Upcoming Events

Now celebrating five decades of touring, Tom has been thrilling audiences here and abroad with hits like No Regrets, Circle Game, Remember Song, Urge for Going and Merrimack County. Tom Rush’s impact on the American music scene has been profound. He helped shape the folk revival in the ’60s, the folk-rock movement of the ‘70s, and then the renaissance of the ’80s and ’90s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists. James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty…

Born and raised in Europe, brothers Jens and Uwe Kruger started singing and playing instruments at a very young age. The brothers were performing regularly by the time they were eleven and twelve years old, and in just a few years they were busking on the streets of cities throughout eastern and western Europe. CBS Records contracted with Jens and Uwe when Jens was just seventeen years old, and shortly thereafter, the Krugers hosted a radio show on SRG SSR,…

Billboard Magazine says “like James Taylor’s voice or B.B. King’s guitar, Alison Brown’s banjo is an instrument possessed of unique sonic signature and inescapable beauty.” We couldn’t agree more. When Alison is in the house with her band, the old building sings from within. If you’ve never heard this Grammy-winning musician, do not miss this night on stage. Alison's music haunts this old Opera House in the most delightful way - we are eager to welcome her back. Tickets available…

Simultaneously familiar and fresh, The Steel Wheels bring a singular energy to every note they play and sparkling craft to each song. This potent combination, paired with a robust tour calendar, have made the veteran band hands-down favorites of fans and peers alike. From their base in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, The Steel Wheels have played the most prestigious festivals, listening rooms, and clubs in the world, earning a reputation as one of the top independent bands on the scene…

Direct from sold-out shows in New York and Los Angeles, Robert Bannon brings the music of Broadway and the American songbook to the Opera House stage this summer. He’s appeared on Saturday Night Live, on stage in Rent and reuniting casts on “The Broadway Cast Reunion Series”.  This summer this seasoned veteran of the stage brings his music to Maine. Beloved local pianist and star of the stage Kevin Kiley will accompany Robert tonight, ensuring an evening audiences won’t soon…

For over 37 years, Cherish the Ladies, one of America’s most heralded Irish music ensembles, has won the hearts of audiences worldwide with their rousing blend of traditional music, captivating vocals, and propulsive step dancing. To quote The Boston Globe: “It is simply impossible to imagine an audience that wouldn’t enjoy what they do”, speaking of this Grammy-nominated Irish American super group that formed in New York City in 1985 to celebrate the rise of women in what had been a…

Irish virtuoso guitarist Shane Hennessy has established himself as one of the leading guitarists on the world stage, known widely for his fingerstyle, flatpicking, and percussive guitar-playing approaches. His energetic live performances and his cinematically-vivid compositions tie in influences from Bach to Beyoncé – and everything in between! With a unique style of solo guitar playing that encompasses the range of a whole band – covering drums, bass, rhythm and lead lines – Shane builds a complete sonic world entirely…

Join us today for a free community performance by the Bowdoin International Music Festival's talented students. The concert will feature chamber ensembles performing traditional classical repertoire. Program to be announced closer to performance date. Doors open at 1:30; concert starts at 2:00 PM. No tickets required. All ages.  

Portland, Maine based musician Seth Warner and his band return to the Opera House for an unforgettable summer evening of music spanning folk, country, blues, standards, Texas swing and will feature a complete performance of Lyle Lovett's 1987 record, Pontiac.  Joining Seth will be Andy Argondizza - guitar,  Dan Beller-McKenna – pedal steel, Bess Jaqcues - piano, Matt Kennedey - saxophone, Marty Joyce – drums,  David Thibodeau - bass, and very special guests, The Shrewsbury Horns. Advance tickets $20, available from the box…

The musicians of "Novel Jazz" have been performing straight-ahead jazz around Maine and New England for over three decades. They draw from the Great American Songbook and specialize in the works of Edward Kennedy ("Duke") Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The band members hail from all over Maine…Belfast, Buxton, Chebeague Island, Gardiner, Newcastle, Vassleboro as well as Westbroek.  Fifteen years ago, they embarked on a project to go through the massive archive of compositions by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn-- who…

