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Midday Concert @1:00 with The DaPonte String Quartet
Photo courtesy of the musicians. Left to right: Myles Jordan, cello, Philipp Elssner, violin, Lydia Forbes, violin & Kristen Monke, viola
Not long after forming in Philadelphia 33 years ago, the DaPonte String Quartet surprised the musical world by moving from a cosmopolitan urban area to rural Maine. The DSQ had been — and continues to be — sought after to perform and teach all over the U.S. and around the world. They have appeared in France, Scotland, Canada, and more than twenty American states. Their performances have been broadcast over nation-wide radio and television programs in both the United States and Canada. They have received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Philadelphia Musical Fund Society, the Music Teachers National Association, Chamber Music America, and have participated in several of the nation’s most prestigious concert series to rave reviews. Musicians and critics alike wondered, why would the DSQ move to Maine, where, as the New York Times noted, they create an experience “like watching the Celtics play in the local gym.”
But the members of the DaPonte String Quartet were proud to call Maine home, and their relationship with mid-coast Maine remains a deeply rooted one. When CBS Sunday Morning nationally televised a profile of the group, the idea of living outside a major urban center suddenly appeared to be an appealing alternative lifestyle few musicians had considered. Few string quartets can boast such a devoted following. The people of Maine warmly embraced the DSQ, which has become an integral part of the state’s musical life. When the Quartet debuted at Carnegie Hall, a large contingent of their fans traveled to New York to hear and cheer them there. The Times wrote in amazement: “Let it not be said that the DaPonte String Quartet enters New York musical life without friends. Weill Hall was packed!” The state’s embrace of the DSQ has also taken the form of awards from the Maine Arts Commission.
This support enables the DSQ to perform a wide-ranging and varied repertoire. While many classical musicians struggling with the realities of the contemporary musical marketplace find themselves performing exclusively new compositions, the Quartet’s repertoire spans the entire history of music, from seventeenth-century works on original instruments to cutting-edge contemporary quartets, like the one written for them by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici.
The DSQ is also known for their inventive interpretations of the works they play. The Boston Globe observed that whatever music they present — be it Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, or Post-Modern — the freshness of the DSQ’s performances make these works appear novel and contemporary: “Once again, the music could have been hot off the presses.” Their performances affirm chamber music as a vital and alive art form.
Fresh conception requires original thought, and the DSQ’s is based on solid research, extensive scholarship, and meticulous preparation. Strings Magazine recently remarked on the inclusion of British composer Thomas Ades’s quartet Arcadiana in the DSQ’s repertoire, noting that few groups would find themselves able to invest the hundreds of hours of preparation required for music of such complexity. This sort of groundwork gives their performances authority, but an authority that isn’t stiff or aloof. Their concerts are dynamic and their stage manner — with one another and with their audiences — is warm and conversational. The Quartet members regularly share musical insights with their audiences before playing and these “spoken program notes” enable the listener to enter into a deeper connection with the music.
The DaPonte String Quartet is now in season 34 and its members are still proud to call Maine home.
PHILIPP ELSSNER, VIOLIN: German-American violinist, violist, and music theorist Philipp Elssner is currently based in Northport, Maine. Philipp received his bachelor’s degree in 2021 from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where he studied violin with Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman. In 2024 he received his master’s degree in music theory from McGill University in Montreal, where he also studied violin with Jinjoo Cho. Philipp has recently been appointed as the new violinist of the DaPonte String Quartet, a celebrated Maine-based group that has made appearances across the United States and around the world. He will begin performing with the group in June of 2024. Other recent engagements include sold-out concerts in Bayside, Maine and Ann Arbor, Michigan as a member of the Lake Trio. The trio’s 2024 schedule will include performances in North Carolina, Michigan, and Maine.
In 2017, Philipp won the North Carolina American String Teacher’s Association competition, as well as being a finalist at the North Carolina Symphony Concerto Competition. Philipp has played in master classes for renowned artists and pedagogues such as Enrico Pace, Sung-Won Yang, Paul Kantor, and Soovin Kim, as well as for members of the Emerson and Pacifica string quartets, among others. He has performed at summer festivals including Encore Chamber Music and Bowdoin International Music Festival.
As an academic, Philipp has presented research on classical and popular music at national and international conferences, including at the Society for Music Theory’s 2022 and 2023 annual meetings. His master’s thesis, “Groove in the Mix: Spatial Manipulation in Groove-Based Popular Music, 1970–Present,” focuses on the embodied effects of stereo mixing practices in funk, soul, disco, and Hip Hop.
