ALL SOULS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Arlan A. Baillie Steinway Concert Series
Upcoming Fall Concert
Halcyon & Friends Present the
Dohnanyi Piano Quintet and The Future is Here
featuring Marlene McCarthy & Alisa Amador
October 17 at 4:30PM
PROGRAM LENGTH
90 minutes (with a pause)
MUSICIANS
Sophie Davis, Josie Davis, & Luke Fatora, violins
Colin Wheatley, viola
Julia Henderson, cello
Marlene McCarthy, piano
Alisa Amador, vocals & guitar
PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTION
Join Halcyon and friends for an evening of chamber music, film, and storytelling. For the first half of the program, Halcyon will be joined by special guest and pianist, Marlene McCarthy for a performance of Dohnanyi’s brilliant first Piano Quintet - a rousing tour de force full of soaring melodies. In the second half of the program, Halcyon collaborates with vocalist and NPR Tiny Desk winner, Alisa Amador for a performance of Halcyon’s latest multimedia show: The Future is Here. Combining live music with film, community voices, and stop-motion animation, The Future is Here celebrates the ingenuity within our communities through a series of vignettes that tell stories of Maine people who are working on the ground to build creative, regenerative, and resilient communities in response to the climate crisis. Through this performance, Halcyon creates space for us to collectively see what our world looks like when we come together to care for each other and the world around us. They challenge the narratives of despair that dominate the climate space, and instead amplify the action, innovation, creativity, and determination that already exists within our community.
ABOUT HALCYON:
Halcyon is a nonprofit organization, string quartet, and artist collective based in Midcoast Maine. We are musicians, artists, filmmakers, animators, advocates, and storytellers who 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. As individual musicians, we have performed extensively throughout the US and abroad, however Halcyon makes its homebase in Maine where we combine music, film, and story to connect deeply with communities across the state. Our films and animations have been screened at the Climate Film Festival, Maine International Film Festival, Reel Teel Film Festival, and Strong Mind Film Festival. For more information about Halcyon and to learn about upcoming performances, visit: halcyonstringquartet.org.
ABOUT ALISA AMADOR:
Praised by NPR’s Bob Boilen as a “powerful voice whose tender performance commands attention and fosters connection,” Alisa Amador made history in 2022 with the first-ever Spanish language song to win the prestigious Tiny Desk Contest. Now, the bilingual singer/songwriter is formally introducing herself with her stunning full-length debut, Multitudes. Slipping effortlessly between Spanish and English and featuring appearances from Gaby Moreno, Madison Cunningham, and Quinn Christopherson, the collection is raw and vulnerable, at once steeped in devastating loss and uncertainty, but also laced with the hope and resilience of a young woman learning to find her voice and stand her ground. Multitudes is a fierce work of discovery and affirmation, a profound, revelatory meditation on triumph and loss, endings and beginnings, identity and belonging.
ABOUT MARLENE MCCARTHY
Pianist Marlene McCarthy has been praised for her multifaceted and individual career path, defined by a diverse range of musical interests. At 15, Marlene began her formal training under Chiharu Naruse. Through her guidance, Marlene found success in numerous local competitions, winning the A.H Chatfield Junior Piano Prize and the Ocy Downs Piano Competition. Marlene moved to New York City in 2008 for her undergraduate studies with Victor Rosenbaum at Mannes College and a master's degree at New York University, under the guidance of Alexander Kobrin. During her time at NYU, Marlene also had the opportunity to serve as an adjunct faculty member. Marlene completed her doctoral work at Stony Brook University in 2024 under the tutelage of Christina Dahl, where she also taught as an adjunct instructor. As part of her Doctoral Studies, Marlene gave a lecture on Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues and performed his complete North American Ballads as part of a recital celebrating the American Folk idiom. As an active chamber musician and collaborator, Marlene has had the opportunity to receive coaching from highly-regarded musicians, including members of the Emerson String Quartet, Gilbert Kalish, Colin Carr, Jennifer Frautschi, and Carol Wincenc. Outside of her classical pursuits, her "Marlene T" project, which reimagines pop songs as solo piano arrangements, has found a growing audience with over 200,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Before relocating to Maine in April 2024, Marlene enjoyed educating her private students in New York City for over a decade. Marlene is excited to continue her work as an educator, performer, and collaborator in her home state.
Performances
Arlan A. Baillie Steinway Performance Series
The Arlan A. Baillie Steinway Performance Series consists of 3 or four piano performances annually, including instrumental performances with piano accompaniment, student piano performances, and occasional piano master classes. The events are all open to the public with no admission charge. The Arlan A. Baillie Steinway Piano is a gift to All Souls Congregational Church and the community from the Christopher Hutchins family in memory of Ruth R. and Curtis M. Hutchins. All costs for the piano and its programs are covered by an endowment fund created as part of the gift. One concert features special guests to display the Steinway — either solo or in an ensemble. There are guests from within the state of Maine as well as artists from other states. There is a fine variety from year to year.
The Annual Student Performances
The annual Community Concert provides an opportunity for specially chosen students of area piano teachers. The students perform works of their own choosing with no restriction as to style. Piano teachers are invited to select up to three of their students of any age, who are showing good progress in their playing. The level of playing may be from novice to advanced. Piano teachers not already on our mailing list may receive registration materials by contacting the church office.
We maintain a separate mailing list for our Steinway Performance Series. If you would like to sign up for this list and receive notices about upcoming performances, you can do so here. For our general church email list use the button below.