisa Weilerstein – next season, something neither organization could afford solo.

“We have done everything we can to not take away from any bit of our artistic product. The art is the core of our organization,” Whitehill said. “We haven’t brought the economy into the artistic discussion.

“We still should be moving forward. We’re investing more in the artistic product because that’s what we’re about. Sometimes that’s where people cut first, and that,” he said, banging his hand on the table, “is not an option, as far as I’m concerned.”

While pulling through the recession may be taxing, Kinghorn intends for the audiences to be exempt from the troubles.

“Even in this economic climate, our supporters see the value in the arts as playing a big role in the vibrancy of a city,” Kinghorn said. “We will continue to provide a really quality product. The impact on our audience is not going to be noticeable.”

“We still look as strong as ever,” Whitehill said. He referred to the cross-organizational idea of a “sacred cow” – a cherished tradition or program organizations continue to support every year, although it may not be well-funded or well-supported.

“We never question it, we just do it,” he said. The symphony’s sacred cow was a sixth classical performance in its season, which has been nixed for an easier-to-manage pops concert.

Several musicians have returned paychecks or offered their services for free, fostering a “What can we do to help?” attitude, Whitehill said.

Levy, who lived in New York City and produced on Broadway prior to coming to Maine, is on alert but not in despair for the future of the 35-year-old Penobscot Theatre.

“We have to be cautious in this time, absolutely. Do I think Penobscot Theatre is ever really going to go away? No. I’m not convinced the community would allow that to happen,” Levy said. “I’m more concerned for communities that house more than one professional theater company.”

His concern is valid. The Christian Science Monitor reported in March that the National Endowment for the Arts researched to find the national unemployment rate of artists is roughly double that of other professionals. The Portland Symphony Orchestra cut jobs, reduced salaries and artist fees, canceled performances and scaled back educational programs to cope with a $220,000 deficit, according to a February article by the Portland Press Herald.

“We are doing more programming with less budget,” said Kinghorn, who has worked in the arts for 15 years, the last decade in museums, most recently as director and curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida. UMMA now hosts events like a fashion show, a photography scavenger hunt in Bangor, and lunchtime talks.

“We’re doing a heck of a lot,” Kinghorn said. “It’s not good enough just to have the art on the wall. You have to find ways to connect with diverse audiences.”

Innovation, flexibility and “making the museum a more lively place” are key, Kinghorn said. Finding new audiences through community outreach is one of his priorities. UMMA hosted an evening “art walk” in the museum and welcomed more than 300 visitors – the most the museum has seen in a single day. Art walks will become a quarterly happening.

The BSO initiated a voucher program for students in March. Students with vouchers can attend for free, bring a sibling or friend for free, and buy tickets for any other family members for $10.

“You can’t tell me that’s not affordable,” Whitehill said. He strives for cost effectiveness and large attendances, but perhaps most important, as with Kinghorn, is a broad audience connection. Whitehill uses the symphony’s revamped image as an example: The logo change added more prominence to the word Bangor and less to Symphony Orchestra.

“It’s not necessarily about the symphony – it’s about our community,” he said.

Levy corroborated the need to broaden audience appeal for Penobscot Theatre. More well-known plays will be one strategy, although keeping the theater’s aesthetic mission intact is critical.

“Noting that discretionary income is less than it was, what is going to get people to say they need to come to the theater, as opposed to ‘I’d like to come to the theater’? It has a lot to do with name recognition. But that doesn’t mean I would ever do ‘Cats,’” Levy said.

The theater recently enjoyed success with “On Golden Pond” and “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Levy sees Bangor as full of opportunities, particularly for arts activities.

“If the people want all of the arts and cultural opportunities that are here to stay here, to help improve the quality of life in the area, they have to attend,” he said.

Whitehill said BSO attendance is a problem, and he is willing to do nearly anything, including dirt-cheap ticket prices, to fill the seats.

“Inflation goes up, the cost of what we do goes up, but ticket sales have stayed the same. Every year the gap gets bigger. But we have all these empty seats. Why don’t you put somebody in that seat? Sell it for $5, get them in. Would you rather have no money, or some money?” Whitehill said.

Machias Savings Bank sponsored UMMA in 2008 and 2009 to underwrite free admission. Kinghorn is hopeful the museum will remain free in 2010.