As an educator, Philipp has taught music theory and musicianship courses at McGill University, as well as serving as a Teaching Assistant for many more music theory courses at McGill and CIM. He has also taught violin and music theory privately to students of varying levels. Philipp believes that music is an art form everyone should be able to take part in, and seeks to nurture the unique musical voices of his students.
Philipp also has many years of performance experience as a violist. Recently, this has included performances of Saint-Saëns’s Piano Quartet, Op. 41, Dohnányi’s Serenade for string trio, and Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht in Montreal, Canada.
LYDIA FORBES, VIOLIN: Lydia traces her primary musical influences to the moment when she heard the sound of her sister’s violin—and knew it would always be time to know more about it—and to several of her teachers: Marylou Speaker, Eugene Lehner, Ben Zander, Dorothy Delay, Denes Zsigmondy, Masuko Ushioda, Jaap Schroeder, Isaac Stern, and Vera Beths.
Musical awards include the Weckstrom Prize in Musical Performance from Yale University and the Tera de Marez Oyens Prize in the Netherlands. Lydia has appeared as soloist at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Canada where she was Artist in Residence, with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, and with the Northwest Sinfonietta in the U.S.; chamber music festivals include Tanglewood, Bravo Colorado, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, Encounters with Isaac Stern in Cologne, and many others. Lydia studied with members of the Orion Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet in New York, and the Alban Berg Quartet in Vienna.
During her life in the Netherlands, which began with a Beebe Fund Grant, Lydia performed and toured with Het Zephyr Kwartet, a string quartet devoted to contemporary music and which she co-founded, Het Schönberg Ensemble, Ensemble Explorations and I Fiamminghi in Belgium, the Oslo Philharmonic in Norway, and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, the Osiris Trio, and L’Archibudelli in the Netherlands. Her travels with music have lead her to venues across the U.S. and Europe, as well as to the Philippines, Tasmania, Australia, and New Zealand. Recordings include the Sony Classical and Harmonia Mundi labels.
Lydia has performed as part of the DaPonte String Quartet since 2005; having the dream of being a member of a string quartet since age 11, she is grateful to be living this dream and bringing up her three sons in the beauties of the Maine landscape.
MYLES JORDAN, CELLO: Cellist, writer and teacher Myles Jordan arrived in the US from Canada in 1981. After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, he earned two further degrees at Juilliard, a doctorate of musical arts from Temple University, became associate principal cellist of the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, then founded the DaPonte String Quartet. With over four decades’ professional experience, Myles has taught at Temple University, Wilkes University and the University of North Texas, recorded for RCA Red Seal, CBC, Cadenza and Centaur records, written for Strad Magazine and collaborated in chamber music concerts and broadcasts with several of the world’s finest musicians.
“Because music is a language, the driving impetus behind our work is to create greater awareness of historical, social, political and philosophical contexts in which it’s created. My own aim is to draw as many human connections as possible between contemporary audiences and great composers.”
KIRSTEN MONKE, VIOLA: Kirsten has performed throughout Europe, across the United States, Japan and Costa Rica. She joined the DaPonte String Quartet in 2008, a serendipitous occurrence that brought her back to her beloved home state of Maine. After completion of a BM and MM at Indiana University under the guidance of Georges Janzer of the Vegh Quartet, Kim Kashkashian and Csaba Erdelyi, she continued her graduate studies with Heiichiro Ohyama at UC Santa Barbara. She became Principal Violist of both the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, where she played for more than a decade. As a member of the Anacapa String Quartet she was awarded several prizes, including a silver medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She has taught at UCSB, Westmont College and is currently on the music faculty at Bowdoin College and Bay Chamber Community Music School. She is a recipient of the 2016 Maine Artists Fellowship Award.
Midday Concert @1:00 - Molly Gebrian, viola, and Danny Holt, piano
Photo courtesy of the musicians.
Molly Gebrian and Danny Holt to play the next Midday Concert @ 1:00 at Ellsworth Community Music Institute on December 12.
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, December 12 with Molly Gebrian, viola, and Danny Holt, piano.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from the City of Ellsworth and supported in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation. Admission is free to the public.
