music – News

In the News: February 2026

�ֲ��ý News — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 20:16:32 +0000

Carrie Cushman talks Museum of Art’s Marsden Hartley Legacy Project on Maine Public

Carrie Cushman, director of the �ֲ��ý Museum of Art, spoke about the museum’s current projects .

In conversation with Heather McDougall, manager of music and people at Maine Public Classical, Cushman, who joined the museum in August 2025, discussed the excitement of arriving at �ֲ��ý. The museum is preparing to launch the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project, an online digital catalog of all known paintings and ephemera by modernist painter and Lewiston native Marsden Hartley, which has been in development since 2019.

“We’re really lucky that this is happening at �ֲ��ý, and we will be the home of it and responsible for stewarding it into the future,” Cushman told McDougall.

Carrie Cushman, director of the �ֲ��ý Museum of Art, joined �ֲ��ý in August 2025. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

The �ֲ��ý Museum of Art was founded because of the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Cushman explained, comprising over 400 paintings and ephemera by Hartley — by far the largest collection of Hartley’s work — which Hartley’s niece donated to the college in 1955.

“We have people coming to the museum almost weekly requesting to see work from the collection, and many are artists who are looking for inspiration in this 20th century modernist who is finally getting his due,” Cushman said.

Additionally, Cushman’s exhibition The Worlds of Ilse Bing was featured in a in the online magazine What Will You Remember?.

“9 Wellington: First Floor Library with Orange Chair and View of the Livingroom” by Shelburne Thurber (Courtesy of Shellburne Thurber)

The exhibition is on view through May 24 at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum, where Cushman previously worked as the Linda Wyatt Gruber ‘66 Curatorial Fellow in Photography. Exploring Bing’s rise to prominence, coinciding with 35mm photography’s growing popularity, the exhibition “brings her work into conversation with her creative influences and with those who she influenced in the worlds of modern art.”

What Will You Remember? also included the �ֲ��ý Museum of Art’s exhibition Shellburne Thurber: Full Circle, co-curated by Thurber and �ֲ��ý assistant curator Samantha Sigmon, in its February roundup. On view through March 21, the exhibition demonstrates how Thurber’s photography has “visualized interior work that is private, domestic, psychological, or insular.”

Mara Tieken opines on rural schools, students in The Hechinger Report; Women Writers, Women’s Books

Though public school closures and consolidations are becoming increasingly common, they rarely serve their intended purpose of saving struggling school districts money, writes Professor of Education Mara Tieken in an .

For school districts with declining enrollment or decreasing state and federal funding, “school closures may seem logical,” Tieken writes. “Close schools, ‘right-size’ districts, save money. Problem solved.”

However, she explains, school closures require additional transportation and renovation costs, often leading to districts saving little to no money, while students’ test scores and future college and employment outcomes decrease.

Associate Professor of Education Mara Tieken has extensively researched and written about rural schools and their students. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

Tieken has extensively researched and written about rural schools and their students. On Feb. 5, she published a piece about the process of developing her latest book — Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—And What It Costs Them — in an .

While writing the book, which explores how students from rural places experience attending a small elite college, Tieken developed an approach to research characterized by slowly developing relationships with the students she was interviewing, she writes.

“We often think of research as a one-way process, a passing of ‘data’ from ‘subject’ to ‘researcher,’” Tieken writes. “But that approach is neither ethical (in fact, it’s often quite exploitative) nor useful. So much more can be learned when the relationship is actually relational.”

The 13 years that Tieken spent researching and writing the book taught her to be a more patient teacher, she says, with an expanded awareness of the struggles that her students from rural backgrounds may be facing. The book culminates with suggestions for how academic institutions can better support rural students.

“All those recommendations that I make in the book’s final chapter?” Tieken writes. “I have to do them, too, and I feel obligated—in a really good way—to encourage others to do them, as well.”

