Quoddy Voices Rehearsals Resume

Weekly rehearsals for the spring season of Quoddy Voices, a community chorus led by Gene Nichols, will begin Wednesday, February 12, 6-8 pm, at Eastport Arts Center. The group’s spring program, "May We? Mais Oui!", will feature choral music in diverse styles which employs four-hand or two-keyboard accompaniment. The season's two accompanists, Jane Lanctot and Lee Downing, are both Quoddy Voices veterans, and first tried four-hand playing together at last summer's Wild Blueberry Festival Musical in Machias.

Music by Brahms, Wagner, Rodgers & Hart, Mozart, the Rivingtons, Donna Summer, and Quoddy Voices founder John Newell will be among the selections.

Performances are scheduled for the weekend of May 17. The group welcomes new singers, with no audition required. New singers or those returning to the group are asked to either fill out the RSVP form below, or contact Nichols prior to the first rehearsal at: gnichols@maine.edu or (207) 271-7169.

Director Nichols took the helm of Quoddy Voices in fall 2023, and has led the group through three programs of eclectic and exciting musical opportunity. A singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, he taught music at the University of Maine at Machias for 35.5 years, and currently teaches music at Machias Memorial High School. He currently keeps his hand in musically with improv group Les Trois Etoiles, The Crows, a ukulele all-star group, and the Cobscook Institute’s Monday Night Music circle.

Jane Lanctot has a varied musical performance background, including studying and teaching classical Cambodian music all over the United States. In the past few years she has focused on modern piano and fortepiano, and serves as President of the Board of the Machias Bay Chamber Concerts. Her radio show Round the World with Cracklin Jane (produced for local station WSHD-LP in Eastport) is syndicated in the US, Canada, and the UK, and features radio plays punctuated by 78-RPM recordings.

Lee Downing graduated from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Her local musical endeavors have included being accompanist for Community Chorale at the University of Maine at Machias, and the Washington County Children’s Choir, as well as serving as rehearsal pianist at SummerKeys in Lubec.

Quoddy Voices are based at Eastport Arts Center, where creativity and community meet, at 36 Washington Street, a handicapped-accessible venue.

Image: Quoddy Voices are shown giving a concert in May 2024; Brian Schuth was guest artist. Photo by Jude Kempe.