Longtime friends and musical collaborators Molly Gebrian (viola) and Danny Holt (piano) are known for their dynamic performances and their passion for shining a spotlight on lesser-known classical composers. Their recent album, Trailblazers, features Gebrian’s transcriptions of rarely heard cello sonatas by three female composers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The duo’s current program begins with the standout piece from that album: an intensely dramatic sonata by Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans. Contemporaneous works by Russian composer Sergei Vasilenko and British composer Elizabeth Maconchy round out the program, bringing a variety of rich romanticism, tender beauty, and rhythmic intensity.
Dr. Molly Gebrian is a professional violist and scholar with a background in cognitive neuroscience. Her area of expertise is applying the research on learning and memory to practicing and performing music. Her book, Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing was published in 2024 by Oxford University Press. As a performer, she prioritizes the works of living composers and those who have traditionally been excluded from the culture of classical music. After a decade of teaching viola at the collegiate level, she joined the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music in Fall 2024 as the inaugural Teaching Artistry Scholar-in-Residence to teach about the science of practicing.
Called “phenomenal” by the late music critic Alan Rich, and “exceptional” by the Los Angeles Times, pianist Danny Holt performs around the globe in concert halls, clubs, art galleries, churches, living rooms, and wherever else he can find a piano and someone to listen. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Blue Man Group, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the California EAR Unit, and the Calder Quartet, among others. His recorded catalog includes the recent solo album “Piano Music of Mike Garson” and other solo, chamber, and orchestral releases. Holt holds degrees from California Institute of the Arts, Hampshire College, Smith College, and Interlochen Arts Academy. After nearly two decades in Southern California, Holt recently relocated to East Machias, Maine.
Future concerts in the series include; January 30th - The DaPonte String Quartet
Have a question? Please write via our Contact Form.
Midday Concert @1:00 - Phillip Silver, piano; Emily Stodola, violin/viola; Anna Maria Baeza, clarinet; Noreen Silver, cello
Photos courtesy of the musicians. From left to right; Phillip Silver, Emily Stodola, Anna Maria Baeza, and Noreen Silver.
Midday Concert @ 1:00 on November 21 featuring Phillip Silver, piano; Emily Stodola, violin/viola; Anna Maria Baeza, clarinet; Noreen Silver, cello
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, November 21 featuring Phillip Silver, piano; Emily Stodola, violin/viola; Anna Maria Baeza, clarinet; Noreen Silver, cello.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from the City of Ellsworth and supported in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation. Admission is free to the public.
Phillip Silver is an internationally acclaimed soloist, collaborative artist and researcher. For over two decades Phillip has carried out research on music and musicians caught up in the Holocaust. He has presented his research in the form of commercial recordings, lectures and recitals on both national and international stages including venues in Israel, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom. 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. Steve Arloff writing in MusicWeb International described it as “a really valuable discovery” marked by “flawless playing.”... “thoroughly deserving to be heard by every chamber music lover.” Phillip also promotes the music of Israeli composers and through performance and lecture actively works to bring this music before a wider international public. Phillip Silver has been on the faculties of Glasgow University, Strathclyde University, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. He is currently a Professor of Music at the School of Performing Arts at the University of Maine, Orono.
Emily Stodola holds an MME with an emphasis in Suzuki Violin Pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin-Steven Point, an MM in violin performance from Texas Tech University, and a BM in violin performance from the University of Minnesota. Between 2006 and 2016, she played in a number of orchestras in Southeastern Wisconsin, and served as concertmaster of the Green Bay Civic Symphony from 2007-2011. Ms. Stodola has been teaching violin and viola to children and adults of all ages using the Suzuki Method since 2003. She has taught private and group lessons at North Shore Suzuki Strings, Barcel Suzuki String Academy and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. She has also taught music theory classes, coached/directed small string chamber ensembles, and musical storytelling at WCM’s Summer Music Institute. In her spare time, Ms. Stodola enjoys writing, cross-country skiing, birding, camping, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Anna Maria Baeza earned her DMA degree from SUNY, Stony Brook, and she holds MM and BM degrees from USC in Los Angeles. Her major teachers include Charles Neidich, Jack Kreiselman, David Shifrin and Mitchell Lurie. She also studied with Guy Deplus in Paris, France. In addition, she took chamber music classes with Julius Levine, Gilbert Kalish and Yehuda Gilad.
