When John Bapst seniors Andrew Babbitt and Sarah VanKirk suggested that the school’s Concert Choir add a competition to its schedule, Fine Arts Director Alfred McIntyre agreed to try to make it happen. On April 9, their efforts were rewarded. After eight months of preparation, the Bangor school’s Concert Choir was named International Champions in the Concert Choir category at the Heritage Music Festival in Salem, Massachusetts. In addition, the top two solo vocal awards presented at the competition went to Babbitt of Hampden and John Bapst sophomore Rose Upton of Orland.
Over 1,000 students competed in instrumental and vocal groups at the two-day festival. The event featured schools from Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other states. In addition, there were performance groups from Toronto and Vancouver, Canada.
The John Bapst singers performed three pieces for the judges: The Last Words of David, Kyrie, and Zadok the Priest. McIntyre commented, “I always tell the students, ‘Let the hard work we do today be worthwhile tomorrow.’ When we heard that the first place Gold Award for Concert Choir went to the school from Bangor, Maine, we were just ecstatic.”
In addition to Upton, Babbitt, and VanKirk, the 2010-11 Concert Choir members included seniors David Botello, Nichole Bouchard, Katelyn Day, Megan Doane, Laura Donovan, Jacquelyn Dougherty, Brittany Ellis, Angela Frankland, Justin Lad, Aaron Ortiz, Nickole Powers, Sheila Rajan, Justin Smith, and Nick Southwick; juniors Alex Beals, Ashley Charpentier, Paige Côté, Margaret Howson, Amanda Lalime, Kurt Massey, Jessica Moore, Leigh Neptune, Julia Pelkey, Sarah Tapley, Maria Ullo, and Kristen Weed; sophomores Rachel Bladen, Jonathan Deschaine; MacKenzie Hayman, Christina Long, Jaime Roy, Mitchell Stewart, and Adam Strang; and freshmen Jane Branch, Stephanie Colavito, Nicholas Galinski, Ayla Geel, Macey Jennings, Nick Jordan, and Noah Potvin. The Concert Choir was directed by McIntyre and accompanied by pianist Thomas Jones.