Both Foster and Perry are Brunswick residents. Foster, a member of the Bates music faculty, is principal cellist for the Maine Chamber Ensemble and the Maine State Ballet Orchestra. Perry, widely known as part of a prizewinning piano duo with Kathryn Lewis, is a versatile player whose credentials include performances with the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

The Foster-Perry program represents four centuries of music, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G major to “Music for cello and piano,” completed in April 2001 by Portland composer Elliott Cherry. Also on the program are “Fantasie-Stuecke” (Op. 73) by Robert Schumann and the Sonata in G Minor (Op. 19) by Sergey Rachmaninoff.

The Rachmaninoff, Perry notes, “isn’t played as often as its great beauty warrants, perhaps because of its virtuosic piano writing, equal in difficulty to his Preludes and Etudes. The soaring melodies in the cello are often accompanied by rapid, florid filigree, and the piano solos are concerto-like in effect.

But its greatest challenge, he continues, “is achieving this technical control within a dynamic scope appropriate to the cello and the chamber music setting overall.”

Perry is a graduate of the Juilliard School. He worked as a theater pianist, creating and performing late-night cabarets off-Broadway. One such musical, Marry Me a Little, with music by Stephen Sondheim, was a hit and remains a theatrical staple. Perry’s recording of music from the show is available on CD from RCA.

Perry has appeared several times as a Portland Symphony Orchestra soloist and performs chamber music throughout New England. In 1991, he and Kathryn Lewis formed their duo-piano team, going on to win a prize in the Dranoff International Two Piano Competition. Their recent concerts have included one with PCA Great Performances and three with the Boston Pops.

A student of Janos Starker and Fritz Magg at Indiana University, Foster has been principal cellist with the Lima (Ohio) Symphony, Hanover (N.H.) Chamber Orchestra, Delaware Chamber Orchestra, and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. She has played with the Vermont Symphony, the Toledo Opera Association and the Delaware Symphony.

She is a member of the Portland Symphony and the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre orchestras and is principal cellist of the Maine Chamber Ensemble and the Maine State Ballet Orchestra. Recent performances include dates at the Bach Festival in North Conway and the Round Top Center for the Arts.

A member of the applied music faculty at Bates, Foster teaches at the Merriconeag Waldorf School and maintains a private studio.

For more information about the concert, please call 207-786-6135.

Eskin has performed concertos with the San Francisco, Buffalo and Utah symphonies; the Israel Sinfonietta and the Boston Pops Orchestra. She has appeared as a commentator on National Public Radio’s A Note to You. Her chamber music appearances include performances with the Portland String Quartet, with whom she recorded the Dvorak Piano Quintet in 1995. A specialist in the work of women composers, her recordings include Rags by Women and works by American composers Rebecca Clarke and Amy Beach. She attended Trinity College, London University, and is a member of the music departments at Boston and Northeastern universities.

Founded in 1990, the Mid-Coast Chamber Orchestra is an auditioned orchestra that rehearses weekly in Brunswick and performs in towns throughout the mid-coast region.

The series begins on Aug. 1 with a performance by Frank Glazer and Duncan Cumming ’93, featuring works by Mozart, Schubert and Brahms. On Aug. 6, cellist Solen Dikener and pianist Yasin Dikener perform works by Luigi Bocherini, Ottomar Schoeck, Gabriel Faure and Paul Tortelier. On Aug. 9, violinist Scott Esty ’92, joins Solen Dikener and Cumming for a performance of trios by Haydyn, Brahms and Paul Schoenfield. The series concludes on Aug. 12 with Cumming and Esty in a presentation of three sonatas for violin and piano by Brahms.

For additional information about the chamber music concerts, call the Office of Summer Programs at 207-786-6077.

Collinson began playing cello at age 8, and at age 13 studied with James Kennedy, principal cellist of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. A Mount Blue High School graduate, Collinson has been accepted at the Manhattan School of Music and is auditioning for further conservatory training.

Szemela began studying violin at age 3 and has studied with Ronald Lantz of the Portland String Quartet. He has soloed with the Maine Chamber Ensemble and the Kiev Chamber Orchestra, and won the 1996 Bangor Symphony Orchestra High School Music Competition. Szemela, who will graduate from Cheverus High School this spring, has been accepted at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, Mannes School of Music and the Julliard School of Music.

Tickets are $8/$4 at the door. Advance tickets are $7/$3 and may be purchased at Starbird Music Shoppe, Portland; Macbean’s Music, Brunswick; Gulf of Maine Books, Brunswick; and Carroll’s Music, Lewiston.

Founded in 1990, The Mid-Coast Chamber Orchestra is composed of 40 dedicated amateur and professional players. Chamber groups of members perform for schools and retirement communities as part of Mid-Coast Chamber Orchestra’s Music to Go program.