“[Isaacson] always wanted to return to Maine, though, and she got her wish in 2013 when she became the artistic director for the Oratorio Chorale and Maine Chamber Ensemble. Since then, Isaacson has launched the Portland Bach Experience, a nonprofit that presents world-class classical music events throughout the city through a series of festivals.”
“‘I resist the sterile way in which we experience classical music in the twentieth and twenty-first century. I want to return classical music to its natural habitat, which is social and weaved in to people’s everyday life,’ Isaacson says. Another goal of the festival is to draw people to Portland who will boost the local economy. ‘Entrepreneurship is a core part of the Maine spirit, and it’s in the arts, too,’ she says. ‘You just need to work really hard and have a great idea.’”