“That sends a particularly strong message in the current economic situation as people are looking for ways to spend their leisure time without spending a lot of money,” he said, adding the museum’s attendance has increased substantially in 2009.

Penobscot Theatre’s contributed income, which makes up for roughly half its annual budget, is down 20 percent to 30 percent, Levy said. Government, foundation and corporation support are the biggest drops, with severe declines Levy called troubling.

“Box office is down, but not as down as I would’ve expected,” he said. It’s dropped 5 percent after the company’s most successful year ever. Earned income for the Penobscot Theatre – the other half of its budget – comes from ticket and concession sales, educational programming and renting out the Bangor Opera House, which the organization owns.

After July 1, 2008, nonprofit organizations lost immunity from overtime and minimum wage labor laws. The law change was a major budgetary hit for the Penobscot Theatre.

“It’s long hours, long nights, a lot. And if you’re getting paid for that, it’s beyond our ability,” Levy said.

Whitehill recalled stories of organizations across America with endowments sinking 40 percent to 50 percent. The BSO draws 5 percent from its endowment each month, an amount that has lessened with a decreasing endowment. He called individuals the core of the donor base.

“The good news is people are giving. People are attending. People are still sticking by us and giving whatever they can afford to give,” Whitehill said. While foundation and corporate giving has plummeted, “endowments have been almost obliterated,” Whitehill said of the national scene. He said the BSO has more individual donors this year than last.

Nationally, museums are also hurting from anemic endowments. The Los Angeles Times reported in March that the J. Paul Getty Trust, “envied as the economic Goliath of the museum world,” would face a 25 percent budget cut amounting to $1.5 billion. The Times added this week that 205 jobs would be sliced as well.

“We don’t have that situation here,” Kinghorn said. Like the BSO, UMMA relies greatly on individual support. In this respect, UMMA benefits from its smaller size as a museum; larger institutions critically reliant on annual endowments have struggled. “This is a situation where small, like our museum, may be better. In this particular economy, big is not better. Running a lean and mean operation can be very beneficial.”

Until six months ago, Levy witnessed an economic growth in Bangor. Now he’s seeing it decline in the empty Main Street store fronts.

“That’s concerning to me. [Penobscot Theatre] operates as an anchor to downtown. So if downtown starts shrinking, then only in turn will our work shrink,” Levy said. He cited historical economic development of downtown districts thanks to entertainment venues.

“Every person who buys a ticket and comes to see a show of ours will probably spend an additional $24 in the community, via shopping or eating or drinking. That’s the actual figure from Americans for the Arts for every ticket sold,” Levy said, adding if there are less places to eat and shop, the entire experience is lessened. The economies of arts and business go hand in hand, Levy said.

“It’s all about the whole experience. The play in the theater is the main course, but we’ve got to have the appetizer and the dessert,” Levy said.

An $11 million re-imagining of the University of Maine’s cultural center will reach completion in the first week of 2009. A name change to the Collins Center for the Arts (CCA) will come in honor of a $5 million donation from UMaine graduates Richard and Anne Collins.

Avenues unexplored

Philanthropy is a primary responsibility of the center, according to John Patches, executive director of the Maine Center for the Arts. The center’s new era will open uncharted possibilities for reaching out to the community. Two firsts – a film series and a wedding – are already planned.

Details on the movie programming are amorphous at the moment, but Patches is enthusiastic. “We’ll be able to show film that otherwise isn’t shown in this whole region. I think it has potential for really getting interest from students,” he said. Independent and international films will be the focus, using Waterville’s Railroad Square Cinema as a template. “We won’t necessarily duplicate that, but we’re going to go down more that road.”

The year-round series will be made possible by a 30-by-30-foot motorized projection screen and a fully digital projection system. “It has the technical capability to show first-run movies,” said John Rouleau, Pizzagalli Construction Company’s superintendent of the CCA project.

Devon Medeiros and Hillary Leeman – both UMaine grads – got engaged Oct. 10 and chose the center as their nuptial location shortly after. They will have the entire facility to themselves on Aug. 15, 2009.

