KINGFIELD — Annie Twitchell, Leslie Norton, and Nykola Hanczar sat down for an interview with The Franklin Journal at the park behind the Kingfield town office on a warm, sunny day on May 6. For over two decades, the Kingfield POPS has been a cornerstone of arts education and community enrichment in Kingfield and surrounding towns. The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Spencer and the Walrus [Beatles tribute band] and Gina and the Red Eye Flight Crew are all scheduled to perform.
Twitchell, a dedicated member of the Kingfield POPS board shared insight into the organization’s profound impact. “The Kingfield POPS has been a beacon of arts education and community enrichment for the past 20 years,” she said. It is more than just a concert; it’s a transformative experience that ignites passion and creativity in youth, explained Twitchell.
Kingfield POPS, a non profit organization, organizes the annual outdoor summer concert, which features regional musicians, and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in an open-air field at the foot of Mount Abram. It is a family event, attracting attendees nationwide, ending with a fireworks display against the mountains. Twitchell said there are people who plan their vacations to Maine around the POPS concert, established in 2003. The concert had a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The POPS supports local arts through school programs, instrument repair, and promoting visual and performing arts.
“For the last 20 years the Kingfield POPS has been providing educational experiences for kids,” Twitchell said. “This will be our 20th year with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra coming and playing on a professional stage, in the middle of a hay field, at the foot of Mt. Abram,” she noted. Twitchell said it is an incredible experience.
“One of the things that the POPS provides is it gives the kids an opportunity to experience a full symphony orchestra,” she noted. “Kids around here don’t have the option of going to Bangor, or going to Portland very often for that kind of an event. And so this is a way that we can bring that fine arts and music culture to life for our kids here in a really unique and special way. It makes this really well-rounded experience, our kids get free admission to the concert and it is really valuable to them.”
“We are working to expand our school programming,” Twitchell said. “One of our big goals is reaching out to the schools and districts we are working with and finding out what their areas of need are and how we can help them meet those needs.”
The board is new, said Twitchell, within the last four years. Twitchell joined in 2022. “The POPS almost ended the summer concert,” Twitchell said. “The former board had gone down in board membership by quite a bit, and they evaluated their options and determined the best thing they were going to do was to stop hosting the summer concert and just focus on the school programming, which is one of the very core parts of our mission.”
Members of the community came on to volunteer their time and help revitalize the concert. So they were able to host the summer concert last year. “This year we have been working with our new board, with reestablishing our school programming, developing that in more detail,” she said. “And then we are also doing our summer concert again this year as well.”
Twitchell’s connection to the Kingfield POPS runs deep, shaped by fond memories of childhood summers spent amidst the music and magic of the annual event. “I’ve been to almost every single POPS since it started,” she recalled. “It’s deeply personal for me, having grown up with it. I remember the excitement of watching the musicians perform against the backdrop of Mount Abram, surrounded by friends and family.”

Twitchell said it is a full circle experience for her to go from being a child attending the concert, to being an organizer. She saw the kids playing, running, enjoying the music and catching fireflies, and it was as she remembered her own experience.
Twitchell said one of the ways they engage with the community is by offering free admission for children age 17 and under. She said for families like hers [she is one of six children], the free admission for children made attending the concert accessible and affordable. Twitchell said they are always looking for ways to enhance the POPS experience and make it accessible to as many people as possible.
When asked about other projects the POPS are involved with, Twitchell said they are making some changes with the new board. She said they have donated instruments in the past, but now that is not as much of a focus. “We look to see what the teachers need,” Twitchell explained. “One teacher asked us if we can sponsor a rental for a student. We are exploring different ways to support the needs the district has. Sometimes that may be donated instruments, which we refurbish and get them in good condition. Then finding where the best use for the instruments. Renting can be cost prohibitive for some families.
Some needs here are instrument repairs.”
The board said they do a lot of planning all year, including fundraising and grants. They had a string quartet come from the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in April. There were close to 400 kids in attendance. They have some scholarships in the works right now she said, as well as summer camps for art and music education.
Hanczar said, “Like Lesley and I talked about, we would at some point like to get kids to go to Portland or Bangor because I am a teacher and one of my coolest memories I have when I was teaching in Kingfield was bringing the kids to the ocean; some had never been to the beach or seen the ocean. We would like to figure out how kids could see the city, ocean and the symphony.”
“I still remember the one time we went to Portland through the POPS for the symphony,” Twitchell said. “I just remember the experience, a live orchestra is a live experience. It is a long bus trip which requires a lot of planning.”
Twitchell reflected on last year’s concert, which she said was a whirlwind in her new position as organizer. “I stopped for 30 seconds during one of the last songs, it was ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and the rain had finally stopped,” Twitchell said. “I was watching the kids dancing, and it was an incredible sight for me. I have been there as a kid. Watching it was so amazing.”
The music goes until 9:15 to 9:30 p.m. The final song is the Overture of 1812, and it can be heard during the fireworks display. The concert is rain or shine and is only called off if there is a thunderstorm. “We work with the sound and stage crew, they have a really fancy weather mapping set up in their truck. We work with them and the fire department,” said Twitchell.
She said her advice is to bring an umbrella, if you bring it, you won’t need it.
The town of Kingfield has events planned the day of the POPS concert. In downtown Kingfield, the Kingfield ArtWalk will be holding an event Friday night before the show.
“We are always looking for more volunteers the day of the event, field prep, stage prep, volunteers to man the admissions gate, and help with parking,” added Twitchell. “The New England wire mill on Route 142 allows us to use their big field. That is another example of a great community partnership that we are really thankful for.”

The event will be held on June 29. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and music starts at 5 p.m. at the Kennedy Farm on Route 142 in Kingfield. There will be Port a Potties available. No Parking is allowed on the road. There will be people directing traffic to the parking areas. Tickets are available in Kingfield at Mainely Provisions, the Skowhegan Savings Branch in Kingfield and online at the Kingfield POPS website.