Join us for an inspiring evening of music and conversation!

This free event features a special performance by Halcyon String Quartet, a Midcoast artist collective that combines imagery, data, and music to illustrate the impacts of climate change on Midcoast Maine. Developed in collaboration with data from the Rockport Conservation Commission, the performance highlights the challenges facing all of Maine’s coastal communities.

Following the concert, stay for a panel discussion and happy hour, where you can connect with local citizens working on climate resilience.

Hosted by: Rockport Conservation Commission, with support from the Maine Community Resilience Partnership, Rockport Marine, Barnswallow Books, and Nina June.

📌 For Event details & tickets: Eventbrite Link 

What an amazing dance we had for the Winter Solstice in December! Join us for our Welcome Spring Contra Dance on March 21 for another energetic night with Stomp Rocket and caller Will Mentor!

Stomp Rocket is a New England-based trio that delivers high energy foot-stomping dance music for contra dancing! The band consists of fiddler extraordinaire Dave Langford (The Latter Day Lizards, Supertrad), DADGAD guitar monster and pianist Bethany Waickman (Anadama, Eloise & Co.), and tenor banjo and mandolin wild man Glen Loper (Frigate, Riptide). They’ve played for contras throughout New England, and at dance weekends from Alaska to Tennessee, and Quebec to Florida.

All details are below… All are welcome! Get your tickets at the door.

This is a community event sponsored by a partnership between The Rockport Opera House and Belfast Flying Shoes.

We are proud to join in this Midcoast Tour organized by Bagaduce Music for an unforgettable concert by the Nordic septet, Frigg.  

Opera House doors will open at 6:30pm, with the concert beginning at 7pm.

Frigg’s sound is made up of four Fiddles, strings, and contrabass. The group has been playing a western influenced Nordic folk music for 20 years, and has earned a global reputation of being “ingenious” and “massively energetic.”  Their union of bluegrass stylings and Nordic tradition has been coined “Nordgrass.”  They boast seven North American tours; festivals including Celtic Connections, WOMADelaide, Rainforest World Music Festival and Cambridge Folk Festivals, and they’ve also appeared on Prairie Home Companion, El Mundo, and have released nine albums, winning folk record of the year in 2012 in Finland. 

Seating is first come first serve. Consider additionally helping Bagaduce Music with their mission by being a Keeper of The Arts- a limited number of front row tickets are reserved for a budget supporting price. 

The Rockport Opera House is please to welcome Max to our stage for his CD release party tour on June 21!

Max Wareham is a banjo player, songwriter, and author from Boston, MA. He is a member of the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band and was featured on the Grammy-nominated album “Calling You From My Mountain.” After two years of touring nationally with Peter, Max recorded his own album, Dagommit!, he brings his band The National Bluegrass Team with him to celebrate the forthcoming release of that album.

In addition to his work as a banjo player, he has studied jazz guitar performance at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in NYC, written songs for and co-produced the album “Cousin Moon,” played bass with psych-pop outfit Sun Parade, and produced and recorded songs under the alias “Sir Orfeo.”

Renowned Maine musical guests Elsie Gawler and Ethan Tischler ( Elsie and Ethan of Springtide Trio) will open the evening sharing their blend of rich acoustic folk music, expressive songwriting, and delicious harmonies.
Doors open at 7:30pm, Cash Bar.

General Admission - $22

On Friday, May 31, at 6:30 p.m., The Rockport Library Foundation will host “An Evening with Former Chief of Disguise at the CIA and Bestselling Author Jonna Mendez” at the Rockport Opera House. 

Mendez, the coauthor of The Moscow Rules and Argo, tells her riveting and courageous story of being a female spy at the height of the Cold War in her new book In True Face: A Woman’s Life at the CIA, Unmasked. Mendez’s presentation will recount not only the drama of her high-stakes work—how her savvy operating parlayed her “everywoman” appeal into incredible subterfuge—but she’ll also discuss the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate a misogynistic world. The audience will learn the story of an incredible spy career and what it took to achieve it.

Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a “contract wife” performing secretarial duties for the CIA as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Europe. Yet Mendez had a talent for espionage, too, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles at the Agency. She lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, rising first to become an international spy and ultimately to Chief of Disguise at CIA’s Office of Technical Service. She retired from the Agency in 1993 and has continued her career as a photographer, a consultant/lecturer, and an author.

The event is free, but seating is limited. Tickets must be reserved ahead of time - link below

Barnswallow will be providing copies of Mendez’s books for purchase at the conclusion of the presentation.