“The new CCA will be open then, and the whole front end of the building is going to be really nice, now,” said Medeiros, an MCA employee since 2002. “We haven’t decided where in the building we’re doing it yet, or what will be done in each portion of the building.”

His fiancee cut him off: “He’s a big ham, and so getting married on stage seems completely reasonable.”

The couple said they likely would have married in the center regardless of its makeover, but Medeiros said the renovation “makes it a little more special.”

The CCA will introduce a cafe, an area Patches hopes to allocate for smaller performances, such as speakers or jazz musicians.

Transformation

In favor of new, lit aisles in the house, the continental seating plan of the MCA will vanish along with the days of difficult, uncomfortable shuffling past dozens of groaning strangers to claim a seat in the center. In a recent tour of the facility’s progress, Hutchins Concert Hall was devoid of seating, a massive lift taking precedence over the space, nearly reaching the ceiling and seeming to shrink the iconic venue.

“While we’re losing seats, the hall itself will be more commodious in many ways,” Patches said. “More user-friendly, you might say.”

The MCA seated 1,629; the CCA will accommodate 1,436, with the addition of 10 orchestra wheelchair accessible seats and six in the balcony. The MCA had no certifiable handicap seating.

“The first thing [visitors will] notice when they enter the auditorium is how easy it is to get in and out,” Rouleau said. “It’s so much easier to access your seat now. I think it’s going to give people more of a chance to interact before the show or between it, or after it, because you’re not being herded in like cattle.”

Re-installment of the seating began Wednesday with the balcony.

A changed color scheme will be another early focal point for CCA guests. “Gone is all the red. The walls are a darker gray color. The stage is all black,” Rouleau said. “It’s not as anxious . that whole red was just very anxious.” He said the new palette will feature more natural tones.

With the advent of the CCA, the Hudson Museum will have “its own space, its own integrity on the second floor,” Patches said.

Walking through the facility, museum director Gretchen Faulkner contemplated the wide-open area of the second floor, still very much a construction site, and remarked contentedly, “This is a nice space.”

Joining the tour was Mike Scott, a new media professor advising the museum’s future integration of multimedia displays.

Not all the Collins Center’s innovations will be as noticeable as those in the museum. Behind-the-scenes modifications are an enormous part of the project, ranging from full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to tons of structural steel mandated by a new Town of Orono seismic code.

“The building is probably going to be the most contemporary building, certainly in this region, of its type,” Patches said.

Brett Zeigler, administrative assistant for the MCA, said a lack of bathroom facilities was a consistent complaint since the center’s 1986 opening. Thus, expanding and spreading out facilities takes the same priority as other components of the renovation.

The CCA will face a quick turnaround from construction site to cultural destination, with the first performance slated for Jan. 27. The first weeks of 2009 will see employees adjusting, the ticket office being outfitted and furniture being brought in. The spring is referred to as a “soft opening,” with the grand opening gala set for Sept. ’09, according to Patches.

Once substantial completion is reached, Rouleau’s attention to detail will continue on a finer scale. “It’s a review of the work and the quality of the work. The ‘punch list’ process gets everything 100 percent,” Rouleau said, pointing out asymmetrical screws in a light switch in his office without missing a beat. “They’re crooked. That’s not acceptable.

“It’s the picky thing, but you don’t notice the details unless they’re not done. And that’s the whole intention.”

Patches has maintained a self-imposed distance from the facility since construction began. He took his first tour recently and was thrilled with what he saw. “I immediately just looked through, around and over everything and saw new possibilities.”

Genesis of metamorphosis

Construction commenced in 2007, 21 years after the facility was built with $7.5 million raised from private donations – $3.5 million less than the cost of the current renovation. Primary construction on the combination concert hall, anthropological museum will conclude on Jan. 6, 2009.

The center’s renewal embodies UMaine’s aesthetic renaissance in recent years, led by the new $25 million Student Recreation and Fitness Center and the Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Plaza.

Jon Bell, a senior civil engineering student, began an internship with Pizzagalli Construction Company this summer, doing his part to transform the MCA of old into the CCA of the future.

“I’ve witnessed the university change over the past four years, from the building of the turf dome to the new Recreation Center,” Bell said in an e-mail interview. “However, working at the Maine Center of the Arts has allowed me to give back to the university with the very skills I set out to acquire.”

