Arcady society final concert a celebration of song

BANGOR – Arcady Music Society will offer a fifth concert March 29 with baritone Leon Williams, alto Sondra Bonitto, and pianist John Haskell. Concerts were held this week in Bar Harbor, Skowhegan, Sangerville and Bucksport.

The final performance will be held at 7 p.m. March 29 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 120 Park St., Bangor.

Kelsey Lutz of Holden, the daughter of Gordon and Marilyn Lutz, will participate in the final concert. One of the winners named in the recent Arcady Youth Competitions, Lutz is a student at John Bapst Memorial High School.

The concert program will present a mix of popular and classical songs, including spirituals, Broadway tunes and blues.

In addition to the concerts, Williams and Bonitto are participating in Arcady outreach programs to a variety of schools, among them John Bapst and Orono High School. The chorus at Orono will perform a spiritual with the musicians during that school program.

Williams has performed previously in Maine with the New York Ragtime Orchestra. A former member of the Boys Choir of Harlem, he performed in “Ragtime,” “Les Malheurs d’Orphee,” “Carmen,” and Mahler’s “Rukertlieder.”

Sondra Bonitto also appeared in “Ragtime” at The Ford Centre in New York. Her experience includes Broadway musicals and in regional theater. She appeared in “Malcolm X,” and in Boston Pops concerts at Carnegie Hall.

Teaming up with them is Maine pianist John Haskell. Haskell has taught at Hampden Academy, the University of Maine and privately in the Bangor area.

Tickets can be purchased directly from Arcady, 288-2141, or at local ticket outlets. Prices for adults are $15 at the door, or $13 in advance; under 18 admitted free.