Page 116 - CA 2019 Final(3)

Trond Saeverud

& The Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchetra

feature by Carole Heinlein, photo by Joan Siem

Just before every performance of the Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchestra (PBSO), there is a
buzz of anticipation in the air. The audience and performers share this as if they are already connected.
When conductor and violinist Trond Saeverud enters, there is a hush. Everyone waits for the first note
as if it is a gift. And in many ways, the PBSO is a gift to the communities where it performs. In this
remote area of Maine, two concerts (spring and fall) are offered each year with performances in three locations– Machias, Eastport, and
Calais.

Trond and his wife, Joan Siem, an artist, (paintings and mixed media) moved to Robbinston from Prospect Harbor when they fell in
love with the Brewer House, bought it, and ran it as a bed and breakfast and art gallery.

Trond credits Doug Gaither with helping to found the orchestra. Doug played, along with a few other founding members, in a small
chamber group Trond conducted at the University of Maine at Machias. As a result of this connection, Doug later played in a perfor-
mance of a Tchaikovsky Symphony with the orchestra Trond conducted in Farmington (UMF) where he taught. “Afterwards, we mulled
over the possibility of creating a similar orchestra based in Eastport. We put an ad in the paper and lots of people showed up. A few
months later we were in business.” said Trond. That was over 10 years ago, and the PBSO, with its 35 to 40 players, thrives as a con-
stituent member of the Eastport Arts Center.

How is music selected for the PBSO’s concerts? “First, it has to be something the PBSO players will enjoy – at rehearsals as well
as during concerts. Second, we want our audience to come back for more, so the concerts need to keep their interest. Third, I need to
be able to get inspired in order to inspire the orchestra. That often means selecting pieces I have never performed before and that, there-
fore, feel fresh and new. I usually enjoy experiences that are unfamiliar and foreign,” Trond said.
He is active with other musical groups in this area, such as the NorEaster String Quartet which will be playing at Husson College in
Bangor this year, as well as Schoodic Arts for All in Winter Harbor with pianist Gregory Biss, composer from Eastport. Trond is also
kept busy as concertmaster of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra (since 2005). He has curbed some of the demands of this active schedule.
After eight years, he stopped teaching at the University of Maine, Farmington.
A native of Bergen, Norway, Trond was educated first at the Music Conservatory there. Then, he went on to the Norwegian State
Academy of Music in Oslo where he earned his BA and MA equivalent in violin performance. He continued at University of Kansas
in Lawrence, Kansas, where he received his doctorate in orchestral conducting. His grandfather, who died when he was 7, was Harald
Saeverud, a well-known composer, and his father, Ketil Hvoslef, is still active as a composer. His father took his mother’s maiden
name to distinguish himself from his father. Both are renown throughout the music world.

Although the Brewer House is no longer run as a B&B, it serves as Trond and Joan’s base every summer. Joan, who is from Mich-
gan also stays busy. “Her work is, right now, being exhibited in Tokyo, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, in addition to a traveling
exhibit in Germany,” adds Trond proudly.

https://eastportartscenter.org/constituent-groups/passamaquoddy-bay-symphony-orchestra/

2019 SPRING CONCERTS 2019 FALL CONCERTS

June 14, 7 p.m. Eastport, Eastport Arts Center Nov. 15, 7 p.m., Eastport, Eastport Arts Center
June 15, 3 p.m. Machias, Centre Street Congregational Church Nov. 16, 3 p.m., Machias, Centre Street Congregational Church
June 16, 3 p.m. Calais, Calais First Congregational Church Nov. 17, 3 p.m., Calais, Calais First Congregational Church

PBSO will accompany cello soloist Dan Allcott in
“Kol Nidrei” by Max Bruch and “Hungarian Rhapsody” by
David Popper. Also on the program is “Symphonic
Metamorphosis” by Paul Hindesmith.

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