DEER ISLE – The great requiems of music history are solemn occasions. They are, after all, a musical Mass for the dead. So why, on a recent foggy night in Deer Isle, was Bronwyn Kortge smiling as she led 85 singers through a rehearsal of Brahms’ German Requiem?

“I want you to think about singing joyful parts joyfully,” Kortge prompted the singers gleefully. “Let me see on your faces what you’re singing about.”

It may seem contradictory to speak of mournful music with animation, but Kortge knows what’s important about this piece. The characteristic cheeriness in her voice belies the seriousness with which she approaches the Brahms, which is not, strictly speaking, a Mass but settings of biblical texts. It is, however, one of the most consoling scores in the genre – and that’s what Kortge was shooting for with the singers. The sound is tender and Gothic and dignified. The message for the bereaved is legendarily beautiful in word and melody: Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.

Kortge’s job was to sculpt these qualities into a smooth performance. Indeed, when she lifted her hands, they seemed to hold the music gracefully between them. With a feathery and lithe sureness, she caressed and kneaded the invisible notes into a grand wall of sound.

While Kortge describes herself as a lifelong “choral geek,” it’s not just the love of music that keeps a smile on her face when she is working. Last month, Kortge was appointed music director of the

Bagaduce Chorale, a high-caliber community ensemble of singers in Hancock County. They will present two performances of Brahms’ German Requiem this weekend at the Reach Performing Arts Center in Deer Isle.

Mary Cheney Gould founded the group in 1974 and has been its director ever since. When she moved to Maine from Ohio in the early 1970s, her intention was to retire from a music career. But the Bagaduce Chorale, and its internationally known sister organization, the Bagaduce Music Lending Library in Blue Hill, have been a full-time commitment.

Gould decided to pass on the music director baton two years ago, she said, because “twenty-five years seemed like a nice round figure.” The board of directors auditioned several candidates in the course of two seasons and sharpened their focus on Kortge after an inspiring audition concert in December.

Gould, who is director of the lending library, will stay onboard with the chorale as accompanist and will be organist for the concerts this weekend. She also will conduct the benediction at the end of the concert, a ritual that has traditionally closed each performance by the Bagaduce Chorale.

“I’ve had a lot of joy out of this whole music thing,” said Gould, who is in her 70s. “The responsibilities of all the details of working with the group take a lot of thought, concentration and planning. I am delighted to be relieved of that but still be a part of it. For me right now, it’s the best of all possible worlds.”

Kortge, who is originally from Oregon and lives in Lamoine, runs the choral program at Mount Desert Island High School and has performed lead roles for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Hancock County. Trained in choral conducting and vocal performance at The American University in Washington, D.C., she moved to Maine with her husband, attorney Dan Pileggi, in 1988. Since then, she has built and directed choruses throughout the state, including the Northern Conservatory Chorale and the New Renaissance Singers. Kortge, who is 37, is also a founder of, director for and performer in the a cappella group Impromptu.

“Bronwyn has a vision of what she wants for the sound, and she knows how to make it happen,” said Sue Loomis, a professor of humanities at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine and chorale member since 1974. “Her musicality and intelligence and spirit about music are wonderful.”

“We all love her,” said Irving Forbes, a retired choral director from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. He and his wife, Margery, have sung with the Bagaduce group for 14 years. “After the fifth rehearsal, I told Bronwyn that I’ve conducted twice as many years as she has lived, and at every rehearsal I have learned something from her.”

With the Bagaduce Chorale, Kortge has inherited an experienced, well-shaped vocal ensemble built carefully and lovingly by Gould.

“They have a mature sound,” said Kortge, who will perform as soloist in the Acadia Summer Chorale in Bar Harbor in August. “The connection I have with the singers is so strong. I look up when I’m conducting and meet people’s eyes and know they are 100 percent onboard. It’s like having 85 people in your pocket.”

She paused and added with a smile: “Mary built this chorale. These people are her acolytes. Me, too, now.”

The Bagaduce Chorale will perform 7:30 p.m. April 19 and 3 p.m. April 20 at the Reach Performing Arts Center at the Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School in Deer Isle. Suggested donation is $10. For information, call 374-5897.