Ms. Baeza taught clarinet and chamber music and conducted the Chamber Orchestra at the Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn, New York. She also gave method classes as part of the MAP program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. Ms. Baeza taught clarinet and chamber music at Summerkeys in Lubec, Maine for over 20 years, where she was heard on numerous recitals. Her other performances in Maine took place at Machias Bay Concerts, Eastport Arts Center and Fog Fest at Roosevelt International Park on Campobello Island. Ms. Baeza takes a strong interest in the music of living composers, having performed and premiered works by Steve Reich, Bernard Rands, and Greg Pfeiffer at “June in Buffalo.” She participated as a chamber musician and soloist in Prague and Budapest under the auspices of the European Mozart Foundation in Prague, and played live broadcasts on French and Czech television as well as on Public Radio programs in Los Angeles, New York City and in Maine. Ms. Baeza currently resides in Bangor, Maine and enjoys baking and restoring her old Victorian house.
Cellist Noreen Silver was born and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. She studied at the Royal College of Music in London, and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. She was fortunate to pursue independent study with the great cellists Jacqueline du Pré and Pierre Fournier. The Glasgow Herald has described her as “an extraordinarily soulful player” who “demonstrates an uncommon depth of feeling and imagination.” Since 1999 Noreen has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine, where she directs the Chamber Music program, and teaches cello and music theory. She also holds the position of Principal Cellist in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. Along with her husband, pianist Phillip Silver, Noreen has performed much of the cello/piano repertoire in the USA, Europe, Israel and the UK. Much in demand as a teacher, she has also served on the faculties of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Strathclyde University, and Ellsworth Community Music Institute.
Future concerts in the series include: December 12 - Danny Holt, piano, and Molly Gebrian, viola; January 30 - DaPonte String Quartet.
Have a question? Please write via our Contact Form.
*POSTPONED* Instrument Petting Zoo - Blue Hill Public Library
*POSTPONED*
UPDATE: Due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, ECMI is postponing the Instrument Petting Zoo on November 15, 2025 at the Blue Hill Library. We look forward to rescheduling the event in early 2026!
Thank you for supporting our organization's events. We apologize for the inconvenience.
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Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers an Instrument Petting Zoo from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm on Saturday, November 15, 2025 at the Blue Hill Public Library. This interactive musical instrument demonstration, with ECMI Faculty, allows children to touch, play, and experience instruments in person.
The Instrument Petting Zoo will be held at 5 Parker Point Road in Blue Hill, Maine. The event is sponsored by the Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) in collaboration with Organizational Partner, Blue Hill Public Library. Admission is free to the public.
Children must be accompanied by an adult for the entire event.
Questions may be sent via our Contact Form.
The Story of Ferdinand with the Halcyon String Quartet
This free concert is hosted by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) and sponsored by the Blue Hill Concert Association.
About "The Story of Ferdinand"
Halcyon's fourth annual family performance features Munro Leaf's beloved children's book, The Story of Ferdinand. With narration by Luke Fatora, Halcyon will sweep you up on a musical tour of the string quartet that culminates in a musical performance of Ferdinand combining music, story, and illustration. Featuring classical favorites, folk tunes, pop songs, and nostalgic tunes from childhood, we'll get everyone clapping and snapping along!
Halcyon Musicians:
Josie Davis & Sophie Davis, violin
Colin Wheatley, viola
Julia Henderson, cello
Luke Fatora, narrator
About Halcyon:
Halcyon is a nonprofit organization, string quartet, and artist collective based in Midcoast Maine. As musicians, artists, filmmakers, animators, advocates, and storytellers, we strive to share our love of music in ways that foster connection, community, vibrancy, joy, warmth, and accessibility. Our programs are built on partnerships with local community organizations and folks from all walks of life. We collaborate with scientists, artists, students, actors, composers, poets, and educators to create performances that invite audiences to feel, celebrate, reflect, and respond collectively to the world around them. Halcyon's upcoming season includes collaborations with Maine's Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma, composer Nathan Davis, vocalists Sarah Tuttle and Aaren Rivard, Arctic scientist and climate advocate Susana Hancock, and students and educators at three local high schools. For more information about our upcoming performances and projects, visit: halcyonstringquartet.org.
Have a question? Please write via our Contact Form.
Midday Concert @1:00 - Shelter Music Maine Trio
Shelter Music Maine Trio to play the next Midday Concert @ 1:00 at Ellsworth Community Music Institute on October 10.
Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, October 10 with Shelter Music Maine Trio; Katherine Liccardo, violin; Matt Consul, viola and mandolin; and Marisa Solomon, cello.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from the City of Ellsworth and supported in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation. Admission is free to the public.
