Historic Alna, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organized to support the maintenance, preservation, restoration and use of historic sites in the Town of Alna, has spent the first half of 2026 keeping Alna’s 1789 Meetinghouse alive as a center of community life — bringing people together for music, conversation and shared history.

On Saturday, June 6, the Meetinghouse hosted the Jamie Saft Trio for an afternoon of live jazz. Saft — a pianist, keyboardist, and composer of international standing who makes his home in Alna — performed with Jesse Heasly on acoustic bass and John Mettam on drums. Historic Alna intends to make the trio’s visit the first of an ongoing series.

Two weeks later, on Saturday, June 20, Alna author Carol Gardner returned to the Meetinghouse to speak on “Damariscotta and Newcastle Ships of the Slave Trade.” Drawing on research from her recent book "The Divided North: Black and White Families in the Age of Slavery" (University of Massachusetts Press), Gardner traced the histories of three Midcoast-built ships of 1846 that ended up in the illegal slave trade — and what their story reveals about Maine as a so-called “free state” during the age of slavery.

The next chapter is the largest of the season. On Sunday, July 12, at 2 p.m. Historic Alna will host The Boston Camerata in a performance of “Free America! Early Songs of Resistance and Rebellion (1790–1860).” Founded in 1954 and described by Le Monde as “America’s foremost early music ensemble,” the Camerata will bring 15 musicians to Alna under the direction of artistic director Anne Azéma. The program — songs, hymns, and marches from the early American republic — will be performed inside a building that was constructed when this music was new. The Alna performance opens the Camerata’s 72nd season; the same program travels to Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall just four days later, on Thursday, July 16, and to Memorial Church at Harvard on Sunday, Oct. 25.

“Built in the same year that George Washington was first inaugurated as president, Alna’s 1789 Meetinghouse is one of the few physical connections in Lincoln County to the founding era — and a particularly fitting venue for songs from the decades that immediately followed,” said Ed Pentaleri, one of Historic Alna’s directors.

In conjunction with the Camerata performance, The Alna Store — a James Beard semifinalist and one of the New York Times’ 50 best restaurants in America — will hold a special evening opening for concert-goers, with à la carte dinner service following the concert. Reservations for this special opening are available only through Historic Alna’s event page and the Boston Camerata’s event page for the performance, where tickets may also be purchased.

Tickets are available in advance at bostoncamerata.org/performances or at the door. For information about Historic Alna and other upcoming events, visit historicalna.org