The Maine Music Society Board of Directors has announced its new officers who will lead the nonprofit organization through its 32nd and 33rd seasons. Re-elected for another two-year term at its June meeting were Chair Richard O’Brien, Treasurer Gilbert J. LaPointe and Secretary Susan Trask. Board member Sheryl Whitmore was elected vice chair, replacing retiring David Blocher, according to a news release from the society.
O’Brien is a local attorney, who has practiced with the firm of Linnell, Choate & Webber for the past 40 years. Over the years, he has served in various capacities for a number of municipal and non-governmental organizations. He joined the society board in 2017. Artistically, he has been singing in the tenor section of the MMS Chorale for the past seven years as well as in the society’s Chamber Singers. He also sings in his church choir, has been a member of the cast for the fall musical with The Theater at Monmouth for many years, and is a devoted bluegrass mandolinist.
O’Brien has lived for many years in Winthrop with his wife Ellen, with whom he celebrates 45 years of marriage this summer. His children are grown, and have careers that vary from woodworking craftsman, to attorney, to craft brewer.
Whitmore is a retired librarian who served as the library director for Lisbon for seven years and as reference librarian for the Lewiston Public Library for 12 years. She also has worked as a substitute teacher, a manufacturing assistant at Thos Moser, and is a former organist/choir director for the Minot Methodist Church.
She is an active member of both the MMS chorale and the MMS Chamber Singers, an Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice volunteer visitor and hospice choir member, and belongs to the Women Giving Back organization. Her hobbies include singing, creating beautiful art quilts, kayaking, hiking, biking, and reading.
Now residing in Auburn, Whitmore was born in Blue Hill and has been a Mainer all her life. She and her husband, Jonathan, have two sons and five grandchildren.
LaPointe is a native of Lewiston, graduating from St. Dominic High School in 1968. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts/Lowell in 1972 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force in June 1972 where his specialty was communications and computer systems. He has both a Master of Science degree in Systems Management and a Master of Business ADministration degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Shortly after his retirement as lieutenant colonel in January 1995, LaPointe converted a life-long woodworking hobby into a woodworking business from 1996 to 2002. He has also been active in the community, serving as chairman of the Basilica Restoration Committee from 2002 to 2007 and as business manager for the various Catholic churches in Lewiston, retiring from that in 2014. Having attended society concerts since his Air Force retirement, he did not hesitate to accept the invitation to join the MMS Board in 2015 and has been its treasurer since 2016. He lives with his wife Connie in Auburn.
Trask has been singing alto with the Maine Music Society Chorale since its inception. She is also a member of the Chamber Singers and is president of the chorale. In addition, she is noted for writing the music notes that are shared with audiences as part of our spring pop concerts.
She lives in Auburn with her husband Woody who also sings with the chorale. She is retired from a career as a teacher and literary coach in the Auburn schools. In her retirement, she volunteered with Androscoggin Home Health Care and Hospice, serving in patient support in homes and at Hospice House. She co-founded and directed Androscoggin Harmony, the hospice choir, from which she recently retired.
When she is not involved with her various singing activities, she loves sewing, reading, word puzzles, sailing and kayaking.
The Maine Music Society is a music-performing nonprofit located in central Maine organized to support the artistic and educational activities of the auditioned, volunteer singers of the MMS Chorale and the MMS Chamber Singers. MMS offers quality performances to the public through imaginative programming under the directorship of Dr. Richard Nickerson.
For more information, visit mainemusicsociety.org, call 207-333-3386 or like them on Facebook.