“Sugar in the Pan” Maine Tour

Vermont Folklife’s “Sugar in the Pan” Trad Band is coming to Maine!  After learning traditional Québecois repertoire from Pascal Gemme (of Genticorum) and Véronique Plasse (of Bon Débarras) with the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group, these superstar teenage musicians will bring an exciting and diverse program of music to Maine.  Their concert features traditional call and response singing, energetic reels that will have folks dancing in their seats, and evocative arrangements full of lovely harmonies.  While in Maine, Sugar in the Pan will be performing at Callahan Hall in Lewiston on May 23rd at 6:30pm, at Rockport Opera House on May 24th at 7pm, and will be the band for the Kennebec Contra Dance in Hallowell at 7pm, with additional concerts at schools and retirement communities.

A program of Vermont Folklife, the Touring Group and the Trad Band nurture youth involvement in traditional music and dance, providing opportunities to learn from tradition bearers, to build connections with artists and communities from Vermont and beyond, and to perform traditional repertoire.  Band members include fiddlers Fiona Stowell, Emma Taylor McCallum, and Lux Tierney; Emmett Stowell on banjo, guitar & keyboard; and harpist Eleanor Freebern and cellist Fenton Cooper-Roberts.  Sugar in the Pan is especially excited to share their Québecois program with Maine communities, many of which have deep Franco-American roots.  

Multi-instrumentalist and Bates College student Grace Martin and fiddler Owen Kennedy, two Touring Group alumni, are joining the Sugar in the Pan for their Maine Tour.  Winthrop-native Owen Kennedy has performed extensively in Maine, from the Maine Celtic Celebration and the Maine Highland Games, to Oasis of Music concerts in Lewiston and events in Searsport, Winthrop, Farmington, Bangor and beyond, sometimes with the Pineland Fiddlers or the Maine Folque Co-op, as well as with Ben Foss, Ethan Tischler, and Seán Heely.  Owen was the 2021 Young Stars of Maine Prizewinner inaugural winner of the "Glenn Jenks Future in Music Prize" from Bay Chamber Music School and is excited to be back at the Rockport Opera House with Sugar in the Pan! 

Stopping in Maine in-between multiple Vermont performances and a June tour in Québec, Sugar in the Pan band members have also performed at the New World Festival and the Young Tradition Festival in Vermont and toured Cape Breton in 2023 and have entertained at various retirement communities and schools in Vermont.  To learn more about this group please visit: www.vtfolklife.org/touring-group.

DIVE IN! An Undersea Adventure is an immersive, interactive theatrical experience designed for children ages 3-10 and their families. Upon arriving at the show, participants will learn about marine life, research, and conservation through a series of interactive activity stations. Then they will embark on an imaginative submarine journey to encounter a new species – all taking place inside a 25-foot inflatable dome with 360-degree projections!

Brought to you by the creators of last season’s popular Blast Off! program, Dive In! is an experience that aims to increase the visibility of women in marine science, while also emphasizing the importance of marine conservation and issues relevant to the local community.
Runtime: 60 minutes

About the Artists:

DIVE IN! An Undersea Adventure is the creative endeavor of theatre-makers and best friends Mélissa Smith and Brittany Parker.

Mélissa Smith (she/her) is a New York based performer, theater maker, teaching artist and author. Creator and performer of Blast Off: (to space) The Show, The Magician’s Assistant, member of the band Bee Parks and the Hornets, author of ‘Insects & Me A-Z’. Mélissa is dedicated to making engaging and impactful work for young people, across many mediums, that inspires creativity, curiosity and a great sense of play! Awards include winner of Best Family Friendly Show at Frigid Fest 2017 and a NYC Women’s Fund Grantee 2022. Photo by Bethany Michaela

Brittany Parker (she/her) is a Maine-based theatre and music maker who creates, produces, and performs interactive theatrical experiences for family audiences. She is the creator and lead singer of Bee Parks and the Hornets, an indie pop-rock band for families, and serves as the Education Manager for the Strand Theatre. Since moving to Maine in 2013, she has co-created several original productions for intergenerational audiences, many of which include music, puppetry, and audience interaction. She won the Maine Artist Fellowship for Performing Arts from the Maine Arts Commission in 2023. Photo by Marti Stone

This show is made possible thanks to our supporting sponsor, the Rockland Harbor Hotel, and grant funds from the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation and Children’s Theatre Foundation of America.

