It’s a DaPonte kinda summer already! We just passed Memorial Day, the definitive beginning of the summer season. The snow birds are coming back, the guest cottages are filling, the beach advisories have been issued to remind us the water is colder than we think, and the summer concert seasons are about to get underway. Hold onto your summer hat for another whirlwind season!

The Quartet will be joined by six guest artists for a season-opening, spectacular gala concert on Wednesday, June 5 at Studzinski Hall (12 Campus Rd. S, Brunswick) on the Bowdoin College campus. World-renowned mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich will grace the stage again in this all Bach concert. Also joining the Quartet will be oboists Benjamin Fox and Michael Dressler, bassist Carolyn Davis Fryer, bassoonist Janet Polk, and harpsichordist Daniel Pyle.

The “DSQ Bach” concert program will be: the “Orchestral Suite 1 in C Major BWV 1066,”  “Concerto in C minor for Violin and Oboe BWV 1060,” and  his “Cantata Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut BWV 199.”

Guest musicians join us from all over New England. As many of you know, Kate is local. Daniel is also, currently living on Mount Desert Island. Ben, Michael, and Carolyn are driving up from Massachusetts and Janet is making her way over from New Hampshire.

Hailed by the San Francisco Sentinel as “the Carmen of this Generation” after her debut with the San Francisco Opera, Kate Aldrich has performed the title role in Bizet’s opera to much critical acclaim. Commanding a wide repertoire, Aldrich has performed in leading theaters throughout the world.

Michael Dressler has performed as principal oboe with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, guest principal oboe and solo English Horn with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, as well as performing with the Boston Lyric Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and "Sound Icon."

Oboist Benjamin Fox is an active freelancer, frequently appearing with the Bangor Symphony, Portland Symphony, Boston Ballet, Emmanuel Music, as well as other orchestras around the country such as the Hawaii, Canton and Charleston Symphonies.

Since moving to the Boston area in 1996, Carolyn Davis Fryer has performed regularly with the Boston Ballet Company and Boston Musica Viva. In addition to Boston University’s School of Fine Arts, she is on the music faculty at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell and, as guest artist, has coached at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the New Hampshire Chamber Music Festival.

Janet Polk is principal bassoonist of Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra and Opera North. She has also performed with the Springfield Symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, New Hampshire Music Festival, Indian Hill Symphony, Sebago Long Lake Music Festival and traveled to Honduras through the Partners of the Americas to help start a national youth symphony.

Daniel Pyle plays harpsichord for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and he played regularly with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as harpsichordist and organist. He has taught organ, harpsichord, and music history at the University of Kansas, the Louisiana State University, and Clayton State University; he has also taught masterclasses in Atlanta and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, U.K.

Our concert is followed immediately by a "greet the artists" reception at The Daniel Inn, 10 Water St., Brunswick. If you are as eager to meet these special musicians, grab your reception ticket while they are still available! Concert and reception tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4203192