Caylin Carbonell ’12 gives public talk exploring daily life, labor dynamics in colonial New England

Caylin Carbonell ’12, an assistant professor of history at Bowdoin College, gave a public lecture about labor dynamics in colonial New England households, .

Caylin Carbonell, assistant professor of history at Bowdoin College (Courtesy of Caylin Carbonell)

The talk, entitled “Laboring Lives and Hidden Stories in Colonial New England,” was the second installment in a series of free online lectures hosted by the Lincoln County Historical Association, based in Wiscasset, Maine.

Carbonell shared insights on “the daily lives inside colonial households as the country was beginning to take shape, with a focus on laborers, often a diverse group ranging from enslaved and indentured people to hired workers, including Indigenous, African, and European women and men.”

She also discussed the challenges of uncovering the stories of 17th and 18th century laborers from incomplete or nonexistent records. Carbonell, who majored in history at �ֲ��ý, is currently working on a book manuscript that closely explores daily life in colonial New England households.

Boston Globe, Sun Journal cover MLK Day at �ֲ��ý

The held during �ֲ��ý’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, “From Silencing to Empowerment: Exploring Anger, Justice, and Post-traumatic Growth Among Refugee Women and Women of Color,” led by Yun Garrison, assistant professor of psychology, and Fowsia Musse from Maine Community Integration.

During the workshop, Garrison and Musse presented a framework of healing from trauma that they developed by examining the experiences of refugee women. For Musse, herself a refugee from Somalia, and other Somalian refugees and immigrants living in Lewiston, the workshop was particularly topical, the Globe reports; Musse said that anxiety caused by the Trump administration’s immigration deportation agenda led her to reflect on past trauma from her immigration experience.

Fowsia Musse (left) of Maine Community Integration and Yun Garrison, assistant professor of psychology, talk during the workshop they led, “From Silencing to Empowerment: Exploring Anger, Justice, and Post-traumatic Growth Among Refugee Women and Women of Color,” during �ֲ��ý’ MLK Day observance. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

“When something traumatic happens, how do we hold both anger and peace at the same time? Because sometimes they are pulling us in opposite directions,” Garrison said. “Maybe love and healing can bridge this. I do not know, but that’s what I’m sitting with right now.”

The Lewiston given by Myisha Cherry, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside.

Cherry’s address — “What Do We Do With All This Fear?” — explored the day’s theme of “Love, Anger and the Struggle for Justice” by closely examining and interpreting MLK’s writings and words.

The Sun Journal quoted from President Garry W. Jenkins’ introductory remarks addressing the day’s theme, sharing his interpretation of how love and anger may intersect in the pursuit of justice.

“I would rather spend my days in a space of love rather than a space of anger,” Jenkins said. “But we don’t always get to make that choice. … In linking these two, we have to wrestle with how they exist together — both in tension and in harmony.”

Myisha Cherry, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside gave the keynote address — “What Do We Do With All This Fear?” — to kick off �ֲ��ý’ MLK Day observance. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

In sharing MLK’s thoughts about fear, Cherry explained that not all fear was negative; it can, in fact, be harnessed and transformed into a powerful force for change, the Sun Journal reported.

“We should be maestros as opposed to mere masters of our normal fears … and we should transition that normal fear into courage,” Cherry said. “Courage is just not doing something in spite of your fear, it’s taking your fear and matching it up with confidence … and engaging in action.”

As the Sun Journal reported, Cherry linked this healthy fear to MLK’s nonviolent protests and actions, urging all in the audience to use their “normal” fear to advance causes they care about.

“What we should do with this fear is make something beautiful out of it,” Cherry said. “This is a time of fear for lots of us … Turning to King has been illuminating, and I find that fear doesn’t mean that we are weak, it doesn’t mean we’ve given people the upper hand. It means that we’re sensitive to injustice. It means we value the people we’re fearful for and we value the principles that we are scared we are going to lose.”

