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AUGUSTA

Events tie visual arts, music

By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- Art won't just be on display, carefully framed and hanging on a wall, in an upcoming joint project melding the visual and musical arts. It'll be flying through the air, and across the aisles.

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PRACTICE, PRACTICE: Paul Ross conducts Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition" during an Augusta Symphony Orchestra rehearsal Wednesday at the Granite Hills Estates in Hallowell.

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The Augusta Symphony Orchestra is teaming with the Kennebec Valley Art Association and Harlow Gallery in Hallowell in a meeting of the arts.

Not coincidentally, the central musical piece, "Pictures at an Exhibition," penned by Modest Mussorgsky in 1874, is a tribute to an artist and depicts an art lover walking from one painting to another at an exhibition.

The approximately 45 musicians of the Augusta Symphony Orchestra will play the piece while art works by Kennebec Valley Art Association artists, created in response to "Pictures at an Exhibition," will be projected on a screen over the orchestra.

Simultaneously, other artists will create art inspired by the music in the aisles as the music is played.

"People who like art tend to like music, and vice versa," said Michael Conley, president of the Augusta Symphony Orchestra's Board of Directors. "By working with the Kennebec Valley Arts Association, our orchestra and the Harlow will each be exposed to completely new audiences. Both groups are very pumped because, frankly, it has never been done before. We expect, if it's a success, there could be future collaborations."

Deborah Fahy, executive director of Harlow Gallery on Water Street in Hallowell, said local artists have responded strongly to the joint project.

"It's gotten a great response, it's a really fun sort of cross-pollinating," Fahy said. "Raising the profile of our vibrant art community here in the Augusta area is one of our core missions. When we were approached by the Augusta Symphony Orchestra to collaborate on a joint project meshing both the visual and musical arts, we all saw it as an excellent opportunity to advance both organizations."

Two performances are planned. The first, smaller event is tonight, at 7 p.m. at Harlow Gallery. It will feature the chamber ensemble Con Brio, a trio of symphony musicians playing classical music for a reception and art exhibit.

The second, larger performance is March 27 at 3 p.m. at Hope Baptist Church on Western Avenue in Manchester. That show will feature the full orchestra, conducted by Paul Ross, playing "Pictures at an Exhibition," the slideshow of art related to the music, and artists creating live in the aisles.

Also on the March 27 program is the Brahms "Double Concerto," for violin and cello, featuring the return of violin soloist Kinga Augustyn, originally of Poland, who played as a soloist for the symphony's 2008 Karlowicz Violin Concerto. The cello part will be played by Maren Askins.

Tickets for the March 27 concert are available at the door or online at the symphony's Web site at www.asomaine.org.

They are $15 for adults at the door, $5 for children 12 and under. The church holds about 300 people and Conley anticipates it will sell out.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com