Wayne du Maine, trumpeter, conductor, and composer. SYSTEM

The Winter Online Auction to benefit the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra and an online chat with MSO conductor and music director Rohan Smith will both be held during the second week of March.

The MSO Winter Online Auction is a fundraising event that will help offset the loss of this season’s ticket revenue, after the COVID pandemic forced the orchestra to cancel its 2020-2021 season. The preview starts Saturday, March 6, on midcoastsymphony.org and bidding is open from Friday, March 12, through Sunday, March 14. The MSO’s talented musicians, their families and friends, and some favorite businesses donated items and experiences that include a sailboat cruise, a lobster bake, a getaway vacation, hand-knit clothing, original artwork, and gift certificates for restaurants and other businesses.

MSO conductor Rohan Smith will host a live chat at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, with New York City area musician and long-time friend Wayne du Maine. Du Maine, a trumpeter, conductor and composer, has been a soloist with MSO twice and was to have conducted the orchestra in March 2021, in addition to being soloist. Du Maine posts beer tasting videos along with his trumpet playing on his YouTube Channel, and plans to sample some craft brew with Smith as they discuss his career. The conversation will touch on what it’s like to play with the famed conductor Leonard Bernstein and du Maine’s experience performing Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Metropolitan Opera. This event is free and open to the public on MSO’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/midcoastsymphony. It can also be viewed there any time after the live event, as well as on MSO’s YouTube channel. There is no need to register.

The Midcoast Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra founded in 1990. Started as a chamber orchestra, there are now more than 80 members. Under the baton of Rohan Smith, the orchestra brings top-notch performances to the Orion Center in Topsham and the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston. Members are volunteer musicians across Maine.