“Uniquehorns” Revive “Pon-tunes” Performances on Maine Waterways

‍The French horns of the Maine Pops Concert Band are again echoing across the waters of Maine’s Lakes Region, as “Uniquehorns” – the band’s French horn ensemble – revived its performances on lakes and ponds during the summer tourist season.

On July 31, Uniquehorns played the first of two floating performances from the deck on of a pontoon board in Lake Bunganut, near Lyman, Maine.  The took the sextet of French horn players to various coastal settlements to perform a variety of arrangements specifically for French horn.

Maine Pops musicians Diane McClanahan, Meagan Concannon, Charlie Lessard, Barbara Wolejko, and Denis Drobinski – regular members of the ensemble – were joined by Alumni Band horn player Skip Smith. Together, the musicians performed the following arrangements:

La Bamba

Scarborough Fair

Shenandoah

Simple Gifts

House of the Rising Sun

The floating French horns performances are not new - the ensemble debuted the “Pon-Tunes” idea last summer when they performed a similar concert on Raymond’s Panther Pond.  The ensemble will return to Panther Pond for its second performance on August 31 at 6 p.m.

Uniquehorns is one of 10 small ensembles affiliated with the Maine Pops, one of the largest community bands in Maine. During the summer of 2026, Uniquehorns, the Beach Street Big Band, the Harbor Brass Quintet, and the Down East Jazz Combo have held concerts. The band’s Polished Brass and Clarinet Chromatics ensembles have scheduled performances in August.  The Maine Pops also has a flute choir, a woodwind quintet, and both a tuba and a saxophone ensemble.

Organizations in the Southern Maine area looking to have a Maine Pops ensemble perform for an event can contact the Maine Pops at president@mainepops.org.

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