Violinist Katherine Liccardo, a native New Yorker, began her violin and piano studies at age 3. Katherine’s passion for music started at home, growing up in a household of music teachers and performers. At the age of 18, she made her Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium solo debut as the winner of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. Katherine is a trained Suzuki teacher and runs an in person and online studio with students ranging from Maine to Australia. She is the associate director of Vigorous Tenderness, an immersive outdoor concert series that amplifies marginalized voices in classical music and democratizes new and experimental sounds.
Matt Consul holds a Bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance and a Master’s in Contemporary Improvisation on mandolin and violin from New England Conservatory of Music. He is a member of Portland Symphony Orchestra and serves as a substitute musician with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops. Matt regularly presents educational workshops for kids in Portland public elementary schools through the Portland Symphony’s Explorers program and helps bring chamber music to homeless shelters and other sheltering environments with Shelter Music Maine. Active in a variety of musical circles outside the classical world, Matt is a member of jazz composer/bandleader Miho Hazama’s Grammy-nominated ensemble m_unit and was formerly a member of the alt folk outfit the Laura Grill Band. In addition to performing, Matt maintains a small private studio teaching viola and violin.
Cellist Marisa Solomon received performance degrees from the Oberlin College and San Francisco Conservatories, studying with Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton respectively. She is the founder of Shelter Music Maine, director of the Kneisel Hall Program for Maine Students, adjunct faculty at the University of Maine, a member of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and a 2023 recipient of the Director’s Award from the Collins Center for the Arts. Festivals include the Aspen Music Festival, New York String Seminar, Kneisel Hall, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, SpoletoUSA, Festival de due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado.
Future concerts in the series include; November 21 - Noreen Silver, cello; Phillip Silver, piano; Anna Maria Baeza, clarinet; Emily Stodola, violin/viola, and December 12 - Danny Holt, piano, and Molly Gebrian, viola.
Have a question? Please write via our Contact Form.
Instrument Petting Zoo - Ellsworth Public Library
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers an Instrument Petting Zoo from 10:00 am-12:00 pm on Saturday, October 4, 2025 in partnership with the Ellsworth Public Library. Offered as part of Heart of Ellsworth’s annual Art of Ellsworth celebration, ECMI Faculty and ECMI Student Ambassadors will give string instrument and piano demonstrations, allowing children to touch, play, and experience instruments in person.
The Instrument Petting Zoo will be held at the Ellsworth Public Library at 20 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The event is sponsored by the Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI). Admission is free to the public.
Children must be accompanied by an adult for the entire event. Registration is not required. Questions may be sent via our Contact Form.
Instrument Petting Zoo - Northeast Harbor Library
Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers an Instrument Petting Zoo from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at the Northeast Harbor Library. This interactive musical instrument demonstration, with ECMI Faculty and ECMI Student Ambassadors, allows children to touch, play, and experience instruments in person.
The Instrument Petting Zoo will be held at 1 Joy Road in Northeast Harbor, Maine. The event is sponsored by the Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) in collaboration with organizational partner, Northeast Harbor Library. Admission is free to the public.
Children must be accompanied by an adult for the entire event.
Supported in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation.
Questions may be sent via our Contact Form.
Midday Concert @1:00 - Peregrine Road; Karen Axelrod and Rachel Bell
Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) is opening the 2025-2026 year with its first Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, September 12 performed by Peregrine Road; Karen Axelrod, piano and accordion, and Rachel Bell, accordion.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from the City of Ellsworth and supported in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation. Admission is free to the public.
Peregrine Road plays captivating acoustic music that occupies a sweet spot somewhere between chamber music and folk music, with complex arrangements and lush textures alongside raw energy and multi-cultural influences. Karen Axelrod and Rachel Bell have quickly become known together as a powerhouse duo capable of a huge variety of styles, in demand throughout North America and beyond for concerts, workshops, festivals, English country dances, contra dances, and other events.
Their music is rooted in Celtic, English, French, Quebecois, New England, and Appalachian traditions while at the same time being infused with the excitement of new compositions and dynamic improvisation. Audience members frequently remark on Peregrine Road's exquisite musicianship and mastery of their instruments, as well as their outrageous humor and ability to connect with listeners of all ages and walks of life.
