History of Surry Arts & Events

1950

Walter embarks on a bold new adventure after graduating the esteemed Juliard school of music in NYC. He learns his beloved Piano Teacher is frequently participating in the first Zen Institute of New York.

1965

Walter Nowick purchases approx. 100 acres near picturesque Morgan Bay from the Morgan Family and begins classical chamber music concerts with young Japanese students and proffesionals in the Barn. And likely, introduces the community of Surry to classical chamber music.

1984

Walter's vision grows to include opera. He plants the first seeds of the internationally recognized Surry Opera Company, with a stunning performance of Verdi's Opera Aida in Italian. Walter accompanied, conducted and sang solo parts.

See A copy of the AIdA Brochure

Aug. 1985

The fledgling Opera Company expanded its repertoire to include the Magic Flute by Mozart in German, Fidelio by Beethoven in German.

Sep. 1985

After three wonderful perfomances of Aida in Washington, DC last Feburary, members of the Surry Opera Company were ready to tackle almost any opera - even Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov!

Jul. 1986

The Surry Opera Company evolves to yet another level, and completes its first tour of the Soviet Union, featuring choruses from Aida in Italian, Porge and Bess by Gershwin in English, and the prologue to the great Russian opera Boris Gudunov by Mussorgsky

See the article from 1986

Dec. 1986

Surry, Maine - They once called themselves the Presumptuous Opera Company, perhaps a prophetic choice for a chorus of teachers, fishermen, lawyers and sawmill operators that has just returned from a 10-day performance tour of the Soviet Union.

1987

With the assistance of prominent Maine Senators, Olympia Snow, Republican, and Senate majority leader George Mitchell, the Surry Opera Company receives support to invite forty or fifty Russian musicians to have a international festival in Surry.

Katherine Filene Shouse and Heiress to the Filene fortune and central to founding of the Wolf Trap Centre for the performing arts invites Walter to perform the stunning evenings of Aida at the Wolf Trap Centre in Vienna, Virginia, about 5 miles from Washington D.C.

1989

Included our third tour of the Soviet Union which featured performances in Tibilisi Georgia (a former Soviet Republic) of the great Georgian Opera, by the composer Paliashvili at the Georgian National Opera House in the centre of Tibilisi.

Members of the Surry Opera Company sang chorus and solo parts along with their new Georgian professional singers and instrumentalists. It was an amazing undertaking and it went off to spark a huge response from the Georgian cultural ministry and hundreds in the audience.

1990

There was a dramatic transformation as the Soviet Union under Gorbachev to it's former Russian state under Boris Yeltsin. This improves an opens international contact and possibility and at the same time causes the Russian economy to crash.

Despite the great divide between cultures and country, we persevered through Walters vision and inspiration to overcome so many obstacles to realize the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sep. 2001

Zen and The Art Of Opera. NYT Article by Evan Eisenberg.

See the article from 2001

Aug. 2014

Surry pianist revives a concert barn legacy by Ross Gallagher. Formerly known as the Surry Opera Company, this unassuming place has played host to nearly 50 yeass of concerts and theater: classical piano recit-als. operas, and plays given by students and intornationally regarded professionals from Japan, Russia, and the United States.

About us

How the quaint little farm became the locally famous Surry Arts Barn.

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