The 1923 Portland Music Festival was held from October 8 to 10, with stars such as Sigrid Onegin, Frances Peralta, and Erwin Nyiregyhazi. Sigrid Onegin was expected to be a crowd favorite, with her talent often compared to that of Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink. William Rogers Chapman, of Bethel, was the leading director-in-chief. Chapman founded the Maine Music Festival series in 1897, with the final festival being held in 1926.

Chapman often led concerts in Maine with varying choruses; he first announced the plans and program for the 1923 Festival at a Lewiston concert in April. That fall, the Music Festival was held in Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor.