Planning hectic for Arcady Music Festival String quartet to kick off events

The new executive director of the Arcady Music Festival is spending a lot of time on the phone seeing to last-minute details.

That’s what Patricia Ciraulo expected the week before the opening of the 2002 season would be like when she started the job in January. Seven months ago, however, she didn’t think she’d be calling the regional office of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization 20 times a day, always getting a busy signal.

Things are getting down to the wire for the 21-year-old chamber music festival. The season starts today with a performance by the DaPonte String Quartet. Six other groups are scheduled to perform in Orono, Dover-Foxcroft, Bar Harbor, Bucksport and Skowhegan through September as part of the annual festival.

Many arts organizations that are hosts to foreign performers are having to cancel events or quickly find substitute performers because of the backlog of visa applications at the INS. A spokesperson with the agency’s Vermont office, which serves Maine and most of the Northeast, said last week that it has been overwhelmed by a backlog of applications and the more extensive background checks required since Sept. 11.

Only one of the groups scheduled to perform at the Arcady festival, Musica Petropolitana of St. Petersburg, Russia, scheduled to perform July 29 through Aug. 1, still is in limbo, according to Ciraulo. All the other groups have received visas either through other organizations, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or because they have a talent agent representing them in the United States.

The T’ang String Quartet, scheduled to be in Maine Aug. 12-16, obtained visas through the Boston Symphony Orchestra because the group also is performing at Tanglewood this summer. Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, scheduled to close the summer season, has U.S. representation, said Ciraulo.

“Musicians have to file for a special performing visa, which is a lot more work then a regular visitor’s visa. We have to show that they are ‘worthy’ and meet certain standards. That means filing the resumes of all the performers and supporting materials like reviews and recommendations. This group’s been here before; there’s no reason to deny them a visa,” she said.

Ciraulo said that when she filed applications for the visas in March, regulations at the time stipulated that INS not allow Arcady to file more than 90 days in advance of the performance. Now, organizations are being told it could take up to six months to process applications. Arcady has asked U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office for help in expediting the process. Arcady’s executive director estimated that the organization would lose $13,000 if it had to cancel the Musica Petropolitana programming.

Despite the visa problem, Ciraulo was upbeat about her first season with the group.

“In putting together this season, Arcady’s artistic director and founder Masanobu Ikemiya followed the theme ‘Around the World Without a Passport,'” she explained. “He is Japanese and we have musicians coming from India, Singapore and Russia. It’s quite an international mix. In these times when people don’t want to travel, it’s nice they can get an international cultural experience close to home.”

Ciraulo was optimistic last week that despite the delay, members of Musica Petropolitana would be granted visas by the INS at the last minute and be able to make the performance next week.

In addition to a change in executive directors, Arcady is changing its performance venue in the Bangor area. Musicians will perform at Minsky Hall at the University of Maine in Orono instead of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bangor. Ciraulo said that Minsky is air-conditioned and more parking is available on campus than on Park Street, where the church is located.

Groups scheduled to perform at the Arcady Music Festival are:

. DaPonte String Quartet, July 22- 25;

. Musica Petropolitana, July 29-Aug. 1;

. East Meets West, Aug. 4-8;

. Arcady International Youth Orchestra with the Essex Quartet, Aug. 12-15;

. T’ang String Quartet, Aug. 19-22;

. Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Aug. 25-29;

. New York Ragtime Orchestra, Sept. 17-22.

For information, call 288-2141 or visit the Web site at www.arcady.org.