John Rouleau, whose resume includes the Student Recreation and Fitness Center and recent renovations to Colvin and Barrows Halls, called the center “an important cultural landmark” both locally and statewide. He feels the CCA task supersedes work on an ordinary job site.

“There’s a great part about working for the university and doing university projects; we’re not making a cube-farm, an office, you know? There’s a sense of purpose here,” Rouleau said. “We’re doing something for the students, something for the faculty and the community.”

Changes in the CCA will be legion: a revamped color scheme and seating plan in Hutchins Concert Hall, an independent vicinity for the Hudson Museum’s vast anthropological collection and a full architectural facelift of the entrance are some of the larger updates.

“I think the entry pavilion is kind of a sparkling way to enter,” said Patches. He said the MCA’s brick build and large wooden doors were imposing.

In his endorsement of the CCA’s glassed-in, brightly lit pavilion, Rouleau remembered past experiences as an MCA patron: “It would be freezing cold. You’d come in through these big, heavy oak doors. It was like going into a dungeon, into a castle.”

“It’s now going to be completely inviting,” Patches said.

Challenges and certainties

“We’re going to be opening this regional cultural center at a time when the world economic situation has been compared to . the Great Depression,” Patches said, gravely acknowledging the fact that hardly anyone has the same expendable income they did several years ago. Entertainment spending is likely to dip.

“We definitely are going to be challenged, probably more than we ever have been, to serve the university community and the state. But those challenges, I think, are, for me, exciting. I’m always for the underdog.”

Rouleau is looking forward to the finish line: “I’ve been a patron for a long time, go to a lot of shows here, so I’m quite anxious to finish so I can become a patron again.”

The CCA will have all the ingredients to lure its constituents out of frugal hiding. “I truly feel that this structure’s second life will undoubtedly outlast its first and be a cornerstone for the university in the years to come,” Bell said in an e-mail.

Patches weighs the value of entertainment profoundly. “The performing arts have always had a real important role to play in societies around the world, particularly in Western society, in all the most difficult periods of history, whether it was because of war, famine or depressions. The arts have played a key role in getting us through those debacles.”

Two months remain until the rebirth of the University of Maine’s cultural center, a structure Patches once referred to as the university’s soul.

“The Bangor Symphony and, I think, our audiences are just dying to get back,” Patches said. The BSO, the nation’s oldest continually performing community orchestra, has a long standing connection with the MCA, dating back to their performance at the center’s 1986 opening with Yo-Yo Ma. The BSO will perform on Feb. 1.

“They are coming back with a renewed fervor to be in their home, so to speak,” Patches said, “Not just to see what we’ve done, but to experience it all.”

From the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s first notes, prior to the curtain opening, it was evident that the respected group would be a major part of the show, despite being hidden in the pit under the stage. The orchestra’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s timeless composition, under the direction of maestro Xiao-Lu Li, was both magical and masterful.

The Christmas tree, which grew from the Silberhaus family’s living room centerpiece to nearly twice its size for the second half of Act I, stole the show in terms of scenery. It was as if the top 20 feet of New York’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree had been sawed off and displayed on stage at the MCA – it looked fantastic, realistic and festively decorated. The rest of the set, though mostly sparse to accommodate the dancers, was intricate on a level equal with the magnificent Christmas tree.

The dancers, ranging from the young children to Keith Robinson, artistic director and co-founder of the Robinson Ballet, were graceful and never failed to impress. At the forefront of remarkable talents were Victoria Sommer North and Ian Robinson, son of the family for whom the dance company is named. The two played the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier, and both were spectacular. Robinson flew in from France on Thursday evening to make the show.

The play reached extraordinary heights during the final scene of Act I, “A Winter Scene in a Pine Forest.” The scene began with Nathaniel Bond and Audrey MacLean, as the Snow King and Snow Queen, sharing a dance set to a snowy forest background with the aforementioned Christmas tree at center stage. The scene then integrated other dancers while snowflakes sprinkled from above. The addition of a children’s choir complementing the orchestra topped off the scene, which was one of the most beautiful in the ballet.

“Trepak from Russia,” a scene in Act II, set to one of the show’s most well-known songs, was perhaps the best received portion of the show, thanks to both the famous tune and the impressive dancing.

