All-Aroostook Chorus experience rewarding
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
MATT MURRAY, left, of Scarborough, leads the All-Aroostook Middle School Chorus in a Dec. 2 rehearsal at Presque Isle Middle School.
The annual All-Aroostook Chorus Festival concert was held the following day and featured the best middle and high school vocalists from The County.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE — The best middle and high school vocalists from Sherman to Fort Kent — and about a dozen school systems in between — put their individual talents together as they performed recently in the annual All-Aroostook Chorus Festival in Presque Isle.
Hosted by the Northern Maine Music Educators Association, the SAD 1 Music Boosters and the SAD 1 Music Department, the concert, which featured more than 220 student vocalists, was held Dec. 3 at the Presque Isle Middle School gymnasium.
Each year the festival features guest conductors. This year the husband-wife team of Matt and Catherine Murray of Gorham worked with the students the morning of and the day before the afternoon concert.
“The kids are really energetic and working hard,” said Matt, who was the guest conductor for the middle school chorus. “We’re rehearsing five songs. Two are Latin pieces, one is in the tradition of the Shoshone Indian tribe, we have a secular ballad, and a gospel piece.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
AMONG THE STUDENTS from Easton High School who participated in the recent All-Aroostook Chorus Festival in Presque Isle were, from left: Kennedy Young, Meghan Frank, Jessica Bennett and Kerrigan Arnett.
“The students are extremely polite and really well mannered. I feed off their energy,” he said. “I’ve served as a guest conductor several times in the state and a couple times in New Hampshire. This is the only one I’m doing this year. My wife and I actually did the All-Aroostook Chorus Festival a few years ago, but my wife worked with the middle-schoolers and I did the high school; this year it’s the opposite. It’s fun and we enjoy it. Some of my best memories as a student were these types of things … festivals and music camps. I still have life-long friends that I met at those events, and hopefully they will, too.”
According to Jay Nelson, vocal music teacher at PIMS and Presque Isle High School, this is the first time the festival has been “separated.”
“In past years, the entire festival — with both the bands and choruses all together — has been done during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. We’ve been commenting for 10-15 years about how the numbers are going down and we’re having a harder time getting students out to the festival,” said Nelson. “Last year we decided to try — on a one-year basis — to separate the festival and have a chorus-only festival and a band-only festival.
“What that would allow is for some students to participate in both,” he said. “For example, between my middle and high school, I have 6-8 kids that last year would only be able to participate in either the band or the chorus because it was all the same festival. This year, they have the option of doing both.”
Such was the case for Ashland District School students Gabrielle Cyr, a sophomore, and senior Brooke LaBelle.
“I’m so glad I didn’t have to choose this year because both singing and playing an instrument are important to me,” said Cyr. “I think with All-Aroostook you get more variety of training with other teachers and conductors and that helps me grow as a singer.”
“This is my sixth year in All-Aroostook, but first in chorus; the others have been in band. I’ve always loved singing, and we’ve never really had that much of a chance for singing in Ashland before, but this year we have a high school chorus and are bringing that back,” LaBelle said. “I was really happy when they split the band/chorus festivals because I love both and it’s always been hard to choose. It’s an honor to take part in All-Aroostook.”
The festival was also a first-time experience for Fort Fairfield High School seniors Josh Wortman and Elizabeth Day.
“Last year I was the only guy in my school chorus; this year there are two more, but they’re freshmen so they’re still learning,” said Wortman. “Coming here gives me a better experience of a bigger chorus compared to what we’re used to at home.”
“Between chorus and band it’s always been band, but chorus is a big passion of mine so it’s awesome to be able to do both this year,” Day said. “Here it’s all talented people all in one area so it’s really awesome to be able to work with the most talented people from Aroostook County.”
Among the Easton contingent were Kerrigan Arnett and Meghan Frank.
“I was in All-Aroostook all through middle school,” said Arnett, a freshman at Easton Junior-Senior High School. “All-Aroostook is a lot bigger than the regular school chorus so you get to work with a lot more people, and I like the different songs and different conductors.”
“This is my first year in All-Aroostook Chorus,” said Frank, a senior. “I’ve done band since my sixth-grade year. I wanted to try chorus this year because it’s a new experience; I’ve only worked with the chorus in our school. This year our school doesn’t have any basses or tenors, so getting those lower options is really nice.”
This was PIMS seventh-grader Hannah Chalou’s second year in All-Aroostook.
“I really love it because I just love to sing and it feels like one of those things you can go around school saying, ‘I was in All-Aroostook,’” she said. “It’s a great thing to do if you love to sing. I love to meet kids from other schools because it’s all about getting together and performing for everybody.”
Classmate Skyler McAtee agreed.
“It makes me feel special [to be in All-Aroostook],” said the two-year All-Aroostook participant. “I like meeting other students and I have a lot of fun. The songs are pretty cool and it’s fun working with a guest conductor. For example, Mr. Murray is making movements with his hands, which helps you know when to go up and down. I hope to continue with All-Aroostook.”
Singing has always been an interest for Ian Tuttle, a PIMS seventh-grader.
“I love how you can make your voice go down low and up high and you can just go along with the melody,” he said, noting that this is his first year in All-Aroostook. “I love singing so I decided to try out; I thought it would be very fun and it is. As long as I’m alive I’m going to try out for All-Aroostook.”
Songs performed by the All-Aroostook Middle School Chorus included “Festival Sanctus,” “Pie Jesu,” “Ashokan Farewell,” “Shoshone Lovesong” and “River in Judea.” The All-Aroostook High School Chorus sang “Come Travel With Me,” “Gartan Mother’s Lullaby,” “Hallelujah, Amen,” “Prelude to Peace” and “True Light.”
The All-Aroostook Band Festival will be held Jan. 13-14 at the Ashland District School.
