Huddled Masses Orchestra will join the Maine Balkan Choir for Charity concert in Belfast Oct 22nd at 3 PM

The Maine Balkan Choir has performed two charity events for Ukraine in 2023 and the third and final one for the year will be held in Belfast Maine at the UU Church, 37 Miller St, at 3 PM. A $10 donation is suggested. Proceeds of the event will go to the Ukraine food program run by World Central Kitchen.

Belfast Maine has a relationship with Ukraine going back a few years to the time during the Covid pandemic when the town donated the used laptops from the school system to an elementary school in Ukraine. This sort of exchange leads to personal relationships that provide a window into world culture. We are all connected to the planet and to each other. This propelled our friends in Belfast to organize this concert and bring us there for this event. The funds we raise will put food on the table and the songs will offer some hope.

This time around, the concert will be divided into two sets. First will be the Maine Balkan Choir. This group has been around since 1998, and until this year the focus was on women’s choral music of Bulgaria. The current co-Directors are Sarah Hipkens of Portland, and Anne Stancioff Tatgenhorst who grew up in Camden and whose family is of Bulgarian origin. For the Ukraine concerts, the focus has shifted to Ukrainian choral music and the Choir has learned to sing in Ukrainian language. For this the members were coached by some recent arrivals from Ukraine who will also join them on stage. The Choir has been lauded for accurate pronunciation and the harmonies they produce. They sing love songs, lullabies and laments. The music provides a window into family life in Ukraine.

Second Set – The Huddled Masses Orchestra playing brass band music of eastern Europe.

These are two guys from Mnozil Brass of Germany. Note the expressiveness of tone (for lack of a better term). This does not happen by accident. It’s not the kind of “symphonic tone” most Maine trumpet players learn. There are many distinct characteristics of this type of music, and these make it fun.

The Huddled Masses is an eight-piece brass band based in Waldo County and the mid-Coast region, formed in 1994. The Huddled Masses is fresh from a two-hour set at the 2023 Common Ground Fair. For the previous concerts the Huddled Masses provided backup for the Choir, and they will continue to support the singers during the first set. Then there will be a short intermission while the chairs are moved. The Huddled Masses is primarily a dance band specializing in the village traditions of Serbia. We know that this repertoire is not directly related to Ukraine, but we want to get people up and moving. Serbia is a Slavic country with a tradition of group dancing for events such as weddings and festivals.