ARTS & CULTURE
History & Music THE MUSICAL LEGACY OF SURRY ARTS AT THE BARN BY CRYSTAL SANDS
10 / BANGOR METRO August 2022
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estled in the hills and trees of Surry, overlooking Acadia National Park, stands a beautiful old barn. But this barn is unique among old Maine barns. It doesn’t contain cows or goats or chickens. This barn houses a Steinway grand piano and provides center stage for a variety of musical performances. Each summer, Surry Arts at the Barn hosts dozens of musical events, and though some may not have heard of the organization, it boasts a long history of bringing music, art and culture to rural Maine. Alan Wittenberg is the director of Surry Arts at the Barn, but the program was originally founded in 1965 by Walter Nowick, a classical pianist, Julliard graduate and the son of immigrant potato
farmers from Long Island, New York. Nowick’s classical music study brought him to Maine the summers of his youth, and in 1965, he started a music program in Surry for young Japanese students and professionals. In the 1980s, Nowick began an opera program that brought Russian artists to Maine and Maine artists to Russia. Wittenberg, who studied with Nowick for decades, said Nowick studied languages and music “but above all else, he was a visionary.” “Nowick decided music was a way to bridge the differences between the American people and the Russian people,” Wittenberg explained. In 1986, the Surry Arts program made their first trip to Russia and made more than a dozen trips in the
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SURRY ARTS AT THE BARN
IN A MAINE BARN