Composing effortless songs that skillfully slide between folk, jazz and pop, Susan Werner delivers them all with sassy wit and classic midwestern charm. She has been dubbed by NPR as the "Empress of the Unexpected" for her boundless versatility in performances moving from Americana to blues, from New Orleans inspired jazz to old time folk. Appearing on the Opera House stage for the first time in 2021, she instantly became one of our most requested "please bring her back soon"…

Dobro master and 14-time GRAMMY winner Jerry Douglas is to the resonator guitar what Jimi Hendrix was to the electric guitar, elevating, transforming, and reinventing the instrument in countless ways. Additionally, Douglas is a freewheeling, forward-thinking recording and touring artist whose output incorporates elements of country, bluegrass, rock, jazz, blues, and Celtic into his distinctive musical vision. Called “Dobro’s matchless contemporary master” by The New York Times, three-time CMA Musician of the Year award recipient Jerry Douglas is one of…

Bob Milne has been called the finest interpreter of ragtime music in the world. His boogie-woogie piano playing is something that must be seen and heard to be believed.  The Library of Congress has called him “a national treasure.” The Department of State calls him a musical ambassador. We just keep calling him to come back and play, and again this August this story-telling master of the keyboard will enliven our stage. Our piano is exhausted by the time Bob…

Singer-songwriter, David Mallett, is one of America’s true original troubadours. In a career spanning four decades, he has recorded 17 albums, had several hundred covers of his songs, including the American folk classic Garden Song and performed in clubs, concert halls and festivals across the US, Canada and Europe. He has appeared on numerous broadcasts, including National Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. Known for his carefully written, poetic offerings, his body of work has provided material for an eclectic…

POSTPONED. BOX OFFICE - 207-633-5159. Over the past two decades, Jake Shimabukuro has proved that there isn’t a style of music that he can’t play. While versatility for any musician is impressive, what’s remarkable about Shimabukuro’s transcendent skills is how he explores his seemingly limitless vocabulary – whether it’s jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk or even classical – on perhaps the unlikeliest of instruments: the ‘ukulele. Responding to the urgent calls of his fervent imagination, the Hawai’i-born virtuoso has taken…

Lucinda Williams has traveled a long road since her 1979 debut, Ramblin’ on My Mind, followed by Happy Woman Blues, her first album of originals released forty years ago in 1980. (She says that she’s still “the same girl” except that now “I have a bigger fan base and I can afford to stay at better hotels.”) Over the course of fourteen remarkable albums, three Grammy awards, and countless accolades, including Time’s Songwriter of the Year of 2001, Williams is…

The award winning and highly acclaimed band Le Vent du Nord is a leading force in Quebec’s progressive francophone folk movement.  The group’s vast repertoire draws from both traditional sources and original compositions, while enhancing it’s hard-driving soulful music (rooted in the Celtic diaspora) with a broad range of global influences. "Featuring button accordion, guitar and fiddle, the band’s sound is defined by the hurdy-gurdy, which adds an earthy, rough-hewn flavor to even the most buoyant dance tunes.” says the…

The beautiful mountain Knocknarea in Ireland’s County Sligo is said to be the final resting place of the ancient Irish warrior-queen Maeve. The ‘Alt’ is a storied glen on the side of Knocknarea, and it was in the shadow of this glen in the little village of Coolaney that the three master Irish traditional musicians in The Alt—John Doyle, Nuala Kennedy, and Eamon O’Leary—first gathered to rehearse. Each player in The Alt is a leading light of today’s folk scene…

Denny Breau’s rhythmically flawless and dazzlingly clear style allows him to do amazing and stunning things with a six-string guitar. He first draws in an audience with a finely arranged melody and then slides effortlessly into scorching fingerwork that sets ears aflame. The lighting fast guitar lines that seem almost humanly impossible to accomplish are balanced with those that have a quiet intimacy and wrap tenderly around his carefully crafted songs. He mixes genres with ease — Cajun, folk, Delta…

