Music takes center stage at Maudslay

Newburyport’s Maudslay State Park is the setting for music performances at Maudslay Arts Center, an open-air, performing arts center with a variety of offerings.

Listeners will be treated to a wide selection of music including jazz, country, big band, folk, pops, and swing music at the outdoor amphitheater. Eight Saturday night performances are scheduled between July 3 and Aug. 28.

Family entertainment is the focus of Sunday afternoon concerts that run from July 11 through Aug. 22.

Maudslay Arts Center has been described as the mini-Tanglewood. Located in the picturesque 480-acre Maudslay State Park on the Merrimack River, the Center is set in a natural amphitheater. Audiences enjoy perfect acoustics and sight lines. During inclement weather, the concerts move to the adjacent spacious concert barn.

Built with private funds and donations, the arts center opened the summer of 1993 with the goal of offering reasonably priced family entertainment in the beauty of the outdoors.

The center is a cooperative effort between the state Department of Environmental Management and the Maudslay State Park Association. The performance series is funded through a combination of grants, private funds and donations, and corporate sponsors.

Audience members are encouraged to take in the concerts from patio seats set up around tables or pack a picnic and relax on the lawn area, which is within 10 feet of the stage. Children age 12 and under are always admitted free to the lawn.

Maudslay State Park also features eight miles of walking, biking, hiking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing trails winding through 480 acres of forests and gardens with 11/2 miles of frontage on the Merrimack River.

The state sponsors many activities, including guided recreational walks, fall horse-drawn hayrides, nature walks, craft workshops and children’s games.

Disabled individuals and senior citizens may arrange for the park’s access program by calling ahead before they visit.

For more information on park programs, call 978-465-7223.

For more information on Maudslay Arts Center performances, or to reserve patio tickets, call the Firehouse Arts Center in Newburyport’s Market Square at 978-462-7336. Lawn tickets are sold at the Maudslay box office one hour prior to each show, and need not be purchased in advance. MasterCard, Visa and Discover cards welcome.

Maudslay Arts Center, 2004

Saturday concerts Patio seating at tables $18, lawn seating, $14.

July 3, Paul Broadnax Quintet. Ever popular jazz vocalist, pianist and Brownstone recording artist performs jazz standards with his ensemble, including saxman Fred Haas and one of Newburyport’s favorite sons, drummer Les Harris, Sr.

July 10, Donna Byrne sings sizzling jazz with the old fashioned virtues of warmth, subtlety, charm and impeccable taste.

July 17, Herb Pomeroy Ensemble. Legendary trumpeter and big band leader will be joined by Paul Schmeling, John Rapucci and Artie Cabral for an evening of great music.

July 24, The New Black Eagle Jazz Band. An exhilarating style, and a huge and diverse repertoire have kept them at the forefront of the traditional jazz scene.

July 31, Rebecca Parris. Boston’s First Lady of jazz returns.

Aug. 14, Fair Winds Trio, presents spirited banjo tunes, songs of Ireland and the sea, traditional folk tunes and their own renditions of classic pop tunes from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Aug. 21, Mike Monaghan & Friends. Three long-time members of the Boston Pops led by woodwind player Mike Monaghan for a concert that will span history of American Jazz Music from traditional New Orleans to present day.

Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. General admission, $9. Children admitted free to lawn seating.

July 11, The Don Campbell Band. Country music.

July 18, Turkey Hollow.

July 25, Black Sea Salsa. 15 piece world music group plays a mix of Latin, jazz and blues with Mid-East rhythms.

Aug. 8, Italian Serenaders. Musical tour of Italy.

Aug. 15, Innovata. Brass quintet performs music from Renaissance through Dixieland and jazz.

Aug. 22, Pick 3. Bluegrass, Celtic, western swing, country, blues.

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