Barbershop group tunes up for show

BANGOR – Most of the men come from the Bangor area, but a few come from other locations such as Bucksport and Mount Desert Island. Their ages range from 20s to 80s and their voices from tenor to bass. What is their shared passion?

“We love to sing,” said Dr. Thornton Merriam, member of the Maine-ly Music Chorus, the Bangor chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America Inc.

Maine-ly Music Chorus started in 1973 when a group of men who had sung in barbershop quartets decided to form a chapter in Bangor, said Merriam, who lives in Hampden. The group will mark its 30th anniversary with a concert Sept. 20 in Hermon.

Merriam, treasurer for the chorus, said membership size of the group varies significantly from year to year, from about 12 or 15 to as many as 50. This year 26 men are participating – four tenors, nine leads, five baritones and eight basses. Merriam is a baritone.

“Leads sing the melody,” he said. He described them as more like second tenors, who can sing in fairly high ranges, and tend to have nice melodious voices.

The chorus has four charter members who have sung with the group since it began – David Klocko of Old Town, director and tenor; Dana Dorsey of Bangor, assistant director and baritone; Bill Campbell of Bangor, secretary and baritone; and John Pettit of Winterport,lead and former director. Merriam has been a member since 1982.

There is no minimum age to participate in Maine-ly Music Chorus. In the past, Merriam said, high school students have been involved.

“We like to get young people,” he said. “It tends to be more older guys.”

It is not necessary to be able to read music, he said. The ability to carry a tune and a willingness to work with a tape to learn the songs are really all that is needed. The chorus rehearses at 7 p.m. Mondays at Bangor Parks and Recreation.

Maine-ly Music Chorus will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a concert, Give Me A Barbershop Song, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at Hermon High School.

The chorus will sing “Teach the Children to Sing,” written by Joe Liles; and “Keep the Whole World Singing,” written by Willis Diekema, “plus a variety of other things,” Merriam said.

He added that “the harmony is wonderful,” and that people really seem to like it.

“And we enjoy it,” he said.

The show will feature special guest quartet Limelight from Keene, N.H. A women’s quartet from Hampden, Five Four Fun, also will perform.

The cost of tickets is $10. Net proceeds will be donated to United Cerebral Palsy of Norhteastern Maine, and the Harmony Foundation in Kenosha, Wis., an organization whose primary purpose is helping young people learn to sing, Merriam said. Last year the group donated $500 to UCP, and $200 to Harmony Foundation.

For tickets or information on Maine-ly Music Chorus, call Bill Campbell at 942-3594. For information on United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Maine, call 941-2952.