“The Nutcracker” was a wonderful collaboration of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and Robinson Ballet joining together and combined their incredible talents in the the Hutchins Concert Hall to create, for the 23rd year in a row, an untouchable ballet that was just the key to starting the holiday season. Make no mistake about the excessive use of positive adjectives and adverbs in the preceding description – “The Nutcracker” is worth every one of them and more. Any members of the University of Maine community who missed the show this year, remember what you read about the little ballet at the MCA when next December rolls around.

Peter Tchaikovsky’s 1891 composition has become synonymous with the holiday season as the foremost Christmas ballet. The Bangor Symphony Orchestra and Robinson Ballet have helped to further the holiday popularity of “The Nutcracker” in the community of the University of Maine, where they have performed the piece together since 1984.

“It has become a tradition for many families,” said Johnna Lacey, director of marketing and public relations at Bangor Symphony Orchestra. “[Families] who began attending years ago now bring their own children.”

For those who have not seen the full-scale production coordinated by the two accomplished groups, there is no time like the present. And although the enchanting ballet is an annual affair, there is also incentive – beyond the show’s high-caliber experience – for past viewers to return.

“Each year there is something new, whether it’s new choreography, scenery, whatever,” Lacey said. “This is the only ‘Nutcracker’ production in the area that offers live music with the dancing.” She stressed “the costumes, colors, and fun dance routines” as integral parts of that show that entertain both children and adults.

Many of this year’s new items come from the Robinson Ballet’s half of the collaboration. The three-year Color for Costumes campaign has concluded, allowing the group to “improve and update their end,” according to Julie Lisnet, managing director of Robinson Ballet. “We’ve been able to have new costumes built and also had heirloom costumes refurbished. We’ve been able to update the technical end of the production, including two new Christmas trees built by the University of Maine Engineering Department.”

A press release from the Ballet states that the two new trees, known as the “traveling Christmas tree” and the “MCA Christmas tree,” can extend to 16 and 18 feet in height, respectively. The trees were created, designed and constructed by two teams of students in UMaine’s engineering program. “They did a fantastic job and we appreciate their hard work [and] attention to detail,” Lisnet said.

“The Nutcracker” will once again feature Ian Robinson, son of the ballet company’s namesake family. Robinson, who danced with legendary ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov over the summer, will fly in from France for the production.

“Many of our musicians have been performing this production since it began 23 years ago,” Lacey said of the dedicated Bangor Symphony Orchestra. “But each year the musicians really look forward to it. Most have the score pretty much memorized. Interestingly, since they perform in the pit below the stage, many of these musicians have never even seen this production.”

“The Nutcracker” will be performed Saturday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. Tickets, ranging from $22 to $32, are still available and can be ordered through the box office section of http://www.bangorsymphony.com.

“It’s more than a show,” Lacey said. “It’s an event.”

An event with the potential to infuse some Christmas spice into even the rainiest and most snow-barren holiday season.

“We had our first ‘runout’ concert last Friday at the Orono Methodist Church,” said Lee Hunter, president of the University Singers. “We had a fairly decent crowd and Singers performed very well.”

Inherently present in a college chorus are the challenges of member turnover and learning new pieces. Both are progressing smoothly this semester, according to Hunter.

“Our group this year is learning very fast and creating our own style. We have a very ambitious new group and combined with our older, experienced members with recent haircuts, we are progressing very fast,” Hunter joked.

The Singers concert will be divided into two segments. The first will consist of “more traditional and classical” pieces such as Mozart’s “Requiem” and Johannes Brahms’ “O Schone Nacht.” The second half of the show will be devoted to “a lighter, more upbeat style,” featuring selections from 20th and 21st century composers.

“The Steiners and Renaissance will sing a few songs [each] for an intermission,” Hunter said, referring to University of Maine’s premiere male and female a capella groups, also composed of Singers members. Both groups performed Tuesday in DPC 100 in a concert featuring all four of UMaine’s a capella groups. According to Sara Richardson, a member of Renaissance, the group will debut two new songs at Sunday’s concert.

Next semester the Singers will continue their ambitious touring tradition, heading to Philadelphia, Pa. The group will also perform Mozart’s “Requiem” in its entirety with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in April.

