The Portland Symphony Orchestra's "Concert Conversations" are informative lectures that help concertgoers understand music and the environment in which it was created. The centerpiece of this season is the PSO's Beethoven Festival, thus a number of the 2005 "Concert Conversations" focus on Beethoven's world and music. Speakers include some of the most highly acclaimed composers, musicians, historians, and professors from central and southern Maine. On March 1 at 6:15, Robert Lehman will discuss Beethoven's "trend-setting" compositions. On March 13 at 1:15, Mary Hunter will describe three versions of German Romanticism. On March 22 at 6:15, Vineet Shende will deliver a talk entitled "Perspective and Music: Points of View of Beethoven, Schiller, Longfellow, and Shende." On April 10 at 1:15, Scott Harris will address "Waltzes: Music of the Season." Finally, on May 3, PSO Conductor Toshiyuki Shimada will discuss "Melodic Inspirations: Tchaikovsky's blend of melody and symphonic form." The lectures, held in the rehearsal hall of the Merrill Auditorium, are free of charge, and refreshments are provided. For more information, call (207) 773-6128.

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The Center Theatre and the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft are co-hosts of a Winter Writer Series. Three different published authors will visit the area over the course of three months, taking part in both school and community programs in an effort to stimulate literacy discussion among adults and inspire rural students to stay in school, read, and aspire to adventurous lives. Public readings take place at the Thompson Free Library on Main Street in Dover, each beginning at 7:00 p.m. The final event, on March 3, will feature Steven Clark, author of Following Their Footsteps, a history of Benedict Arnold's trek through Maine to Quebec. Clark's presentation will complement the Penquis Reads program, in which eight communities will study Kenneth Roberts' Arundel, a story about Benedict Arnold.

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March 8, 2005 ~~~ North Berwick

Over the past decade, Claudia Updike has brought over 100 Maine children's book writers and illustrators to York County schools. As director of the K-6 library program in SAD #60, Updike recognizes the inspirational impact that meeting a working author or illustrator can have on young writers and artists in elementary schools. She started the Maine Authors in Our Schools program in 1993, and has kept the program running in spite of limited school budgets and rising author fees. With the help of the Maine Humanities Council, Updike will bring Kevin Hawkes to the North Berwick Primary School on Tuesday, March 8. Hawkes, an illustrator of national renown, lives in Gorham. In one whirlwind day, he will give four presentations to accommodate every student in the school (and many parents). He will also appear at a luncheon with teachers, school librarians, and other local children's literature enthusiasts.

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March 13, 2005 ~~~ Portland

The Maine Jewish Film Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this spring. A long-standing highlight of the Festival has been its Women Filmmakers Forum, which showcases the work of female directors and screenwriters from around the world. In 2005, the Forum will include two films and a guest speaker. The films, lecture, and discussion will take place at the Portland Museum of Art. The 2005 Festival schedule, including the Forum details, will be posted shortly on the festival website, www.mjff.org.

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March/April, 2005 ~~~ Rockland/Belfast

"Body, Mind, and Spirit: Hospice in Maine" is a photography exhibit honoring the nurses, patients, and families on the hospice care journey. The exhibit, organized by Kno-Wal-In Home Care and Hospice in Rockland, was on display at the Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport in November and December 2004. In March, the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland will host the exhibit, followed by the Hutchinson Center in Belfast for the month of April.

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March — April, 2005 ~~~ Oxford Hills

The Oxford Hills region, which includes the towns of Buckfield, Norway, South Paris, Oxford, Harrison, Waterford, Hebron, Otisfield, and West Paris, will hold a "One Book, One Community" program this spring, using the novel Ernie's Ark by Oxford Hills native Monica Wood. For the kick-off on February 1, Wood visited Hebron Academy and presented an evening program at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. In February and March, book discussions and related activities will take place throughout the area at public libraries, high schools, and workplaces. The program culminates on April 5 with another visit from Monica Wood.

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March — April, 2005 ~~~ Portland

Longfellow's Shorts is a public reading series designed to inspire interest in literature by using Portland Stage Company actors as readers, bring the written words to life. The readings fall into two categories: writer-based evenings and theme-based evenings. Past writer-based programs, for which readings include both the author's recent work and material that has influenced it, have featured appearances by Colum McCann, Rodman Philbrick, and Gregory McGuire. In event-based programs, readings are drawn from a variety of material to focus on a single theme, usually a holiday. The 2004-05 Longfellow's Shorts season opened with a holiday event for families, with readings such as A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas and Moishe's Miracle by Laura Krauss Melmed. Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children, was featured in an author-based program on January 31. In March, the actors will celebrate Irish literature, and in April, a second author will appear. The series is co-hosted by the Portland Stage Company's Affiliate Artists program and Longfellow Books. For more information, contact Anita Stewart, Artistic Director for the Portland Stage Company, at (207) 774-1043 x106.

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Grade four students and their families from Lyman Elementary School are in the midst of a yearlong training program that will culminate in a fifty-mile hike along the Eastern Trail from Portsmouth, NH, north into Maine. The group will travel roads written about by Sarah Orne Jewett, learn about historic architecture, and discover local folk tales from communities visited along the route. On the second day of the hike, they will walk with a guide through historic York Village. The students will document their trip in journals and through photography. The hike is planned for May 2-6, 2005.

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On May 15, a retrospective exhibit of the life and works of renowned author, illustrator, and field biologist Bernd Heinrich will open at the L.C. Bates Museum. Heinrich has an enduring connection to Maine: he is an alumnus of the Good Will-Hinckley Homes for Boys and Girls, and he currently does much of his research and writing at a farm in the mountains of western Maine. The exhibit includes eight cases of historic documents, photographs, objects, watercolors, text panels, and drawings. In addition, a catalog prepared by the exhibit curator, William Lipke, features an essay written by Heinrich for this project. A children's program on four Wednesdays in July and school visits throughout the year will make the exhibit accessible to all ages. Bernd Heinrich and William Lipke will each make public appearances before the exhibit closes on October 15, 2005. The L.C. Bates Museum is located on Route 201 in Hinckley. For details, please call (207) 238-4250.

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"Réveil-Waking Up French" is a documentary film that explores the struggle for cultural survival among the Franco-American communities of New England. Filmmaker Ben Levine has been based in Maine for over twenty-five years. His film reveals the importance of language preservation and reacquisition for personal and cultural renewal. To increase the utility of the documentary as an educational resource, Levine and co-sponsors from the Penobscot School, the Franco-American Heritage Center, and the University of Maine are adapting it into a short film that will be distributed on DVD to schools and libraries. Look for this version to air on PBS in the spring.

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"Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon": Barn Again

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"Memories of World War II: Photographs from the Associated Press Archives," an exhibition of 121 black and white photographs, will be on view at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art from August 29 through October 15, 2005. Among the photographs are the well-known picture of a sailor and a nurse kissing in Times Square on VJ Day and the Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi. In addition to the photographs, the museum will present special events including education programs, photography workshops, and public lectures. The museum is located at 543 Shore Road in Ogunquit. For details, call 646-4909 or visit www.ogunquitmuseum.org.

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