ARTHUR RUSSELL WEEK

2024 Season

Arthur Russell Week is a one-week festival designed to encourage intermediate to advanced string and piano students to experience the joy of musical collaboration. During the week of July 8-12, 2024, all young musicians will receive morning session coaching and the option to add afternoon activities at Camp Beech Cliff (sign up at campbeechcliff.org) on nearby Echo Lake. Classes will be held at Pemetic Elementary School in Southwest Harbor.

Adult musicians interested in chamber music may also participate. All levels considered.

The festival is the summer program of Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI). Applications are being accepted for both the youth and adult sessions until June 1, 2024. Scholarships are available and are based on demonstrated need.

Free public concerts will be held at St. John Episcopal Church in Southwest Harbor, Maine: July 11 (to benefit the Westside Food Pantry) and July 12 both at 5:30pm.

Youth Student Program will consist of 5 days the week of July 8-12. Students must be able to read music and have interest in small chamber music. Cost for the week per student is $300.

Adult Chamber Program will consist of 4 days the week of July 8-11. Cost for the week per participant is $275.

Questions about the youth session or concerts? Please contact Ellsworth Community Music Institute at 207-664-9258 or arweek@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org

Questions about the adult session? Please contact Noreen Silver at noreensilver@mac.com.

APPLICATIONS for the 2024 season are open now:

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Scholarships

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Music Recording

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Faculty & Staff

NOREEN SILVER,cello - 2023 ARW Artistic Director, Ensemble Coach
Noreen was born and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. Her studies took her to London’s Royal College of Music and to Boston’s New England Conservatory as the recipient of a Rotary International Fellowship. She and pianist husband Phillip Silver form the internationally acclaimed Silver Duo, with two CD recordings on the Toccata Classics label. Noreen’s professional experience includes several years in Seattle’s Northwest Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Boston Opera, London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She is principal cellist of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and has often appeared as soloist with the orchestra. Noreen has been on the University of Maine faculty since 1999, where she directs the chamber music program and teaches cello performance.

PHILLIP SILVER, piano - 2022 ARW Adult Ensemble Coach
Phillip Slver is an internationally acclaimed solo and collaborative artist. Over the course of his career he has performed with many distinguished artists including Denes Zsigmondy, Jian Wang, Elmar Oliveira, Albert Markov and Alexander Markov. Phillip has also been a member of the Van Leer Chamber Players in Jerusalem, the Rachmaninov Trio in the UK, and the Silver Duo, a long-established ensemble with his wife, cellist Noreen Silver. Phillip’s recorded legacy on the Koch-Schwann label includes a recital of German Romantic Lieder with Israeli soprano Cilla Grossmeyer, and a recording of 20th century Russian piano trios as a member of the UK based Rachmaninov Trio. His most recent recordings for the Toccata Classics label in London include a world premiere recording of music by Leone Sinigaglia, an Italian-Jewish victim of the Nazis, and a recording of music by German-Jewish composer Bernhard Sekles.

NANCY COLTER, ARW Program Liaison, ECMI Executive Artistic Director
RIAH JAFFREY, ARW Administrator, ECMI Program Coordinator

History of Arthur Russell Week

Arthur Russell Week (ARW), formerly known as Arthur Russell Strings, is the summer festival of ECMI. Young musicians travel to Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island for a week of playing music together, receiving professional coaching, and performing for eager audiences.

In 1998, Arthur Russell Strings was founded as a way to honor the legacy of an avant-garde cellist, composer, singer, and musician with ties to Mount Desert Island, Maine. Arthur’s work spanned the genres of classical, disco, folk, and rock. He collaborated with artists like Allen Ginsburg, Talking Heads, and Philip Glass, to name but a few. He died from AIDS in 1992. ARS began as a summer festival for young musicians to experience the wonders of musical collaboration in small groups.

Our one-week festival is designed to encourage young musicians to experience the joy of musical collaboration, to form deep and lasting friendships, to benefit from professional mentors, and to share the wonder of performance.