March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

More than a few Hallelujahs > Penobscot Bay Singers mark 20 years and welcome new members to their close-knit group

When Carol Bisbee talks about the Penobscot Bay Singers, she is filled with ebullience. There are so many good stories she could tell, she says. With gusto, she begins recounting the time she and some of the other singers carpooled to a gig at an elegant dinner for doctors.

One of the singers forgot her dress, which she had packed in a brown paper bag, and the carload of singers had to wait as she ran back to the house to get it. But later, when the singer arrived at the event, she opened the bag only to find she had grabbed the garbage rather than her dress. Realizing that the group would not be as strong without the woman’s voice, another singer decided to loan the woman her costume and sit out of the concert.

“It’s a close-knit group,” Bisbee says finally with a husky laugh.

The story is typical of just how close the Penobscot Bay Singers have been since its founding in 1973 by former New York teacher, Robert Coller, who had moved to Belfast. Coller has since left the group and moved to Brooks, but the singers have stayed together.

“It was very exciting for me that first year,” says Bisbee, a retired teacher who lives in Belfast. “I had not sung in a group of this nature since I was at Colby in the glee club in 1945. I didn’t think I’d get in.”

But Bisbee did get in, and, in 20 years, she has missed only one of the three concerts offered annually.

“The group really became my family,” she says.

On Sept. 1, the community ensemble will be holding open auditions for new members, and Bisbee is quick to offer tips to interested singers.

“Come prepared to sing something you really love to sing because it will come through in your voice,” she advises.

Music director Rick Dostie, also an original member, adds, “A lot of people who say they can’t sing really can, and they just don’t know it. What I look for is people who can learn to sing.”

And when auditioners simply can’t sing, Dostie recommends they join a church chorus, become more familiar with music, and come back the next year. “I really don’t like to turn down anybody who likes to sing,” he remarks.

As with all the 30 singers, who come from Belfast and a dozen other towns, Dostie has a busy life outside the weekly two-hour rehearsals and concert schedule. Under the circumstances, he says, it’s surprising that the singers and accompanist Clayton Smith can pull together a concert so expertly. But he knows the performers, who represent a wide range of experience and age, are truly committed to their musical work.

“I think we’re pretty good,” says Dostie, who gave up a law career to pursue music. “We have a musical culture between us, and the singers come in prepared. We aren’t just singing notes.”

Under the original director, the group sang more Broadway tunes, but now has broadened to include more of what Dostie calls “serious” pieces from the classical repertoire.

But decisions about music, as well as new members, are made by committees with input from the singers.

The outcome, says longtime patron of the group Lawrence Robbins of Searsmont, is worth a few hallelujahs.

“They do an excellent job,” says the retired businessman.

Another loyal listener, Mae Poland, of Belfast, agrees: “I moved from New York to Maine 14 years ago, and I’ve been going to their concerts ever since. I think they’re tops.”

The Singers’ expanded anniversary season includes a Christmas concert, featuring Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols,” a “Messiah” sing-a-long, a special appearance at a holiday feast in Camden, a spring concert in March and a pops concert in June.

Rehearsals are held 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays in Belfast. For


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