BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – The Bangor community was treated to a free concert Friday.

Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness hosted the event in their Youth and Cultural Center on Central St. in partnership with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

The concert featured violinists, pianists and Wabanaki musician Lauren Stevens in a fusion of classical and traditional indigenous musical styles.

“Having our traditional songs in spaces that have been preserved for thousands and thousands of years, reinvented and shared in new ways is magic and love, always,” Stevens comments of the group’s performance.

The event gave attendees a chance to get an inside look at the Youth and Cultural Center before it undergoes renovations.

Not only that, but the BSO recently dedicated a grand piano to the local nonprofit, which will now reside in the center.

When deciding on Yamaha’s home, BSO Executive Director Renia Shterenberg noted the center’s “collaborative space,” which aligns with the collaborative idea between BSO and Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness.

“Basically, when a piano lives in a space, it becomes a gathering place. It inspires collaboration, it inspires music, so that’s what we’re planning and expecting with this collaboration with the Wabanaki Youth and Cultural Center,” explains BSO Music Director Lucas Richman.

Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness co-CEO Lisa Sockabasin, who says the partnership began six months before dedicating the piano was even considered.

She says it’s this community collaboration that has allowed the nonprofit to be so thriving in Bangor.

“We’ve grown very quickly as an organization, and we couldn’t have grown so quickly without our friends, our partners, and our tribal nations coming together to do really big things,” describes Sockabasin.

Friday’s violinist, Lun Li, will perform with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra on Sunday.

This will be at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono at 3:00 p.m

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