Historic Opera

Maine Music Festivals

The Maine Music Festival was established in 1897, and thrived for many years under its founder and director, William Rogers Chapman (1855 - 1935). Over the years, the Festival has featured many prominent singers such as Evan Williams, Mary Garden, Geraldine Farrar, Jeanne Jomelli, Nellie Melba, Emilio De Gogorza, Maria Jeritza, Margaret Matzenauer, Lawrence Tibbett, Emma Eames, Ernestine Schumann Heink, Hipolito Lazaro, Amelita Galli Curci, Louis Graveure, and in the first Festival, Lillian Nordica.

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Programs from the Festivals can be quite interesting for the collector. They have many photographs of the principal singers along with biographies. Member names of the choir are listed. You can also find little interesting tidbits such as in the 1918 program, where a full page photo of Ernestine Schumann Heink comes with the description that the great contralto, "... is now giving her time and her voice to help 'The Boys Over There.' Her great Mother-heart goes out to all, as she has four sons in the service."