Whether you’re religious, irreligious, or sometimes both, this is a time to appreciate good music of all dimensions, no matter where your spirit compass is pointing. And, when it comes to offering good choral music, our regional Bagaduce Chorale has been among the best for more than 40 years.
The Chorale, directed by Bronwyn Kortge, gave its always-much-anticipated Christmas Concert yesterday in Bar Harbor and the day before in Blue Hill. The Concert exceeded its high expectations and deserves a bit of praise. The images here are from the performance at the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill.
As has become usual, the Choral was accompanied by the excellent professionals and students of the GEM Orchestra and the ECMI Youth Chorale. For the curious: those acronyms stand for the Gaining Experience Through Mentoring Orchestra and the Ellsworth Community Music Institute Youth Choral. (As with Maine’s many Native American settlers, we think long, hard-to-say, descriptive names are okay.)
Speaking of apt names, here’s Noelle Hanson of Trenton, Maine:
She and the other members of the ECMI Youth Chorale were located to the right of the GEM Orchestra, with the Bagaduce Chorale above them:
A much-deserved standing ovation followed the performance:
(Blue Hill, Maine)