Karen Axelrod’s piano playing combines expressiveness, energy, lyricism and power. She is equally at home with styles ranging from traditional folk melodies to passionate tango to old world French musette waltz to English Country dance tunes and much more. She left behind classical music over 35 years ago, and has happily settled into her musical home….somewhere between folk, classical and improvisation. Her playing is soulful yet touched with humor and whimsy.
When she is not playing concerts, Karen is one of the busiest and most sought after traditional dance musicians. Her elegant and rich piano playing and her colorful, gorgeous accordion playing are enlivened by her off-beat humor. Karen plays with a number of bands for traditional dance events as well as concerts. Her bands include Alchemy, Foxfire, Peregrine Road and 3rd String Trio. Based in Brattleboro, VT, she tours extensively throughout the United States, Canada and abroad at dances, festivals, concerts, camps private parties and other events.
Rachel Bell is an accordion player based in Brattleboro, Vermont. This performer, tunesmith, and teacher’s playing spans an enormous range of emotion, from nuanced and sensitive to exhilarating and powerful, pushing the boundaries of what is expected from an accordion. Rachel draws her inspiration from Celtic, French, English, and Québécois traditions, creating scores of innovative tunes while deeply respecting traditional melodies. She thrives on collaborative musical work, especially with her bands Eloise & Co., Peregrine Road, Alchemy, and Old World Charm School.
In demand throughout North America and abroad for concerts, contra dances, French BalFolk dances, English country dances, workshops, and festivals, Rachel is a musical adventurer at heart.
Have a question? Please write via our Contact Form.
Peregrine Road; Karen Axelrod, piano & accordion and Rachel Bell, accordion.
Fall Semester Begins!
The Fall Semester will begin on Monday, September 8th, 2025. Returning students will receive a registration link from administration.
New students should complete an Inquiry Form and will be contacted for next steps.
Questions can be submitted via our Contact Form.
Thank you!
Registration Opens for Fall Semester
Registration for the fall semester opens on August 11, 2025, for the 2025-2026 school year.
Returning students will receive a registration link from administration.
New students should complete an Inquiry Form and will be contacted for next steps.
Questions can be submitted via our Contact Form.
Thank you!
Midday Concert @1:00 - Clare Monfredo, cello; Edward Kass, bass; Conrad Winslow, piano
From left to right; Clare Monfredo, cello; Edward Kass, bass; and Conrad Winslow, piano
Clare Monfredo, cello; Edward Kass, bass; and Conrad Winslow, piano to play the next Midday Concert @ 1:00 at Ellsworth Community Music Institute on May 23
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, May 23 with Clare Monfredo, cello; Edward Kass, bass; and Conrad Winslow, piano.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.
Cellist Clare Monfredo grew up in Seal Harbor, Maine, and has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader all over the world, collaborating with a diverse array of notable artists, from Patricia Kopatchinskaja to Jon Batiste, to groups such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, A Far Cry, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Festival appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Lucerne Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, and Kurt Weill Fest. Clare holds a BA in English from Yale University and a masters of music degree from the Shepherd School at Rice University where she received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Graduate Arts Award. She also attended the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship. Clare lives in Brooklyn, New York where she is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter College. She is co-founder and co-artistic director of DownEast New Music.
Bassist Edward Kass performs frequently with new music groups such as Ensemble Dal Niente and Callithumpian Consort, and has appeared at festivals such as Tanglewood Music Center, Lucerne Festival, and Pacific Music Festival. He is currently a Lucerne Festival Contemporary Leader, serving as a curator for the Lucerne Forward Festival and coach at the Festival Academy. Since 2016, he has performed with soprano Nina Guo as Departure Duo, which performs, commissions and researches music written for soprano and double bass. Recognized by Chamber Music America for commissioning, recent duo performances include recitals at Spoleto Festival USA, Yellow Barn, Omaha Under the Radar, and KM28. Kass completed his studies at New England Conservatory, where he received the John Cage Award for Outstanding Contribution to Contemporary Music Performance. Kass resides in Boston and is co-founder and co-artistic director of DownEast New Music.