Sunday’s concert is free for students with a MaineCard. Tickets are $5 for non-students. This will be the last chance to see a Singers performance until their annual Yule Tide Concert in the Maine Center for Arts on Dec. 10.

Beers’ hiring comes months after President Robert Kennedy announced a $150 million fundraising campaign, the largest in the school’s history. As vice president of development, Beers will oversee private fundraising, relations with donors and corporate support. She already has fundraising experience with the university, having helped UMaine raise funds to build the Buchanan Alumni House.

Beers graduated from UMaine in 1974 with a degree in journalism. Even as a student and a writer for The Maine Campus, Beers demonstrated her ability to go above and beyond. She recalls an incident where she was assigned to try horsemeat from a shop in Bangor and write about it.

“I did what my editor told me to,” said Beers. She said she and her husband-to-be bought a couple of steaks and fried them up. “It wasn’t all that bad, either,” Beers admitted, adding that she loves horses and hasn’t eaten one since.

After college, Beers went to work for Husson College, running their alumni relations program and working on development and public information. Soon, MPBN hired her as a public information manager, later promoting her to director of development.

Beers ran all fundraising and public information programs for the network until Bob Woodbury, then chancellor of the University of Maine system, enlisted her for a project. In 1992, Beers helped the university system garner funding for a closed-circuit instructional television program called ITV.

That same year, she began her Bangor-based consulting business. Beers Associates, Consultants in Philanthropy helped nonprofit organizations raise money, and it was while helping the Bangor Symphony Orchestra that she crossed paths with Anne Pooler. Pooler, Associate Dean for Instruction in the department of education & human development, had a good first impression of Beers.

“I was president of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and we were looking at initiating a $1 million endowment,” said Pooler. It was the BSO’s first time seeking so much money, and the original person they hired was unsuccessful. “We ended up hiring Barbara and her company; we met our goal,” said Pooler.

Pooler chaired the committee at UMaine that eventually hired Beers last month, but said she didn’t base her decision solely on her previous experience with Beers. “That was a different venue, and I just wanted to see how she resonated here on campus.”

It didn’t hurt that the UMaine Alumni Association, who also had a say in hiring, had seen Beers’ work in helping raise money for the $7.3 million Buchanan Alumni House. “The people from that committee certainly knew what her capabilities were,” said Pooler.

The new campaign to raise $150 million in six years doesn’t intimidate Beers. “It will be at least $150 million,” she said. “I hope to go well beyond that.” Beers said a campaign of this size is conducted in the same way as any other, the only difference being the goal. “It’s a greater emphasis on endowments rather than building,” Beers said.

The campaign is looking for $60 million for endowed chairs and professorships, $40 million for scholarships and $40 million to go to building renovations and restorations. The remaining $10 million would go into a fund which Beers said would give UMaine “the flexibility to take advantage of exceptional opportunities that we might not have funding in the general budget for.”

Beers got the position after a nationwide search. According to Joe Carr, director of university relations for UMaine, two other candidates for the position visited the university.

Pooler said Beers’ experience with academic institutions, and with UMaine in particular, made her an ideal candidate. “We felt that the work she did with this campus gave her a background and a knowledge that was more solid than someone who came from the private sector and didn’t have any academic background.”

“Her experience and leadership skills will enable us to meet the considerable challenges that come with a campaign of this magnitude and importance for UMaine’s future,” said UMaine President Robert Kennedy in a press release.

As a UMaine alum with numerous ties to the university, Beers is passionate about her new job.

“I come from a family with five children and out of the five of us, four of us either attended or graduated from the university,” Beers said.

“I’m married to an alumnus, and now my son is a junior here at the University of Maine. I think rather than just transforming the institution, a campaign like this really has the capacity to transform Maine.”

But considering the production featured all local dancers, including students from River City Dance Center in Bangor and Ellsworth, Thomas School of Dance in Bangor, and the University of Maine, and further considering the MCA stage is not large enough to perfectly execute a production as grand as “The Nutcracker,” the Robinson Ballet did a fair job.

And although most of the dancers were not perfect in terms of technique, it didn’t really matter: the audience loved the show.