Sweet Tree Arts Continues their tradition of bringing the richness of storytelling to the community with renowned tellers Willy and Dovie, Local Tellers and a THEME of “TOGETHER”. This annual Fundraiser for Sweet Tree will be a feast of stories for all ages.

Meet Wlly: Willy Claflin, is a ” one-man storytelling festival.” Winner of multiple awards, he has told tales in 42 states, and as far away as Indonesia. His work spans historical sagas, ballads, intergalactic yarns and moose-adventures in the Maine backwoods.Abducted by aliens but now safely returned to earth,

Meet Dovie: Dovie Thomason imagines herself as a river, fed by many streams: Lakota, Apache, and Scot Traveller ancestry, urban Chicago, rural Texas and international travels, the Internet and Indigenous elders, family teachings, kitchen table wisdom, and university classrooms — and draws on those contrasts and cultures. in her work.

Tickets are $20 General Admission.

Belfast Flying Shoes, the Rockport Opera House, and the Town of Rockport present a special Community Dance & Contra Dance featuring the extraordinary music of Eloise & Co. and calling by renowned dance leader, Lisa Greenleaf.

The event includes simple and accessible community dances for all ages, and contras with gender-neutral role terms plus a few couple dances like the waltz, polka, and schottische. The intergenerational and chem-free program welcomes new dancers and experienced folks alike.

The fun begins at 6:30 pm, with an easy-to-learn community dance. Lively music is provided by the All Comers Band, open to all ages, instruments and skill levels. (All Comers musicians warm up at 6:00 pm, tunes posted at belfastflyingshoes.org.)

At 8:00 pm, Lisa Greenleaf calls a contra dance with music by Eloise & Co. (Becky Tracy, Rachel Bell, and Bethany Waickman). Highly regarded throughout the US and internationally, Lisa Greenleaf draws on her wit and vast repertoire to help dancers connect in positive ways. Trad musicians whose repertoire includes French, Quebecois, Celtic and classic New England styles, Eloise & Co. dig into powerhouse reels with electrifying grit and unapologetic drive, while savoring the spacious beauty of jigs and waltzes.

The Rockport Opera House is at 6 Central Street in downtown Rockport. Admission is $15-25 sliding scale (or $1 kids $2 adults for folks only participating in the Community Dance.)

Returning to Maine, where he was born and raised, and for one night only, Kent Axell, a master magician and psychological illusionist is traveling from Las Vegas to his home state to perform on Friday, January 5 in Rockport. Kent will be putting on an unforgettable show full of magic, mentalism, and plenty of audience participation.

"Delightfully mysterious" - Kathi Wall: Director, The Colonial Theater

"A Master magician and psychological illusionist... ...an unforgettable show!" - Arts Society and Me

Kent has been involved with and directed some of the highest rated close-up magic shows in the industry, he has consulted for television, movies, and stage productions, including the Emmy nominated National Geographic show “Brain Games”, and narrated the “Maximum Entertainment” audio book through Vanishing Inc.

This event will be family-friendly and perfect for families, students, and young people.

Doors at 6:30. Show Starts at 7. Cash Bar.

A MUSICAL HOLIDAY CELEBRATION

 SONGS OF SOLOMON GOSPEL CHOIR WITH BISHOP CHANTEL WRIGHT

A joyful holiday celebration for the whole family. Harlem-based Songs of Solomon celebrates inspirational music in an environment supportive of young people from diverse backgrounds. Founded in 2001 by veteran conductor Bishop Chantel Wright, this acclaimed choir performs varied repertoire including gospel, spirituals, anthems, and classical choral music. The ensemble has performed with notable artists including Ashford and Simpson, Elton John, and American Idol winners Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino and Ruben Studdard.

This year, we invite you to raise your voices in a sing along Hallelujah Chorus by Handel! Parts will be available here on our website from November. The concert will also include a set of sing-along carols, in addition to the moving and spirited Gospel favorites for which this astounding choir is known, all presented with Bishop Wright’s signature loving charisma and warmth.

Songs of Solomon’s unforgettable previous Bay Chamber performances have consistently sold out, so get your tickets early for this healing and joyful musical experience.

Down East Singers and Halcyon String Quartet with accordionist Delmar Dustin Small present multi-media performances of Marianna Filippi's To Maine, With Love, Small's Wreathe the Holly, Twine the Bay, and Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria 

Admission $25. Students 18 and younger admitted free, but must have a ticket.