Halcyon Premieres 'Ghost Apples: An Orchard of Song'

Ghost Apples: An Orchard of Song is a newly commissioned lyric suite for two voices, string quartet, and projected film. Join us at Mechanics' Hall for the premiere.

Composed for Halcyon String Quartet by Nathan Davis and Maine's Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma, the suite features vocalists Sarah Tuttle and Aaren Rivard with film and set design by Luke Fatora.

Structured as a call and response of voices, Ghost Apples is a powerful and emotional journey through changing landscapes in the face of climate change. Set to music and film, Bouwsma's poetry encourages us to reflect on the beauty around us while embracing the uncertainties inherent in our collective future.

Friday, September 5 at 7:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM), approximately 60-minutes.

Tickets are $20 for Mechanics' Hall Members, $25 for General Admission, and $35 for a Reserved Seat. There is a $5 surcharge on the day of the performance.

ABOUT HALCYON

Halcyon is a nonprofit organization, string quartet, and artist collective based in Midcoast Maine. We are musicians, artists, filmmakers, animators, advocates, and storytellers who strive to share our love of music in ways that foster connection, community, joy, warmth, and accessibility. Our programs are built on partnerships with local community organizations and folks from all walks of life. We collaborate with scientists, artists, students, actors, composers, poets, and educators to create performances that invite audiences to feel, celebrate, reflect, and respond collectively to the world around them. Our multimedia performances draw attention to the daily rewards, difficult choices, and transforming reality facing our communities--acknowledging the need for creative and diverse communication that harnesses the power of storytelling, music, and film to translate numbers and facts into something tangible and human. Our films have been screened at the Maine International Film Festival, Strong Mind Film Festival, and Reel Teal Film Festival. For more information about our upcoming performances and projects, visit: halcyonstringquartet.org.

ABOUT NATHAN DAVIS (Composer)

Nathan Davis is a composer, artist, and technologist who has had the good fortune to participate in creative projects across a wide variety of domains. He lives in Rockland, Maine. His most recent musical project (before Ghost Apples) was a large quasi-theatrical work of musical alchemy for the early music ensembles at Florida State University. His next artistic project is Infinite Garden, a show of algorithmic visual art at Steel House in Rockland this November. Davis holds a PhD in music composition and theory from the University of California, Davis and an MA in mathematics from Brandeis University. You can view some of his art at nkromsdavis.net. He is serving his second term on the Rockland City Council.

ABOUT JULIA BOUWSMA (Librettist)

Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine, where she works as a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, and small-town librarian. She is Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate, currently serving a term from 2021 to 2026, and is the author of three poetry collections: the forthcoming Death Fluorescence (Sundress Publications, June 2025), Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018), and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). Honors include a 2024 Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and two Maine Literary Awards. Her work can be found in various publications, including Ecotone, Green Mountains Review, Kenyon Review, Plume, and Poetry Daily. Bouwsma has taught in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington, serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and works as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, ME.

PARKING & TRANSPORTATION

Mechanics’ Hall is located at 519 Congress Street. Our main entrance is between Loquat Shop and the Art Mart. The Greater Portland Metro’s Congress & Casco Street Stop is directly in front of our building, served by .

Parking is available at the , which has entrances on Casco and Brown Street, with a rate of $5 per hour. Metered street parking is available on Congress, Casco, Cumberland, Free Street, and other nearby streets. Free hourly street parking is available between Parris and Alder Street.

ACCESSIBILITY

To enter our building, patrons will need to navigate a single step. There is a wheelchair-accessible elevator and a ramp available upon request.

If you have a wheelchair or need accessibility accommodations/questions please contact us at or 207-773-8396.

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