Maybe it was the children: the ballet featured 30 youngsters from the Bangor Area Children’s Choir who sang during “A Winter Scene in a Pine Forest,” which included beautiful dances by the Snow Queen (Stevie Dunham of Bangor) and Snow Prince (Caleb McGary of Brewer). Many audience members pointed in delight at the names they recognized on the program.

“It’s sort of a sense of family and community,” Brewer native Rebecca Breau said in a Bangor Daily News article on Thursday, Nov. 27. Breau, who danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, is currently studying dance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Breau and Ian Robinson (also of Brewer, and also studying dance at the Tisch School), who danced the role of the Cavalier, were the most professional-looking dancers in the production. Their Grand Pas De Deux was the highlight of the show.

Other crowd favorites were the performance by Clara (Jessica Speed) and the “Coffee from Arabia” dance, performed by Katrina Smedal and Daniel Martin. Smedal, 19, is a junior at the University of Maine majoring in kinesiology. Her portrayal of the Arabian princess was mysterious and sensual.

Most of the production’s strengths were in the second act – which is surprising for a show that is often renowned for its delightful first act. Although the “Winter Scene in a Pine Forest” was magical as always, the second scene, “Home of the Silberhaus Family,” featured simple choreography that might have worked if the stage had not been so crowded. As it happened, most of the dancers were lost on the stage.

The ballet left out scenes that one normally sees in “Nutcracker” productions. For some reason, the Nutcracker doll in Clara’s dream never materialized to look like a human man. Instead, he kept his oversized wooden head, clumsily dancing with only minimal stage time. Whether this was to keep the show shorter or to simply minimize the role of the Nutcracker himself is a mystery.

The music for the production was provided by the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Led by conductor Xiao-Lu Li, world-renowned symphonic conductor and concert violinist from China, the musicians were flawless.

Keith Robinson and Maureen Lynch, co-Artistic Directors for the Robinson Ballet, were ambitious in their decision to produce “The Nutcracker.” Thanks to a few strong performances, they pulled it off. There are few ballets that could get away with this, and “The Nutcracker” is one of them. When the audience came to the MCA Saturday night, they weren’t looking for perfect dancing. They wanted to see holiday magic, filled with dolls that come to life, a battle with the King Rat, dancing sugar plums, princes and queens, and Clara’s Christmas dream that is Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece. Mission accomplished.

Composed of 65 members and founded in 1896, the BSO is a shining example of wonderful talent and hard work. Led by maestro Xiao- Lu Li, whose musical attributes and experiences abound, the orchestra gave a performance that left young and old feeling as if they had just experienced something bigger than themselves.

The concert opened with a drum roll and the National Anthem, and then moved directly on to the first piece, entitled “XL” by J. Mark Scearce, who was there to witness the performance. It was an enticing way to open the series – the piece perfectly showcased the talents of both the orchestra and the conductor.

Following “XL” was Niccolo Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1 in D major. I’ll admit, the first movement was a little lengthy, but there’s a difference between disliking composition and disliking performance. The BSO set the stage wonderfully for the upcoming movement, featuring guest violinist Corey Cerovsek.

Cerovsek’s amazing performance was not really a big surprise considering he began playing at the age of five, graduated from the University of Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music at age 12, and went on to receive his bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and music at 15, both masters at 16, and then finished his doctoral work in both at 18. My question is, where did he find time for pizza and sleep? It seemed that he was not really playing the violin, but more that the violin was playing him. There were some incredibly difficult arpeggios that flowed through him into his instrument, and though I didn’t see the score, some of those notes seemed so high off the staff that they’d need a parachute to come back down. Following an intermission, the orchestra performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor. An incredibly beautiful – and incredibly long – piece, it was a great way to conclude the performance.

The musicianship present on the stage in the Maine Center for the Arts was breathtaking. Prior to each concert, the orchestra rehearses about six times in two or three hour blocks. With an energetic conductor and devoted instrumentalists, some of which are UMaine professors and staff, the performances should not be missed by anyone on this campus.

The concert wasn’t perfect: the strings had a tendency to overpower the brass and woodwinds, and that dynamic tended to lack energy in some of the quieter spots in the pieces. Never mind the fact that I had a few middle-aged guys in front of me who whispered through the entire concert and at intermission enlightened me of their comparison of the BSO to ZZ Top. But those are minor things – it was pleasurable to listen to and very well attended.

