York's Wendell Purrington, known locally not only as the organist and choral director at First Parish Church but also for his 15 years of leading the Seacoast Community Chorus, is pictured here during the choir's recent tour to Austria, playing an impromptu concert for the cultural director of Gumpholdskirchen in the town hall prior to the July 5 concert.
Courtesy photo
During their recent tour of Vienna, Budapest and Prague, members of the Seacoast Community Chorus brought American music to European cities. Pictured here in Budapest are several members of the chorus including, from left, Shirley Marble, Sharon Rieder, Yvette Kasznski, Barbara Kautz, Brigitte Keller, Connie Ludwig, Kathy Mason, Maxine Baker, Betty Kehoe and Helen Gettelman with Director Wendell Purrington.
Courtesy photo
Members of the Seacoast Community Chorus are seen here in Gumpholdskirchen, Austria, immediately prior to their concert. A highlight of the tour was an elegant reception hosted by the cultural director of Gumpholdskirchen as well as having the choir's name installed on a memorial plaque outside the town hall to commemorate the occasion.
Courtesy photo
YORK VILLAGE - From his place at the organ at First Parish Church, to his exceptional talent as a performer and choral director, Wendell S. Purrington has made quite a name for himself around this town and throughout the Seacoast.
Ask members of the Seacoast Community Chorus, and they will tell you that for them, that name is "The Maestro," as that is how many chorus members refer to the multi-talented Purrington, who has led their group for the past 15 years.
Taking a few moments following his rehearsal at the organ for an upcoming service at First Parish Church, Purrington spoke recently of his passion for music and his three careers, as organist and choral director at First Parish Church, head of the Performing Arts Department at Portsmouth High School and director of the Seacoast Community Chorus.
"It seems like it has always been a part of my life," Purrington said of the chorus.
Just as it does when he describes his work at First Parish Church and in Portsmouth, Purrington's passion for music shines through as he talks of the Seacoast Community Chorus. A graduate of Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory, Purrington said his love of vocal and instrumental music has never wavered.
"It's just a joy," he said. "I married music a long, long time ago, and I just thank God that I go to work at the church, or school, or go to rehearsal and come out a much better person."
The Seacoast Community Chorus numbers between 55 and 60 members in any given year, some of whom have spent literally decades as part of the group and were part of its founding back in 1971.
The chorus welcomes new members each fall, and with its first rehearsal of the coming choral performance year set for Sept. 9, plans are already underway to build on the success of this summer's tour to Vienna, Budapest and Prague with special concerts in the year ahead and, if all goes as planned, Purrington hopes the chorus will take a 40th anniversary tour to France in 2011.
While members are not auditioned to be a part of the chorus, Purrington said there is strong commitment from all those involved.
"It's a group that's made up of choral artists," he said, crediting the group's members themselves, as well as its founders, board, Assistant Director Martha Thyng and accompanist Kim Karchenes for the success of the organization over the past 37 years.
The professionalism of this community ensemble has been evidenced not only by tours in Europe - both this summer and in 2005, when the Seacoast Community Chorus traveled to Italy - but also in the varied repertoire the chorus performs at its annual concerts in York and its neighboring communities.
This year, Purrington said, the timing of the January concerts fits perfectly with the inauguration of the country's next president - an event that has prompted him to select music for the choir that will pay tribute to that occasion while also honoring those who continue to serve in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The choir will perform Franz Joseph Haydn's "Mass in Time of War" and Randall Thompson's "The Testament of Freedom," which Purrington explained is based on the writings of Thomas Jefferson.
"I think it's going to be very, very meaningful," Purrington said.
And while the January concerts will match the magnitude of the events happening politically and internationally, the spring concert planned for May will provide singers - and audience members - with a different experience, Purrington said. Entitled "Memorable Music for Stage and Screen," that concert will feature favorite Broadway and Hollywood tunes.
Looking forward to the future, Purrington took a moment to reflect on the his past 15 years with the Seacoast Community Chorus.
To sum it up, as he put it in his own words, "What a joy it really and truly has been."