Brian Shankar Adler featured in DownBeat magazine’s cover story

Brian Shankar Adler — percussionist and �ֲ��ý instructor of drum set, tabla, and other hand percussion — and Grammy-award winning soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released their debut album once like a spark, in their February issue’s cover story, “Making music in the moment.”

The magazine used the stage at Olin Concert Hall as the setting for a photo shoot with the two musicians, who have performed extensively in Lewiston and Portland, Maine as a duo.

Grammy-award winning soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom (left) and Brian Shankar Adler — percussionist and �ֲ��ý instructor of drum set, tabla, and other hand percussion — play together in Olin Arts Center. (Courtesy of John Doyle/DownBeat)

“We played each other’s compositions, and the music came alive instantly,” Adler told DownBeat. “Over the years, we built up a hefty book of tunes and a musical language with which to communicate.”

Without chorded or bass instruments, the brass-drum duo is a rare one, DownBeat reported. The combination makes for a unique, melodic sound, with roots in jazz, North Indian Hindustani, and Indonesian musical traditions.

“The way I see it, music is interconnected and has the power to communicate beyond borders,” Adler told DownBeat. “Listening to and playing jazz, it’s evident that the music has roots beyond America and arms that extend to virtually every corner of the world. When approached with open ears, curiosity and a sense of respect for the traditions, the possibilities for exchange are really limitless.”

Art New England reviews current exhibition at the �ֲ��ý Museum of Art

On Feb. 5, of “Precision and Expression: American Studio Ceramics from the E. John Bullard Collection,” the current show at the �ֲ��ý Museum of Art, co-curated by Assistant Curator Samantha Sigmon and Lecturer in Art and Visual Culture Susan Dewsnap. “…Bullard sought diversity and individuality in his acquisitions,” Little writes. “He also embraced humor and joy: many of the pieces will prompt a smile.”

Roberto Lugo, Fighting Shirley Cup, 2023, is currently on display at the �ֲ��ý Museum of Art.

Calling it an “entertaining and enlightening exhibition,” Little highlighted an “exquisite vessel” by Mark Bell, “Spherical Vase,” ca. 2011, which he said “exemplifies the Blue Hill, Maine, artist’s seamless style.”

Little also explained the motivation behind Bullard’s generous gift to the museum. “The collector’s longtime ties to Haystack and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, inspired his gift, as did the college’s ceramics program led by Susan Dewsnap, who co-curated the exhibition and accompanying catalogue,” Little writes. “Bullard envisions future students exploring and learning from these singular objects. That vision is already happening: interns at the �ֲ��ý Museum researched artists for the catalogue and labels.”

�ֲ��ý plays Big Thief — How a musical tribute is turning into tradition

Ramona McNish — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 20:37:15 +0000

At their sold-out show at Portland’s State Theatre on Oct. 20, Big Thief, a Brooklyn-based indie-folk band, had a message for �ֲ��ý: “Thanks for all the love,” said Buck Meek, guitarist and vocalist. “Sorry we couldn’t make it yesterday.”

This was followed by an explosive cheer from the audience, which included a lot of �ֲ��ý students. Then lead vocalist Adrianne Lenker chimed in. “It’s been amazing to watch what you’ve been doing,” she said. “Thanks for playing our songs.”

Big Thief plays at the State Theatre in Portland. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27/�ֲ��ý College)

What led up to this moment? It was the result of more than a year of student creativity, community, and persistence that began as a simple solution to a problem in �ֲ��ý’ music scene.

During the fall of 2024, Audrey Cole ’26 of Minneapolis, Minn., Jonah Yaffe ’26 of Dallas, and Stella Gould ’25 were looking for a way to showcase musicians on campus who weren’t part of existing bands. Cole and Yaffe are the co-presidents (or “emperors,” as they call themselves) of the �ֲ��ý Musicians’ Union this year. BMU is an active and large organization; they regularly put on concerts, connect musicians, and collaborate with the student-run radio station and literary magazine, snaggletooth. If you ask most �ֲ��ý students, they can likely rattle off a list of BMU founded bands. Blue Razz Sassafras, Don’t Teller, Cole and Yaffe’s own band, The Lot Lizards, often perform in house basements, in local bars, and even at school-run events, like last year’s Gala. These bands are the club’s bread and butter, but Cole knew there were more musicians at �ֲ��ý, with a lot to offer, but no regular band to play with. She’s met some at BMU general meetings and encountered others socially.

