Cajun group BeauSoleil to bring tunes to Orono

The leading ambassadors of Cajun music bring their Louisiana-based sound to the University of Maine on Tuesday, March 6.

BeauSoleil will perform in a 7 p.m. concert at the Maine Center for the Arts, the capper of Franco-American Week at the Orono campus.

The band first went public in 1976, at the National Folk Festival at Wolf Trap in Virginia. They returned to that venue 25 years later to record their current Rhino album, “Looking Back Tomorrow: BeauSoleil Live!”

The group, named after an Acadian resistance leader in the 1700s, consists of fiddler-singer Michael Doucet, his brother David Doucet on guitar, Jimmy Breaux on accordion, Al Tharp on bass, Tommy Alesi on drums and Billy Ware on percussion.

BeauSoleil has succeeded while still remaining true to its music. “We loved old-style French music, and vowed to pursue and preserve this music,” Michael Doucet has said. “Not in a stiff, academic manner, but in the way that we had learned it, straight from the heart and played like one’s life depended on it.”

During BeauSoleil’s quarter-century of performance, Cajun music has continued to evolve.

“What really binds you is that you all know the music is much greater than you are, and we’re part of that now,” Doucet said. “That’s what propels us, keeps us doing what we’re doing, and holds us together.”

Franco-American Week schedule

. Feb. 22, “Franco-Americans at UMaine: Class and Ethnic Dimensions,” a panel exploring the role of Franco-Americans at the University of Maine; 12:15 p.m., Bangor Lounge.

. Feb. 23, Rhea Cote Robbins, author of “Wednesday’s Child,” will read from “Down on the Plains,” a work in progress; 12:15 p.m., FFA Room.

. Feb. 26, “Nos Histoires de l’Ile,” Amy Morin and Harold Lacadie present their oral history of French Island; 12:15 p.m., Bangor Lounge.

. Feb. 27, Mardi Gras Dinner, 4-7 p.m., York Dining Commons, admission charge.

. Feb. 27, Mardi Gras Soiree, dance to the music of Don Roy, Michael Parent, Lilianne Labbe and Jean-Paul Poulain; 7 p.m., Lengyel Gym.

. Feb. 28, “Chez Nous: Home and Franco-American Women,” a panel exploring the role of home in Franco-American culture; 12:30 p.m., Bangor Lounge.

. Feb. 28, Franco-American Music Workshop with Lilianne Labbe, who will demonstrate clogging and spoons; 4 p.m., York Commons.

. March 1, “Franco-American Autobiography,” as Denis Ledoux will talk about his work with life writing; 4 p.m., Bangor Lounge.

. March 2, Franco-American poetry reading, 4 p.m., FFA Room.

. March 5, “Acadian History and Architecture,” Don Cyr will offer a lecture and slide presentation, 4 p.m., FFA Room.

. March 6, BeauSoleil concert, 7 p.m., Maine Center for the Arts. For tickets, call 581-1755.

For more information, call 581-4450.