Upward Bound student Brooke Smith, from Calais High School, learns guitar tuning techniques from her volunteer teacher, Israeli composer Noam Faingold.

As she labors to tune her guitar, Brooke Smith’s fingers stretch with the elegance of a slow-moving spider. “It’s hard to do just one string and not press down on the others,” she says.

“You’re doing fine,” says Israeli composer and musician Noam Faingold reassuringly. “Now just do the same thing with the next string.”

Smith, 15, is one of 20 Upward Bound students getting private music lessons taught by outstanding student-musicians participating in the Bowdoin International Music Festival (BIMF).

“I’ve wanted to play guitar since I was little,” says Smith, a student at Calais High School, “but there aren’t any guitar teachers in my area. When I found out we could take lessons here, I signed up right away.”

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