The BSO performances are free for UMaine students. They will perform four more classical concerts and a finale at the MCA this season. In addition, they will present “The Nutcracker” with the Robinson Ballet Company, a tradition for 19 years, and in April they will perform with the University of Maine Singers and the Oratorio Society.

Preceding every performance in the Classical Concert series is a preview with musicologist David Klocko, who leads an informative discussion on the upcoming pieces. All performances in the Concert Series are held at 3 p.m. at the MCA. Tickets are sold as season passes or on an individual basis for non-students, and free or charged tickets should be reserved by calling 207-942-5555 or 800-639-3221, or by visiting www.bangorsymphony.com.

The only way executive director Susan Jonason can describe what viewers have to look forward to this season is “more of this!” If you don’t yet know what the “this” is, you should come to the next performance on Nov. 9, because the year is definitely looking strong for the BSO.

With new scenes, new choreography and some outstanding dancers in new parts, the show was an amazing success. The guest conductor with the BSO for the weekend was Marc David, current Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for an orchestra in Quebec and the Newfoundland Symphony.

The very first scene showed the revamped choreography. Instead of RBC’s traditional “walk to the party” by the guests, instead Godfather Drosselmeyer is shown in his workshop with a few of his magnificent lifelike dolls. With help from his playful mice, we were given a glimpse of the magic that the story and show would present to us.

The beginning of the party scene introduced the proper and sophisticated president and Frau Silberhaus, parents of Clara and Fritz. This year the role of Clara was played by Amanda Fahey, who successfully managed to bring to our attention the dreaminess and the enormous imagination that the character is known for. Patrick Taylor, cast in the role of Fritz, showed the mischievousness that is found in many younger brothers.

When Drosselmeyer arrived, played by Keith Robinson, co-artistic director of RBC, so did some of his mystifying creations. Ian Robinson as the Tin Soldier proved himself to be a young dancer to keep an eye on; he appears as a soloist later in the ballet as the Snow Prince, a Spaniard and in the Waltz of the Flowers.

The Harlequin Dolls delighted the little girls both on and off the stage, but the most outstanding of the toy dolls sprang out of a box into a combination of turns and jumps. The Jack in the Box, a new role for RBC, delighted the crowd and put Riley Watts in everyone’s heads to pay attention to for the rest of the ballet.

The party scene winded down and transformed into a beautiful snow scene. The Snow Queen, played by Rebecca Breau, accompanied by Robinson, danced with her snowflakes and showed Clara through the enchanting forest. The Bangor Children’s Choir assisted the dancers in this scene by adding the voice chords that help make the snow more captivating.

The second act brought nothing but more excitement and phenomenal dancing. In the world of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara sat atop her candy throne and was delighted by the dancers from every area of the world.

Most notable in these short dances were the hysterical antics of the lambs in Reed Flutes, the flowing, precise and beautiful dancing of the Dew Drop Fairy, Erica Schweikert and the flowing Arab dance, in which soloist, veteran of the Sugar Plum Fairy role and co-artistic director, Maureen Lynch took over the stage with her obvious presence.

Breau cast her “ballerina” style off and joined the boys as the only female for this action-packed dance. She showed herself to be one to watch, and at only 16 years old, she’ll surely be around in years to come.

Once again, Watts made a standout performance, leaping and throwing himself into unbelievable acrobatics across the stage. This first-timer in the Nutcracker certainly earned his keep judging by the insane yells and applause from the audience. Bound for the renowned dance school Walnut Hill in Natick, Mass., Watts is sure to go far in the dance world.

The music soon softened and Stephanie Dunham and Caleb McGary, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier, soon appeared. Performing these leading roles at the travel sites last year, the directors of RBC decided this year that the couple was ready to perform at home. Though both only in high school, they danced with the grace and style of any professional that may have appeared on the stage. Looking handsome together, the couple performed the famous pas de deux, “dance of two” and wowed the audience.

All too soon the ballet ended and the cast was taking their bows. Thunderous applause started the instant the entire company entered the stage. Some may say that changes can be rough at first, but the Robinson Ballet Company and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra put on a show better than ever before. We can only sit and wonder what they may do next year to top this flawless and wonderful show.