In collaboration with the Farnsworth Art Museum and University of Southern Maine School of Music, Bay Chamber Concerts presents a new series of concerts this winter. This series of intimate lunchtime concerts takes place on the second Wednesday of December, January and February. These diverse, 50-minute performances are the perfect way to spend the lunch hour. Surrounded by art and music, enjoy a simple, tasty lunch in the Farnsworth Art Museum’s Library and prepare to be transported far from the stresses and strains of the workday. Tickets are $25, and $20 for Farnsworth members. Tickets include lunch as well as free entrance to the Farnsworth Art Museum, 16 Museum St., Rockland, following the show.

Wednesday, Dec. 12, will mark the second in the concert series and features the talented and acclaimed USM String Quartet featuring Aaron Pettengill (violin), Sam Schuth (violin), Roy MacNeil (viola) and Shannon Allen (cello). The ensemble will perform a program that includes movements from Haydn’s Quartet in C Major “The Birds,” Schubert’s Quartet in d minor “Death and the Maiden,” and Ravel’s “Quartet in F Major.”

A previous concertmaster of the Portland Youth Symphony and the Maine All-State Orchestra, Pettengill plays with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and is a senior Violin Performance Major at the University of Southern Maine. Last year, he won the USM Concerto Competition.

Violinist Sam Schuth, from Eastport, is currently a sophomore at USM after transferring from Cornell College. He is glad to be at a school where he is being challenged musically every day. He studies with Robert Lehmann.

Violist Roy MacNeil is a senior performance major originally from Greensboro, Vermont. He has had the opportunity to work with many groups including The Craftsbury Chamber Players and the string quartet, ETHEL, which will appear at Bay Chamber Concerts February 2. He has been coached by Yuri Mazurkevich and the St. Lawrence String Quartet and performed with the nationally acclaimed group, A Far Cry.

Cellist Shannon Allen is a born and raised Portlander. He grew up in a musical family, started playing piano at the age of 5 and picked up the flute and cello at the age of 10. He is a junior at the University of Southern Maine where he is focusing on the cello and studying with Bill Rounds.

To purchase tickets or for more information please contact Bay Chamber Concerts online at www.baychamberconcerts.org, by email at info@baychamberconcerts.org or by calling 207-236-2823.

Based in Rockport, Maine, Bay Chamber is a nonprofit dedicated to transforming lives through high-quality concert programs, music education and community engagement. Bay Chamber acknowledges the importance of all musical languages and encourages people of all ages and abilities to explore them both in concerts and in the classroom.

Bay Chamber Concerts presents music year-round at a variety of venues in midcoast Maine. The annual Summer Music Festival in July and August and Performing Arts Series from October to June both showcase a variety of classical, jazz, world music, dance and film events.

Bay Chamber’s Music School, located in downtown Rockport, offers private instruction, group classes, orchestral opportunities and other music education to local musicians and community members of all ages and abilities.