LEWISTON — The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Ash St. will host a summer concert series that is free and open to the public. Donations to restore the Casavant Organ will be accepted.

From 12:15-12:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, Benjamin Noyes (cello), Linda Vaillancourt (viola), Shaina Graff (violin), and Scott Vaillancourt (organ) will perform.

Noyes grew up in Portland, inheriting a rich musical/pedagogical heritage from his parents. He found local acclaim immediately and while attending Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, Irene Sharp invited him to study in San Francisco where he attended the School of the Arts and San Francisco Conservatory’s preparatory division.

He won numerous awards, including top prizes in NFAA’s ARTS Recognition, National Federation of Music Clubs, and National ASTA competitions, as well as being selected by Yo-Yo Ma to participate as soloist and recitalist throughout China to perform with the Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzen and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras. As a fellowship recipient he attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Yale’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Festival, and Meadowmount.

After a year playing with the Roanoke Symphony, Roanoke Opera Orchestra, Miami Symphony and adjunct faculty at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Noyes is building a private studio and continues to garner acclaim for performances of solo recital programs, chamber ensemble concerts as well as various non-classical ventures. Pursuing the artist’s life has led him to collaborations and performances throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as teaching, coaching, and motivating individuals of all ages and professions. He also finds joy in many areas including but not limited to composing, recording, producing, drawing and writing

Linda Vaillancourt holds a BM in Music Education from the University of Southern Maine, and an MM in viola performance from the University of Maine. She currently serves as the middle school instrumental music teacher and strings director at North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, and the music teacher at l’École Française du Maine in Freeport. She helped found, and is the music director for, the Youth Orchestra of Lewiston/Auburn, a community-based ensemble designed to serve string students in the L/A area.

Vaillancourt has been very active in strings education in Maine. She served as the Orchestra vice president for the Maine Music Educators’ Association from 2002-2006, and continues to serve as manager for the Maine All-State Orchestra. She also frequently works as a manager or coordinator for the District II Music Festivals. She conducted orchestras in the Statewide String Festival in 2004, 2009, and 2011.

Vaillancourt maintains a busy performance schedule, playing primarily viola, but also some violin. She has played in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra since 2000, and is also a member of Maine Pro Musica, Maine Chamber Ensemble and Maine Music Society. She is frequently called to play in other local groups, including the Bates and Bowdoin College Orchestras and the PORT Opera Orchestra, and has played in pit orchestras for several different high school and community theatre productions.

She lives in Lewiston with her husband, Scott, and three young children.

Graff began playing the violin at age three and music has been an integral part of her life ever since. Her studies have included various methods first beginning as a Suzuki student. She pursued a Bachelors and Masters degree in Music Performance at Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduating with honors under Hungarian Professor Michael Barta. 

Graff has been director of her own studio, Shaina’s Strings Studio, which has been providing violin and viola lessons to aspiring musicians of all ages for over a decade. Her students are involved in community events, orchestras, performances, competitions, and have gone on to receive scholarships at the university level.

Seeking to spread the enjoyment and passion for music to all, Shaina’s Strings Students enjoy playing music of all genres with the fundamentals and technique to take them to unlimited possibilities. As a professional, Graff performs with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Paducah Symphony Orchestra, and recently to include Midcoast Symphony and North Shore Philharmonic.

Additionally to orchestral settings, Graff is active in various performing styles and settings. She served as vice president of the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society and for over a decade as a violinist of the Chautauqua String Ensemble. She desires to create more opportunities for musicians and to enhance the musical connection with the community through chamber music.

Graff has always been drawn to Maine and after visiting she fell in love with the state and the people. As a new resident to the beautiful Northeast, she looks forward to making a positive valuable impact on musicians and music lovers of all ages. She treasures the role she partakes in each violinist’s educational life and looks forward to unlimited possibilities to come.

Scott Vaillancourt is a native of Van Buren, Maine. He graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College in 1992 and received both a Masters in Music Composition and a Masters in Performance from the University of Michigan in 1994.

Vaillancourt is currently active as a freelance performer, composer, arranger, and teacher in the central and southern Maine areas. Some of the many ensembles he has performed with include: the Portland Opera Repertory Theater Orchestra, the Atlantic Chamber Symphony, the Bangor Symphony, the Colby Symphony, and the Portland Brass Quintet.

He is the music director at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine where he directs and oversees an active music program; teaches part time at the University of Southern Maine, and Bowdoin College; was director of the band and chorus at the University of New England; is the principle tubist and organist for the Norumbega Ensemble. He lives in Lewiston with his wife and three children.