The Greater Milford Community Chorus (GMCC) was organized in April, 1973. It is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Milford Community Use Program and the Milford Cultural Council, which is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
The GMCC is known for its wide variety of choral selections ranging from classical pieces like Ave Verum Corpus to spirituals such as Little Innocent Lamb to contemporary music such as the Broadway musical Les Miserables.
Mark Schiappucci is a graduate of the New England Conservatory where he studied classical vocal performance. As an active singer in the Boston area he has been seen on stage performing choral works, art song repertoire, operetta and musical theater, as well as cantoring at several local parishes. In addition to performing, Mark has music directed such shows as The Magic Treehouse, The Jungle Book and A Year with Frog & Toad, and has also directed a series of original revues at Enter Stage Left Theater in Hopkinton.
Wayne Ward, a resident of Holliston, is originally from Middletown, Rhode Island. He is a graduate of Tufts University (BA in music) and The Eastman School of Music (MM in composition). He attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Wayne's teaching career began at the Dansville junior high school in Dansville, New York, where he taught from 1973-1975. In the fall of 1975, Wayne became a member of the music education department faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston; later he was promoted to the rank of full professor. 2010 marked his 35th year on the Berklee faculty.
Wayne has extensive experience in musical theater, opera and accompanying. He was the resident music director at Turtle Lane Playhouse in Newton for 30 years. He has been both music director and assistant music director for the Longwood Opera Company in Needham for more than 20 years. Since the fall of 2007, Wayne has been the organist and choir director at Union Evangelical Church UCC in Hopedale.
In addition to our chorus, we also have an outreach group, called Melody & Harmony, which performs at outside venues within our community. The group is made up of chorus members who volunteer to participate as the events arise.
The repertoire includes favorite tunes, a much loved sing-along session, and music from a recent performance. Melody & Harmony provides the opportunity for our membership to reach out to our community through the gift of song. The group is well received, and the members truly enjoy the opportunity to share their music with those that have supported the Greater Milford Community Chorus for over 35 years. There is no charge for the group to come sing, but we do appreciate the generous donations that we receive. If you are interested in arranging a time for Melody & Harmony to come sing at your facility, please contact us at GreaterMilfordCommunityChorus@gmail.com.
“Melody & Harmony” has performed at:
Countryside Health Care of Milford
St. Mary’s Church Luncheons
Hanover Theater - Christmas Caroling
Whitcomb House
Atria Draper Place, Hopedale
Local Community Celebrations
In 1973, the Milford High School Chorus wanted to do portions of the Messiah as part of their annual holiday concert. At that time, Don Thatcher had been working with the chorus for five years and he felt they were a pretty good organization. One of the student chorus members made the suggestion to invite the community to participate. Dr. James Buckley, who was assistant superintendent at the time, encouraged Don to make it happen.
A contingent of community singers including Jim and his wife, Sandy, were part of the original group, and the Milford Community Chorus was launched. It came under the jurisdiction of the Community School Use Program since the practices and performances took place at Milford High School.
During the following seven years the chorus grew in size quite quickly to a membership of about 70 people from Milford and surrounding communities. The chorus performed under the direction of Don Thatcher during this period. However, during the mid 1980’s the chorus was disbanded.
In 1992, a renewed interest in choral singing, by a number of people in the community, brought about a reorganization of the chorus. Its new home was the Unitarian Universalist Church, with the support of the pastor and Richard Helfand, the music director at that time. A few years later, the Milford Community Chorus again became part of the Community Use Program, when the chorus moved to the school for practice space. The chorus began performing at Memorial Hall on School Street in Milford at this time.
Over the years the membership expanded into many surrounding towns. The chorus was then renamed the “Greater Milford Community Chorus” to accurately represent the span of its membership. Singers come from many surrounding towns, and enjoy the choral community formed by the GMCC!
