Subject: 🎵 July News from MCMA 🎸

Studio Updates

July 2026

Hooray for summer! We don't always send out a newsletter in July, but this year it feels like so many great things are happening that we wanted to send a quick message to share the excitement. Read on to learn about summer offerings for all ages, and the first ever Dance Into the Light Music Festival! You'll also get a peek at what's been going on in our studios lately, and look back at our amazing Spring Recital: we're still smiling about it!

SPRING RECITAL

We are all incredibly proud of our students for the hard work and courage they put in to the Spring Recital. What a beautiful show they put on! And we owe a huge thanks to Maine State Credit Union for their generous sponsorship, and to the Strand Theatre for hosting us in their beautiful space, which has become a home-away-from-home for MCMA. We are also grateful to the faculty for everything they did to ensure their students were prepared and confident to walk out on stage. Thanks also to Siri Jones Photography for these beautiful photos!

Spring Recital Photo Album

Stay tuned to our social media for the full recital video, coming soon!

GIRLS ROCK!

This week the girls of our Girls Rock summer camp have taken over the studio, and are living up to their name! Camp leaders Kate Fiano and Khaya Cohen have challenged this crew to up their skills in musicianship, group dynamics, stage craft and creativity in a positive, supportive way.

Khaya notes, "I am so inspired by the way these girls are uplifting and supporting one another, both musically and personally! I'm proud of how quickly they've learned three new (and quite difficult) songs."

And Kate adds, "This has been such a fun week! We begin the mornings with such thoughtful discussions and team building activities that frame the rest of our day, followed by a wonderful balance of fun, joy and musical growth! It has been really inspiring to work with these musicians."

These girls rock.

MUSIC TOGETHER^®SUMMER OFFERINGS

Keep music alive in your household this summer!

Though we're not offering a regular weekly class session this summer, there are still a couple of ways to keep singing and dancing with your wonderful children. We look forward to seeing you back at MCMA and Waterfall Arts in the fall!

We are thrilled to be partnering with Tenderwild Farm again this summer to offer a weekly Music Together^® class at the farm with Amelia Campbell! Meet in the barn before the class, then wander over to the picnic grove for a delightful gathering of music and movement.

We will be offering this as two 4-week sessions, meeting Tuesdays at 10am in July and August.

For all of the dates, details and to register, click the button below.

Tenderwild Class

Thanks to our friends at the Rockland Public Library, you have the opportunity to sing and dance with our own Shannon Burns the second Saturday of each month at 10:30am, now through October!

Click the button below and scroll down to the Community Classes section of our Music Together^® at MCMA page for all of the dates.

Rockland Library Class

LAST CHANCE FOR SUMMER CAMPS!

There are still a couple of spots left in two of our summer camps, which both culminate in live performances at music festivals this summer!

NEXT WEEK: Blues Intensive: July 6-10, which includes performances at the North Atlantic Blues Festival and the Maine Lobster Festival! Still room for horns!

Gig Camp: July 27-31, which includes a performance at the Maine Lobster Festival! Still room for a vocalist and a bass player!

Our Jazz Intensive camp, August 10-14, is full.

Summer Camp Registration

SUMMER LESSONS & ENSEMBLES

We are offering some great ensemble opportunities for all ages this summer, and there is still room in these groups:

Ear Training with Dan Wenger 5:30-6:30pm Mondays
Adult Guitar Group 12:30-1:30pm Wednesdays
Violin All Stars (ages 5-7) 4-4:30pm Thursdays

Summer Ensembles

There is also still time to register for summer lessons! Summer is a flexible 8-week session running until August 21. You can take as many lessons as you like during that time period, or even try a new instrument. For more information on summer lessons and to set up an intro, click below!

Summer Lessons

DANCE INTO THE LIGHT MUSIC FESTIVAL

We are thrilled to partner with Finding Our Voices and Glendarragh Lavender to bring you the first ever Dance Into the Light Music Festival on Saturday, August 1, with dance music by The Right Track and The Sugar Snaps!

Last July, after a concert in the park, Finding Our Voices founder and CEO Patrisha McLean approached MCMA’s director Jen Feldman to share how moved she was by the experience of dancing joyfully alongside members of her community. Patrisha told Jen it was the first time she had danced in public since leaving her abusive marriage. In that moment, they recognized the power of music, celebration, and community to bring healing and freedom. Together, they imagined a music festival that could share that same sense of joy with others — and Dance Into the Light was born.

Since then, the pieces have fallen into place so beautifully that the event is clearly meant to be: a celebration of music, dance and the freedom to be joyful, set among the lavender fields in one of the most beautiful spots in midcoast Maine, Glendarragh Lavender in Appleton, with food lovingly created from scratch by Joshua and Dakota’s Cantina food truck.

Finding Our Voices is a grassroots nonprofit organization working to break the silence of domestic abuse and provide life-mending and heart-healing resources to sister survivors in Maine. Learn more about their vitally important work here! And click below for tickets and more information:

Dance Into the Light

IMPORTANT DATES

Sunday, July 12, 10:30am: Blues Campers perform at North Atlantic Blues Festival
Sunday, August 2, 12:30pm: MCMA Gig Campers & Blues Campers perform at Maine Lobster Festival
July 20: registration opens for fall semester
August 1: Dance Into the Light Music Festival
August 10-14: Jazz Intensive Camp
August 24-28: MCMA closed
Monday, August 31: fall semester begins

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