Conrad Winslow is a composer and pianist whose musical forms are bold, legible and emotionally direct. His music combines precipitous edges with subtle shifts of syntax. He draws influence from architects and playwrights to structure pieces like places to inhabit. Raised in Homer, Alaska, he first learned to make a world from scratch by watching his parents build a log cabin home in the woods. His work has been called “compelling” (New York Times) and described as a “scenic, boisterous and bumpy ride” (Albany Times Union). Winslow's instrumental music has been commissioned by Alarm Will Sound, Carnegie Hall, and the American Composers Orchestra, among many others. He holds a Master’s Degree in Composition from the Juilliard School, where he studied with John Corigliano, an M.M. degree in film scoring from NYU, where he studied with Justin Dello Joio, and an Honors A.B. degree in Music from Rollins College, where he studied with Daniel Crozier.
For more information, please complete our Contact Form.
Midday Concert @1:00 - Michael Coonrod and Danny Holt, 4-Hand Piano Program
Piano Duo Michael Coonrod and Danny Holt
Piano Duo Michael Coonrod and Danny Holt to play the next Midday Concert @ 1:00 at Ellsworth Community Music Institute on April 25
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, April 25 with pianists Michael Coonrod and Danny Holt playing a 4-hand piano program.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.
Pianists Michael Coonrod and Danny Holt team up for beloved classics for piano duo by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and more. Coonrod recently retired from almost five decades of teaching at Interlochen Arts Academy, where he shaped generations of young pianists. Holt recently relocated from Southern California to Downeast Maine, and was Coonrod's student more than 25 years ago. He is thrilled to welcome his former teacher to Maine for concerts this spring.
Dr. Michael Coonrod is a retired piano faculty member from the Interlochen Center for the Arts where he tutored classical piano students for 46 years. During that time, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD. He has had an extensive performing and teaching career in several countries. He performed 20th Century piano music at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw Poland and participated in the Amalfi Music Festival in Maiori, Italy for five summers. He gave several master classes at the FaceArt Piano School in Shanghai China. He has five compact disc recordings to his credit–two of which are devoted to the music of Franz Schubert. Visit his website at: michaelcoonrod.com In his free time he is building a diorama of his home town of Missoula, Montana with an HO scale train layout.
Called “phenomenal” by the late music critic Alan Rich, and hailed as one of the “local heroes” of the Los Angeles music scene (LAcitybeat.com), pianist Danny Holt performs around the globe in concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl), clubs (Joe’s Pub, The Blue Whale, Copenhagen Jazzhouse) art galleries (MASS MoCA, Hammer Museum), churches, living rooms, and wherever else he can find a piano and someone to listen. His recorded catalog includes the recent solo album “Piano Music of Mike Garson” and other solo, chamber, and orchestral releases on the Innova Recordings label, pfMENTUM, New World Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Acis Productions, and L’st records. After spending most of the past two decades in Southern California, Holt recently relocated to East Machias, where he enjoys being surrounded by natural beauty, and a slower pace of life. http://www.dannyholt.net
The final concert of the 2024-2025 Midday Concert series will be held on May 23 with Clare Monfredo, cello; Edward Kass, bass; Conrad Winslow, piano.
For more information, please complete our Contact Form.
Student Works-In-Progress Workshop
We are excited to invite our youth ECMI students to participate in a new opportunity! ECMI is hosting a Works-In-Progress Workshop on April 10th from 3:30-5:15.
Join fellow ECMI Students for a special class hosted by Nancy Colter. This new Works-in-Progress Workshop is specially designed to provide students an additional opportunity to share what they're practicing with peers. Pieces (or movements of longer works) are not expected to be fully performance-ready but should be played all the way through (not just a small section). Nancy Colter (and possibly other faculty) will listen to what has been accomplished so far and make helpful suggestions to make performing easier and more fun! String players will perform without an accompanist for this session, and all students MUST REGISTER their names and pieces to participate or observe. All students are welcome!
April 10th 2025 Works-In-Progress Workshop
Students Age 6-12 | 3:30-4:15
Students Ages 12-18 | 4:30-5:15
Snow Cancellation - No Lessons after 1:00pm Today
Due to incoming storm all classes have been cancelled today, M. March 24, after 1:00pm.
Midday Concert @1:00 - Baroque Orchestra of Maine (BOOM)
Heidi Powell & Sylvia Schwartz, baroque violins; Phoebe Durand-McDonnell, baroque harp
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, March 14 with the Baroque Orchestra of Maine (BOOM) featuring Heidi Powell and Sylvia Schwartz, baroque violins; Phoebe Durand-McDonnell, baroque harp.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.
Baroque Orchestra of Maine's mission is to present dynamic world class period instrument performances to the rural Downeast Maine area featuring local artists. The group strives to engage and educate a wide audience about historically informed performance by presenting concerts in accessible, eclectic, non-traditional concert venues.