New England’s Jason Spooner Band (Jason Spooner–guitar, vocals & harmonica, Adam Frederick-Bass & vocals, Warren Mcpherson-Keyboards & vocals and Dan Boyden-Drums &Percussion) is in the midst of one of the band’s most exciting musical growth spurts to date. The quartet stands out with a signature sound that appeals to a wide range of audiences.... seamlessly blending a variety of musical influences into a cohesive, energetic and listenable experience. Roots Rock, Americana, blues, folk and groove-oriented jazz with undercurrents of reggae…

From Detroit to the Delta to Boothbay Harbor, blues legend James Montgomery joins us tonight with his band and special guest tonight, sax player Deric Dyer (of Tina Turner and Joe Cocker bands). This classic night of blues with this veteran of the stage is sure to heat up the house as summer wanes and fall settles in. Advance discounted tickets $25, available only from the box office at 207-633-5159. Regular tickets $30, available online at boothbayoperahouse.com. All seats general…

Over the past 20 years the trad Quebec group Genticorum has become a fixture on the international world, trad, folk and Celtic music circuit. The band’s six albums have met with critical acclaim in Canada, the United States and Europe. Known for its energy and its stage presence, Genticorum has given more than 800 concerts in more than 15 countries. Firmly rooted in the soil of their native land, the energetic and original traditional ‘power trio’ also incorporates the dynamism…

Donna the Buffalo draws on a deep pool of musical influences, from country and rock ‘n’ roll, to bluegrass and old-time fiddle, as well as Cajun and Zydeco.  In many ways, they were Americana before the term was ever coined.  The band has played thousands of shows and countless festivals including Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Telluride, Austin City Limits Festival, Merle Fest, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. Donna The Buffalo has become the house band for closing the events by backing…

“This trio’s stylistic genesis–as well as title–stems from the realization that the great heritage of strings (guitars and violins) originates mutually with the Manouche gypsies of France and the no-less virtuosic hillbilly pickers and fiddlers of Oklahoma and Texas. Together for over 15 years and a dozen albums, the threesome of high-heeled violinist Elana James, guitarist Whit Smith and bassist Jake Erwin showed from the beginning that jazz and country music could exist together on the same page, a highly commendable achievement if ever…

"Thought by many to be the finest traditional Irish combo working today, Altan seamlessly blend dazzling instrumental prowess and the gorgeously delicate vocals of Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh”, says the Chicago Weekly. And Dublin's Sunday Tribune says, “The appeal of Altan centres on the fact that they see no differences or divisions in music. As such, they have managed to cross the all- important cultural barriers between folk and world and rock music”. Join us this fall as we welcome Altan…

When describing songwriter Lilli Lewis, we're going to rely on Rolling Stone's recent review of her appearance at AmericanFest, “Among many highlights was New Orleanian singer-pianist Lewis’s almost hymn-like reading of Radiohead’s “Creep” for anyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t belong. But at least for the night, in that moment, everyone did.” Grateful Web says of her recent album, Americana, "it demonstrates a caliber of genius. She launches songs gently, sweetly and then soars effortlessly. When Lewis hits the…

“Michael plays fearless and it’s intoxicating to play with him because he makes you play fearless,” says Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill. “He takes no prisoners but he plays with a restraint and a soul. He plays without abandon.” Clearly, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) agrees as he’s their most awarded Fiddle Player of the Year with 12 wins, has won Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year 6 times, and fronts their 6-Time Instrumental Group of the…

Roots powerhouse duo The Small Glories are Cara Luft & JD Edwards, a musical tour-de-force partnership planted on the Canadian Prairies.  Thrown together purely by accident for an anniversary show at Winnipeg’s venerable West End Cultural Centre, The Small Glories could almost make you believe in fate. With a stage banter striking a unique balance between slapstick and sermon, these veteran singer-songwriters have a way of making time disappear, rooms shrink, and audiences feel as they are right there on the stage…

As a soloist, with his trio, and as a member of the Paul Winter Consort, Grammy-winning Maine pianist and composer Paul Sullivan has played concert tours in most of the United States and Europe, as well as the Middle East, Central America, and Asia. He has performed among the dunes of the Negev Desert, in Leonard Bernstein’s living room, and on the stages of many of the world’s finest concert halls. He has been a guest on Marian McPartland’s “Piano…