““You don’t need to go to all of them, but if you bump into Emily, you may end up staying through each piece, going to all the after parties and wondering how you signed up for singing lessons of the baroque style. Really, her passion is that contagious.” ”
“Eighty percent of the time, our programs have some sort of immersive, interactive, feel-free-to-dance-and-whistle experience to them. That’s all aimed at getting a younger generation and families in there. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing.”
Emily Isaacson remembers attending classical concerts as a teenager, feeling the music viscerally, connecting with the sound. The music was exciting, passionate — it made her want to move her body. It let her tap into feelings she could not put into words. At the same time, she felt a disconnect between the way the music moved her and the way traditional concerts wanted Isaacson to listen to it — in silence, in a cathedral-like hall, following unwritten rules. She wants to “clap between movements and sway in the aisles,” she says. And so she has made it her work to bring music to the community as a shared experience and a call to action. At Williams College and around the world, she has seen many kinds of music acting as a catalyst, she says, and drawing community together. She wants to see classical music doing that work and holding that energy. So she has started her own center for it,.
While recognizing the incredible destruction COVID-19 has caused, the pandemic ... has shown us why we need music, why we need live performance, how the arts connect us to each other and to ourselves. The absence of 'normal' creates space to ask if normal was working, and for whom; and if it wasn’t working, how can we maintain the artistic integrity and emotional authenticity at the center of great performances, while bringing it to new places and including more people in the conversation?
“My main competition is Netflix. I want people to get off their couches and go out and experience the power and magic of live music…Normally I get to move to the music and audience members just sit there. I want them to really engage with the music while walking through the 10 sonic stations. They can even bring their kids and if the kids run around, that’s just fine.” Clearly, Emily Isaacson is not your up-tight, paint-by-the-numbers conductor.
Dear Live Music,
I’ve missed you! I have been filling your void with Spotify and the radio, but it’s just not the same. It’s like eating at McDonald’s when what I really want is Fore Street—it fills me up, but it doesn’t nourish me.
You see, you make me feel alive. With you, I am not just listening, I’m experiencing. If it’s a single musician, their sweat and furrowed brow remind me of the years of practice, dedication, and sacrifice that they bring to this moment. If it’s an ensemble, I am in awe that the unified focus and collective energy of 30, 50, 150 people are all for my ears.
For our ears….
Portland Bach Experience began in 2017 as a week-long festival in June, and has expanded to include an October weekend festival, as well as other classical music events throughout the year.
In 2020, Portland Bach Experience became a program of Classical Uprising, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization offering a bold rethinking of the classical music experience through immersive events, performances, and educational programs. Classical Uprising’s programs include Portland Bach Experience, Oratorio Chorale, and Classical Uprising Youth Choirs, which combined serve over 120 adult amateur singers, 70 young musicians, 60 professional artists, and more than 8,000 audience members.
Emily Isaacson senses a lot of pent-up excitement among her circle of peers. People are ready to start socializing again, safely.
“The carnival concert and community celebration embodies what the Portland Bach Experience is all about, which is bringing classical music to unexpected places and pairing it with unexpected things,” she said. “We are using music to bring the community together again and to highlight what this community is all about.”
“Music has the power to heal because it taps into our shared human experiences and emotions, something we desperately need right now,” said Isaacson, founder and artistic director. “For fifteen long months, we have hibernated, alone and silent. As we emerge from the pandemic, live performances will make us feel alive again by bringing us together and celebrating the endless capacity found in the human spirit. We want everyone to have access to that incredible experience, so we’ve designed the festival with something for everyone – free, family-friendly events, virtual concerts, indoor performances and outdoor musical experiences.”
Thank you for A.Z. Madonna’s recent story about the Boston Early Music Festival (Sunday Arts, June 6) and for highlighting the challenges arts organizations continue to face as we try to “reconstruct” after the past year. I can sympathize with the difficult decisions it took to bring BEMF virtual this year. Last June, the classical music festival in Maine that I founded was forced to cancel.
Once the immediate crisis passed and we learned more about the coronavirus, I was driven to create a live festival this year so that we could offer our talented artists a paycheck. This meant initially creating a program for masked string players, with outdoor and virtual performances. When vaccination rates increased and restrictions decreased, we pivoted to include more venues and musicians. Thanks to overwhelming support, the festival was a huge success, with 90 percent of our events sold out and many free events at standing room only.
I ask that everyone who misses live performances consider the impact this year has had on the artists, particularly freelance musicians, and support organizations that employ them. Whether it’s watching performances virtually, attending in-person events, or providing a donation, your support will provide the parachute the arts need to land safely this year.
After a hiatus last year because of the pandemic, Portland Bach Experience returns in June for 10 days of classical music events and a dozen live and virtual concerts from Portland, Sanford and Brunswick.
The festival kicks off on June 11 with a free, carnival-style concert and community celebration, called A Midsummer Night’s Dream, involving more than 25 local arts organizations, eateries and other creative enterprises.
The festival will be held on Anderson Street from 3 to 8 p.m. with performances by musicians from the Portland Bach Experience, Ballet Bloom Project, 240 Strings, Shoestring Theater, A Company of Girls, Love Lab Studios and others. Food and drink will be supplied by Blue Lobster Urban Winery, Goodfire Brewing Company, Eighteen Twenty Wines, Lone Pine Brewing and Urban Farm Fermentory.