“There are so many people I talk to who don’t even go to the meetings but who want to perform and play with a band and just don’t have the capacity,” says Cole.

Here was the solution: a one-night-only collaborative concert, where anyone could sign up to join a band for a day and take part in an all-day outdoor show. There had been single bands playing on Mount David before, but this time they were looking for it to expand to a collective concert They needed something to capture the essence of �ֲ��ý and get people excited.

�ֲ��ý musicians play Big Thief at Mount David. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27/�ֲ��ý College)

Enter Big Thief, a Brooklyn-based indie-folk band, fronted by hyper-specific and poetic lyricist Adrianne Lenker, with an extensive acoustic and electric catalog. The band had played Portland’s State Theatre in Feb. 2023, drawing a packed crowd that included �ֲ��ý students and alumni. “�ֲ��ý has a big crunch element,” Cole says, referring to the large sector of the campus population who can be seen on any given day wearing Blundstones as they carry their cross-country ski bags to their environmental justice class. “So people are definitely listening to Big Thief. I went to see them freshman year, and a million �ֲ��ý kids and �ֲ��ý grads living in Portland were at that concert. So it was evident they were big here.”

Student bands perform at the second Big Thief tribute concert. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27/�ֲ��ý College)

The first Big Thief tribute concert at �ֲ��ý took place in October 2024 on Mount David. It was a cold October afternoon, but dozens of students showed up in puffer coats and beanies, staying past sunset to sing along to the songs they knew so well, their phone flashlights waving in their hands. “It was so special,” Yaffe says, “People still tell me it was their favorite night of the year. And then this summer I was looking back on photos and really wanted to commemorate it somehow. It just felt like something that should keep happening.”

When planning this year’s show, they considered other groups, like maybe a Beatles or Wilco night, but nothing seemed like it could quite capture the same energy. So Yaffe decided to take things a step further. He created an Instagram account () dedicated to the project, posting photos and video of last year’s performance every day, along with hoping to catch the band’s attention, and maybe get them to show up to campus. They even offered some food recommendations from Commons, glimpses of a logo for the event, and a video from Mount Katahdin.

“Buck Meek ended up following me, and I actually got in contact with their team,” Yaffe says. “They gave us special permission to listen to their new album early, sent us signed vinyl and posters, and I was emailing with their manager for a while.”

This year’s Big Thief tribute concert was scheduled for October 19, the day before the band’s tour date in Portland, and it was even bigger than last year’s. “People we had never met before showed up,” Cole said, “Like so many people.”

Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief at the State Theatre. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27/�ֲ��ý College)

People showed up to Big Thief’s show the next day, too. About 2,000 of them. So it was very rewarding to hear Meek shout out �ֲ��ý live on stage, but Yaffe says that the Instagram account means a lot more to him than a connection to the band. “I like that I can scroll back on it and see all these absolutely amazing memories from this amazing night,” he says, “It’s like a public scrapbook. It’s great.”

Like @bates_plays_big_thief, the new tradition of Big Thief night has gone beyond just a love for the band. It’s a chance to come together, meeting with friends and strangers on Mount David to create something. It is a marker of community, and a reminder that even during midterms, and the time when days get shorter, there is still space for spontaneity and joy in the outdoors. It’s about the feeling of being in a crowd where everyone is singing the same words. It’s the type of evening that makes �ֲ��ý feel small in the best way.

