Kellie Sugatski, Playing Her Viola, at the East End Beach This Afternoon.

The Concert at East End Beach Occurred in this Greenhouse  to Adhere to the State’s Social Distancing Guidelines.

Jason Sugartski, A Professional French Horn Player With his Wife, Kallie, Organizer of the Concerts on the Portland Trail Today.

“I’m concerned about the long-term damage to the funding of the music industry.  It was already damaged before the pandemic,” said Kallie Sugatski, late this afternoon following the completion of a concert of classical music at the East End Beach.  This location was one of five pop-up concerts on the Eastern Prom Trail that she organized for today.

A Portland native, Kallie has spent the last fifteen (15) years in New York City where she played professionally with the New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Radio City Rockettes.  She also played in the Pittsburgh Symphony.  Her credits also include  many Broadway plays including the smash hit the Lion King.

But when the music industry in New York City went “dark” and shut down a year ago, she returned to Portland. Since then, she has been pursuing other interests of hers – such as hiking. She did extensive volunteer work during the 2020 election last year as well.

Organizing todays concert on the Eastern Promenade Trail was a complicated and tiring experience Kallie admitted.  She had to coordinate the concert with a number of entities in Portland and get them all on the same page.  That included the city’s parks division, the Eastern Prom Trail non-profit, and the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum.  The latter provided electrical outlets needed for the concert.

Kallie studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and received her Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music.  She and Jason were married last October.  They met while pursuing their respective musical careers in New York City.  He currently works as a computer programmer in Portland.

“Portland has been good to me,” Kallie said this afternoon.  She is being good to Portland by bringing her considerable musical talents and those of about twenty (20) other professional musicians to outdoor venues in the area.  Last year, she organized a similar concert at Ft. Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth.

The couple plans a summer concert in July, although the location has yet to be determined.