WAYNE PACELLE

The Portland Symphony Orchestra’s celebration of spring, when in the words of Tennyson — “A young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love” — includes two of the most erotic works in the repertoire, Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe” and the “Liebestod” from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” Perhaps it’s synchronicity that it was reported in “Discover” […]

The Portland Museum of Art 2011 Biennial is an excellent exhibition. It stands with the 2001 Biennial as the best yet. It is handsome, interesting and exciting. It is beautifully installed, and features fantastic art. Of course, it isn’t perfect, but shows that are juried anonymously from digital images are notoriously splattered with wayward bits. […]

PORTLAND — Retirement didn’t last long for Stephen Shiman. He and his wife became full-time Mainers in October, after both retired from jobs in the metropolitan New York area. For more than two decades, Shiman served as executive director of the Newark School for the Arts. He thought he had put the working life in […]

CHICAGO — When Jeff Beck first heard the music of Les Paul, it set him off on a mission to master the guitar and in the process become one of the defining instrumentalists in British rock. Last summer, Beck paid homage to the late, pioneering guitarist on what would have been Paul’s 95th birthday at […]

GORHAM — The mixed musical stylings of New York and Maine will be in evidence when the University of Southern Maine School of Music hosts a weekend of new music at Corthell Concert Hall on USM’s Gorham campus. It starts at 8 p.m. Friday with “Unaccustomed Earth,” a performance from the New York-based group Two […]