Music in Maine

Many Maine towns in the 19th and early 20th centuries had an “opera house,” used as multi-purpose community meeting spaces, theaters, town halls, and granges. A 1991 study showed at least 66 opera houses existed in Maine, from Presque Isle’s Perry Opera House to Dixfield’s Tuscan Opera House.

Opera houses hosted lectures, plays, live music, and movies, with many hosting actual operas, such as The Merry Widow in Lewiston and Faust in Biddeford, capitalizing on the opera craze in America during the late 1800s.

Princess Watahwaso
By Jason Pardilla

Lucy Nicolar Poolaw (1882-1969) was a Penobscot performer known as Princess Watahwaso (Bright Star). Aunt Lu, as she was called by the family, did a lot to improve our tribe through her notoriety at home and nationwide.

Aunt Lu brought more than one bridge to the Penobscot people, creating cultural and educational opportunities through her musical talents. She was a mezzo-soprano and performed in vaudeville shows, where she met my grandfather, Bruce Poolaw. Returning home during the Great Depression she focused on sharing and teaching Penobscot spiritual songs and dances in our community. During a time when it was illegal to do so, she disguised the events as tourist performances.

Aunt Lu helped to build an actual bridge to Indian Island. Installed in 1950, it was a hand me down bridge from Howland. Lucy and Bruce were the first people to drive across it, home to the Island.

Aunt Lu utilized her connections to raise the educational standards for Penobscot children and demanded the right for Penobscots to vote. The State of Maine finally extended Federal suffrage to the Penobscot Nation in 1955, where Lucy cast the first ballot.

Lucy and Bruce Poolaw were partners in life and business. They pushed for the betterment of the Penobscot for their entire lives.

Mezo-Soprano
Lucy Nicolar (1882-1969), a mezo-soprano, performed across America as “Princess Watahwaso” and recorded with Victor Records.

Lucy Nicolar met and married Bruce Poolaw, from the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, while traveling across the country performing as “Indians” at wild west shows and on the theater circuit.

When the stock market crashed in 1929, Nicolar returned home to the Penobscot reservation with her husband Bruce. They often performed in regalia from the Plains, like full feather bonnets from Poolaw’s Kiowa heritage.

Lilian Nordica, Farmington's Diva

Farmington’s Lillian Nordica (1857-1914) was a renowned soprano who captivated opera audiences worldwide with her powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. She sang before presidents, royalty, and working people alike during the Golden Age of Opera, from the mid-to late 1800s.

At 18, Nordica graduated from the New England Conservatory and began performing in America and Europe. In 1879, she made her Milan, Italy debut as Elvira in Don Giovanni. Her performance as Violetta in Traviata in Brescia received an unprecedented thirteen curtain calls.

Lillian Nordica made her American opera debut in 1883. Adding to her list of roles, she sang the Brunnhilde of Die Walkure for the first time on any stage at the Metropolitan in New York in 1898.

Nordica told the New York Herald: "Brunnhilde…is a most trying role...you must be so note perfect in that role that nothing can disconcert you."¬¬

In addition to her musical talents, Nordica drew acclaim as a well dressed women, known for her lavish gowns, jewelry and trend setting fashions.

Lillian Blauvelt and Opera Fashion

Soprano Lillian Blauvelt (1873–1947) from New York sang in operas throughout Europe and America—including Maine. One such performance included Portland’s first Maine Choral Association festival in 1897, where they billed Blauvelt as, “America’s favorite Concert Prima Donna Soprano.”

Opera gloves were a standard accessory for eveningwear and attending the opera. Extending above the elbow, the gloves button at the wrist to allow the wearer to free a hand without completely removing the glove.

Fans made from bird feathers became an opera fashion accessory, complementing the entire ensemble, as essential gloves and a gown for formal events. The trend was detrimental to bird populations around the world.

For centuries, fashion designers made outfits for opera divas—on and off stage—using luxurious fabrics like trimmed fur and delicate silks. Lush velvet fabrics were popular among the opera crowds.Opera attendees sought to mimic stage extravagance with top hats, tuxedos, floor length gowns, elegant coats, and elbow length gloves.

militakwat
By Firefly / Jason Brown

militakwat (pronounced mill-e-duh-kwut) is the Penobscot word for “it has all kinds of sounds” and is my orchestral debut. A historic collaboration between the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Arranger/Composer Ben McNaboe and myself, this three-part movement is rooted in ancient Wabanaki music and was the first collaboration between a Wabanaki person and the Bangor Symphony since the symphony’s founding in 1896.

This original piece world-premiered at the Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono and performed as part of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s Ode to Joy season finale on April 30, 2023.

I joined maestro Lucas Richman, a full orchestra, 138 choral singers comprised of the University of Maine Singers Euphony, Orono’s Chamber Choir and the Oratorio Society, and performed to a sold-out hall.

For the militakwat performance, my wife Donna Decontie-Brown and I created this original coat. It is a representation of Wabanaki woodland lichen in early spring and the renewal of light, sound and abundance. Handcrafted in torched silk/poly blend, velvet, jersey and accented with glass beads and metal bells, this jacket creates a rustling and ringing soundscape when worn.

I seek to illuminate the beauty and healing power of my ancient Indigenous culture through music, visuals and creativity. As a member of the Penobscot Nation, I am helping to place Indigenous people in a modern context and I believe that through creative frequencies, we can begin to heal humanity and evolve to new levels of love, compassion and wellness.