To learn more about each musician, please visit: baroqueorchestraofmaine.org/
Future concerts in the 2024-2025 Midday Concert series will be held on April 25 - Danny Holt and Michael Coonrod, 4-hand piano program; and on May 23 - Clare Monfredo, cello; Conrad Winslow, piano; Edward Kass, bass.
For more information, please call 207-664-9258 or email: info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org.
DaPonte String Quartet - The Barn at Woodlawn
DaPonte String Quartet. Clockwise from left: Myles Jordan, Philipp Elssner, Kirsten Monke & Lydia Forbes. Photo credit: Jeffrey Morris, The Pierce Studio
Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) is thrilled to announce a performance by the renowned DaPonte String Quartet (DSQ) featuring the exquisite works of Franz Joseph Haydn and Erich Wolfgang Korngold on March 1 at The Barn at Woodlawn. The concert begins at 3:30pm.
The DSQ will grace audiences in various venues throughout the state, bringing their unique artistry and passion for chamber music to both traditional and contemporary settings. The quartet will captivate listeners with Haydn’s elegant quartet, known for its wit and depth, alongside the lush, romantic style of Korngold’s second quartet that beautifully blends melodic richness and effervescence.
Performances are scheduled in cities including Portland, Brunswick, and Ellsworth, among others, showcasing the quartet's dedication to engaging communities through the power of music. Ellsworth Community Music Institute is proud to be a Featured Partner for the Woodlawn performance at 19 Black House Drive in Ellsworth, Maine.
Tickets are $25 each and available for purchase through the DaPonte String Quartet website. For more information and tickets, visit dapontequartet.org.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): String Quartet in D Op. 20 # 4 (1772): Written at age forty, the mature composer Franz Joseph Haydn’s six string quartets Op. 20 collectively stand as a critically-important development in the history of music. Op. 20 #4 is written in a style reminiscent of central-European Zigeuner, or Gypsy, folksongs and dances, which Haydn loved and incorporated into many of his chamber works, exactly as Johannes Brahms did a century later. ~Myles Jordan
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): String Quartet #2 in E-flat Major Op. 26 (1933) “In music history there have been but three superlative child prodigies, each of whom far surpassed seasoned masters in their intuitive grasp of the art. They were: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.” The E-flat Major Op. 26 is the second of Korngold’s three ingenious string quartets. Its general character is as witty and effervescent as might be expected, to the point that it seems to stand as a counterpart to the puckish Viennese theatrical character Hanswurst, a model of sophisticated élan and the inspiration for many Viennese “personalities,” over more than a century. ~Myles Jordan
Midday Concert @1:00 - Guitarist Hugh Bowden
Guitarist Hugh Bowden to play the next Midday Concert @ 1:00
ELLSWORTH - Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) offers its next Midday Concert @ 1:00 on Friday, February 28 with guitarist Hugh Bowden.
The concert will be held at the Moore Community Center Theater, 125 State Street in Ellsworth, Maine. The series is sponsored by Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) with funding assistance from The City of Ellsworth. Admission is free to the public.
In Bowden’s words, “I got interested in guitar when I was about 11 years old and heard Chet Atkins on the radio. I told my folks that I wanted to do that and they bought me a Stella guitar with a blue and white body that arrived for Christmas that year. Over the following years, I taught myself the rudiments of playing because there were no people near our small town of Brooklin that gave guitar lessons. Like so many young musicians, I formed a rock 'n' roll band after I got out of the U.S. Army at age 21 and we managed to get gigs around the eastern Maine area. By my 30s, I had learned the Chet Atkins style of fingerpicking though never approaching the levels that he achieved. But I began developing fingerstyle arrangements of songs that I liked and started to compose my own instrumental pieces. For my entire musical life, Chet Atkins was always my primary influence and remains so to this day. I also got involved in jazz guitar in my 40s and enjoyed a nearly 20-year membership in a jazz quintet called A-Train that performed all over the state and did several concerts on Maine Public Radio.”
Future concerts in the 2024-2025 concert series will be held on March 14 - Heidi Powell and members of the Baroque Orchestra of Maine; on April 25 - Danny Holt and Michael Coonrod, 4-hand piano program; and on May 23 - Clare Monfredo, cello and Conrad Winslow, piano.
For more information, please call 207-664-9258 or email: info@ellsworthcommunitymusic.org.