Radiohead Trending: �ֲ��ý students jam in Olin with professional tribute band Fitter Happier

Meredith McCarroll and Mary Pols — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 19:56:58 +0000

Her electric violin at the ready on her right shoulder, Mavy Ho-Le ’26 started to slowly tap her foot on the stage at Olin Arts Center. It was Saturday Oct. 25 and the first strains of Radiohead’s 2016 song “Daydreaming,” were beginning to emerge from Fitter Happier, a Radiohead tribute band based in Portland. Ho-Le, of Gorham, Maine, was one of five �ֲ��ý students and community members with string instruments grouped stage left, ready to join in on cue.

There was at least one aficionado of Radiohead among the �ֲ��ý musicians, Xucheng Zheng ’27 of Shanghai, China. Sitting in front of Ho-Le, Zheng likely recognized the song before lead singer Jeff Beam sang a single melancholy note on that Saturday night. Zheng, who is used to playing with an orchestra, was particularly eager to play “Daydreaming,” a favorite Radiohead song.

But Ho-Le, a neuroscience major who has been playing electric violin professionally for years, had to feel her way into the song. She’d had less than a day with the sheet music to practice, and even though she works regularly as a professional musician when she’s not focused on her neuroscience major, it was almost all new to her. “I only know ‘Creep,’” she said later, referring to Radiohead’s breakthrough single from 1992.

Stuart Gurley, who manages both Olin Arts and the applied music program at �ֲ��ý, conducts several �ֲ��ý students as they play alongside Fitter Happier, a Portland-based Radiohead tribute group, at the Olin Arts Center October 25. Standing at the back is Mavy Ho-Le ’26 of Gorham, Maine and front, from left are violinists Xinyue Li ’27 of China and Xucheng Zheng ’27 of Shanghai, China 2025. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27 for �ֲ��ý College)

That didn’t matter; the beauty of the event was that Radiohead expertise wasn’t required to be swept up in what happened on stage at Olin between Fitter Happier, made up of Beam, Sam Peisner, Scott Nebel, Elliot Heeschen, Rob Cimitile, and Pete Dugas, and the �ֲ��ý musicians. “It was electric,” Ho-Le said afterward.

The audience of more than 100 seemed to agree, from the little boy dancing wildly on his mother’s lap to the young person who shouted “you guys sound amazing” after Beam expressed his pleasure at playing in Olin, saying “it’s kind of the Carnegie Hall of Lewiston.”

The collaboration was put together by Stuart Gurley, who manages both Olin Arts and the applied music program at �ֲ��ý. His goal was to give �ֲ��ý students a taste of the life of a professional musician as well as a chance to “take their skills that they learn in their lessons and their ensembles, and see how active working musicians utilize those in different professional environments,” Gurley says. Artists come to �ֲ��ý regularly, and work with students in master classes, Gurley said. “But this is different. It puts them on a more equal footing with the artists themselves.” And in perhaps a different genre.

He’d done something similar before, bringing Beatles Night with Spencer Albee to �ֲ��ý in early 2020. Albee is known regionally (and) for his Beatles tribute band, Spencer and the Walrus, which for the last two decades has been selling out two and sometimes even three nights at the State Theater in Portland each Thanksgiving. Ever since Gurley coordinated with Albee to bring that Beatles experience, backed by student musicians, to �ֲ��ý, he’d been looking for opportunities to do something similar.

Gurley understands that the ensembles and coursework and lessons that happen at �ֲ��ý are essential, but he also knows what it means to work in the music industry in 2025. It’s not easy, but it might be easier if he can help students find intersecting commonalities between academia and the music industry.

Jeff Beam, the lead singer of Fitter Happier, at the microphone during a concert by the Portland-based Radiohead tribute band at Olin Arts Center Oct. 25. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27 for �ֲ��ý College)

“You can have all your experience here at �ֲ��ý and go out and get a gig in an orchestra or, if you’re really lucky, in a jazz band,” he said. “But there are unfortunately just fewer and fewer of those opportunities these days.” The best chances to make a living playing live music are in the realm of popular music, he explained. “And there’s a lot of groups from Radiohead right on down to very small acts that need violins and horns to tour with them.”

