Conductors
Linda Blanchard became the conductor of the Sheepscot Valley Chorus in the spring of 1996. She earned her MA in Conducting from the University of Michigan, and her AB in Music from Bowdoin College. She directs the St. Cecilia Chamber Choir, works with the Waldo Theatre, serves as Director of Choirs at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Newcastle.
Sean Fleming has accompanied the SVMAS since 1992. In addition to being an organ recitalist of some note, he teaches clarinet, euphonium, organ, piano, saxophone and tuba. He accompanies the St. Cecilia Chamber Choir, the Lincoln Arts Festival Chorus, the Bowdoin Chorus, and the Coastal Chorale, and is the organist at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Newcastle.
James Thibodeau conducted the SVMAS chorus from the spring of 1980 to the spring of 1981. He attended Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, graduated from the University of Maine, Gorham, and taught instrumental music at the Wiscasset Middle School. Before SVMAS, Jim was the founding director of the Androscoggin Valley Choral Society of Livermore Falls and conducted there for three years.
Richard Tarr, the first orchestral conductor of the SVMAS, graduated from the University of Maine, Orono, with a degree in music education, taught for four years at Boothbay Harbor schools, played French horn with the Bangor and Colby Symphony Orchestras, and was the summer conductor of the Hallowell Community Band. He and his wife Nancy lived in Wiscasset with their three daughters, Joanne, Jennifer and Jessica. He served as the orchestra conductor from the spring of 1980 to 1982-83.
Richard McLoon of Bremen served as the second choral director from the fall of 1981 to the spring of 1982. He studied music at Boston University and Oberlin College, and directed the Pawtucket and Newburyport Choral Societies and various church choirs for more than 20 years. A tenor soloist with the New England Opera Company, he was also the founding conductor of the Twin State Chorale.
Dennis Harrington served as the orchestral conductor for nearly a decade, until 1990. He graduated from Ithaca College with a master’s degree in music, taught in Readfield, Maine and North Adams, Massachusetts, and was the instrumental music director in the Boothbay Regional school system. Dennis performed with the Augusta Wind Ensemble, and the Bangor and Colby Symphony Orchestras. Each fall he coordinated Portland String Quartet's String Workshop at the Newagen Inn.
Al Packard of Harpswell was the choral conductor of the SVMAS from the fall of 1982 to the spring of 1988. He earned bachelor’s degrees from The University of Maine and Gorham State College, did graduate work in choral conducting at Boston University and the Academy of Music in Vienna, sang with the Portland Symphony Chorus and the Oratorio Chorale, and was the Director of Music at First Parish, Brunswick.
Jeanne Daniels of Wiscasset served as an “interim” choral conductor from the fall of 1988 to the winter of 1996. After graduating from Westminster Choir College, she was a soprano soloist and Director of Music for churches in Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine and Germany. Jeanne, the mother of five children and grandmother of ten, is still active in the Sheepscot Valley Chorus.
