With her husband and daughter at her side, Jean Rosalie Webster passed away peacefully at home on Dec. 9, 2021 from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 82. Jean was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, daughter of Salvatore Carl “Carl” Pidala and.
Courtesy of Emily Southard
PLAYING ON: Patia Maule, who has an undergraduate degree in ethnomusicology from Oberlin College, teaches a virtual music workshop in music in non-western traditions.
This spring, Oratorio Chorale a midcoast Maine-based choral community will continue holding music workshops in an entirely virtual format. While the Chorale traditionally holds these workshops in person, Artistic Director Emily Isaacson still sees the value in providing community members with opportunities to further or begin their education in music.
In 2015, after spending a decade in graduate school pursuing conducting and musicology, Isaacson was struck with the motivation to continue learning music, even after her extensive formal education.
Take a garden stroll to the sound of music at Thompson’s Point
Classical Uprising returns with a sound installation and a plea for mindfulness.
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Classical Uprising, which formed last year in a merger between the Oratorio Chorale and Portland Bach Experience, will host a series of open-air sound installations at Thompson’s Point South Garden over three weekends in April and May. The free, interactive sound experience, “Thanks in Variations,” is designed to give people a chance to engage with art and reflect on the past year.
Emily Isaacson
Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer
The installation features professional and amateur singers from Maine and consists of 32 separately recorded voices played back through 14 speakers placed throughout the garden. Audience members will walk along a path as the music plays. “Thanks in Variations” is based on Johannes Ockeghem’s 15th-century work, “Deo gratias (Give Thanks),” updated for a modern experience, Artistic Direc
Classical Uprising presents Spring 2021 Season
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PORTLAND Out of the ashes, music rises. The future of classical music is here, and it’s in Portland, Maine.
In a moment when arts organizations across the globe are struggling, Emily Isaacson, 2018 Maine Artist of the Year, is using the pandemic to radically rethink live performance, classical music, and community arts. The result, Classical Uprising, is a performing arts organization that operates as a service agency.
“The pandemic has put a spotlight on the loneliness of modern existence,” says Isaacson. “We’ve lost the richness of community life and the meaningful social support that comes with it. The best art taps into our shared human experiences and shared emotions, so as we envision and build a post-COVID society, let’s employ music to restore our communities and live performances to feel alive again.”