NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Tony Adams, Executive Director
Opera House Arts
1 School Street, Stonington, ME 04681
207-367-2788 | tony@operahousearts.org

DATE: August 8, 2022
TITLE: SUMMER FAMILY SING WITH GEORGE EMLEN AND FRIENDS – 8/17

Stonington, Maine – Join Opera House Arts outdoors at the Stonington Ball Field on Wednesday, August 17 at 6pm for a “Summer Family Sing” with George Emlen and Friends. This family-friendly, participatory summer sing-along is led by Blue Hill resident Geoge Emlen, a conductor, composer, arranger, songleader, and music educator in Maine and Massachusetts. The “friends” include musicians Molly Gawler, Shepsi Steve Eaton, and Geoff Warner. This “Live! For $5” event is fun for all ages. For more information and to purchase tickets visit operahousearts.org. 

Emlen says, “The time is good for singing together. There is nothing quite like singing, especially singing together, to lift us out of our daily anxieties and raise our spirits. These songs are fun to sing and may stir some memories for some of us older folks as well.” Songs such as “This Land Is Your Land,” “The Erie Canal,” “Country Roads,” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” are on the tune list, along with some spirituals and our national anthem. Printed song sheets will be available at the event and a full list of songs and their lyrics may be found at operahousearts.org/summer-family-sing/ 

George Emlen is a graduate of Dartmouth College and earned an advanced degree in choral conducting at the New England Conservatory. In Maine, he founded and conducted the Acadia Choral Society, while also conducting the Oratorio Chorale and the Mount Desert Summer Chorale. Emlen has been on the faculty of the New England Conservatory, where he directed the Conservatory Camerata; Lesley University in the Creative Arts in Learning program; the College of the Atlantic; and the University of Maine. He also taught and conducted at Noble and Greenough School and was music director at the Putney School. For 35 years he was the music director of Revels, a Boston-based national performing arts organization best known for annual performances of The Christmas Revels, a rich and joyful celebration of the winter solstice. In recent years, Emlen has worked with Bobby McFerrin in the vocal improvisatory genre of Circlesinging, which he incorporates into his conducting and teaching. He currently teaches a leadership course (“Conducting Your Chorus”) at the Harvard Kennedy School for senior executives in state and local public office. To learn more visit: georgeemlen.com

Live! For $5 is an annual series of live performances, available to all for a ticket price of only $5. The series features a wide variety of performances for intergenerational audiences and participants. Live! For $5 is made possible by the generous support of the W. F. Whitman Family Foundation, in honor of Maia Aprahamian, with additional support from the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust.

Opera House Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 1999 to restore the 1912 Stonington Opera House, on the National Register of Historic Places, to its original role as a performance venue and a community gathering space. We offer a year-round schedule of professional theater, music, film, dance, educational programs, community events, and more. Performances take place in multiple venues, including the Stonington Opera House, the restored Burnt Cove Church Community Center, and at site-specific locations across Deer Isle and Stonington, Maine. Opera House Arts’ programs serve all of Hancock County’s winter and summer residents and visitors, with a special emphasis on the residents of Deer Isle and the Blue Hill Peninsula.

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Photo attached. (Emlen 2)