The genesis for bringing Fitter Happier to �ֲ��ý actually took place at one of his own musical gigs. As Gurley told the audience in Olin as he was introducing Fitter Happier, he’d been talking to a good friend and musician he was working with at a wedding gig. Long breaks (and waits) are typical of such gigs, Gurley said. And during one of those breaks, the friend made the argument that Radiohead was the most significant and important band out there.

Gurley had his doubts, but pondered this, considering his own past as a teenaged fan, and the band’s use of electronica. “They were one of the first bands to really integrate electronica in modern production ways, with new technologies, and new modalities of thinking,” he said. “And now it’s everywhere.” Radiohead easily fits into the spectrum of music studied at �ֲ��ý, he said.

Moreover, a lot of students might already have the band on their playlist. TikTok has played a role in the resurgence of Radiohead and other musical acts, including Sade and Kate Bush, often leading to chart-topping hits years (even decades) after the initial release of the song. In the case of Radiohead, the Hulu series The Bear used “Let Down,” a Radiohead song from OK Computer, in the show’s Season 1 finale. In August of this year, 28 years after its release, the song charted on the Billboard Top 100 for the first time.

Zheng, who described herself as a Radiohead fan before the concert, was energized by the collaborative nature of the opportunity. “Now I really want to try playing with a band,” Zheng said.

Violinist Xinyue Li ’27 of China plays alongside Fitter Happier, a Portland-based Radiohead tribute group at the Olin Arts Center October 25, 2025. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27 for �ֲ��ý College)

Aidan Buck ’29 of Arlington, Mass., said he was only a “moderate” Radiohead fan before the Fitter Happier concert. “I haven’t listened to their catalogue in full, but what I’ve heard I really enjoy. I’m a big fan of experimental music as a whole.” Most of his musical training came by ear or was based in improvisation, he said.

“I wanted to be part of this concert because it sounded like a cool opportunity to play experimental music at �ֲ��ý with peers, faculty, and the greater L/A community.”

He’s played instruments his whole life, from the trumpet in his middle school’s jazz band to bass in a rock band in high school. Typically he plays string instruments, but for the Fitter Happier show, he played the flugelhorn.

“I didn’t know much going into the first and only rehearsal on Saturday afternoon,” Buck said. “And as someone who can’t sight read music very well, I turned to my ear training and figured out my flugelhorn parts by listening to the original recordings of my assigned songs. Once I was able to get my parts down pat, I think the horn and string sections sounded really nice and made a great addition to the already awesome band.”

Stuart Gurley, who manages both Olin Arts and the applied music program at �ֲ��ý, welcomes the audience during the Oct. 25 Fitter Happier performance. Gurley brought together �ֲ��ý students to play with the Radiohead tribute band. (Sammy Weidenthal ’27 for �ֲ��ý College)

There was also something in the collaborative experience for Fitter Happier. As Beam, who considers Radiohead “the Beatles of this generation,” explained before the show, the �ֲ��ý musicians allowed Fitter Happier, which was touring in Vermont and New Hampshire, to do some songs they couldn’t do as a five-person band, including the many songs that Radiohead recorded with strings and horns.

“Not full orchestra stuff,” Beam says, “but songs that we can’t necessarily replicate without extra players.” After the accompanying horns and strings left the stage of Olin for the last time, Beam asked the audience to give the students a hand. And then paid them a high compliment: “I wish we could have them out here the whole time.”

‘Contented,’ says the cellist, rehearsing for his �ֲ��ý senior recital

Phyllis Graber Jensen — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 21:04:17 +0000

Arie van Vuuren ’22, an economics major and standout alpine skier from Boulder, Colo., has played the cello since the second grade when his parents chose it for him so he could perform duets with his sister on the violin.