There was still a line in the entrance of Hauck Auditorium last year when Ben McNaboe told workers they had to stop selling tickets for an Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein School of Performing Arts fundraiser. The 514-seat auditorium was full. McNaboe, a music education student who organized and created the event was shocked.
The event, which featured a full orchestra and vocal soloists comprised of students, later became the School of Performing Arts’ (SPA) biggest fundraiser, grossing over $10,000. What started as an idea among McNaboe and his faculty mentor, Liz Downing became a turning point in support for SPA. The event conjured a sense of community beyond the typical bond between SPA students — who share interest and a building in 1944 Hall — but with Orono and Old Town, with alumni and students. It was a change McNaboe had been orchestrating for a while.
In its second year, the fundraiser moved to the Collins Center for the Arts with around 1,000 more seats and higher expectations. On Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. students will take the stage as vocal soloists andmembers of full orchestra and big band, along with UMaine alumni, Merritt David James to sing “150 Years of American Song.” They will perform Sinatra classics and Ella Fitzgerald-staples, interspersed with modern day songs from jazz singers, Michael Buble, Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett. The gala event is $12 for students and $25 for adults. All proceeds benefit SPA but for McNaboe the meaning behind his event extends it’s fiduciary draw.
“In my mind the most important and my initial hope would do something big and altogether,” McNaboe said. “There is something big about that that excites me and it’s not the money, the money is great but it’s the getting everyone together to work as one and creating these really great experiences for students to work together.”
For Alexis Gillis “150 Years of American Music” helped her feel welcomed to UMaine as a first-year Elementary Education student. “This event has made me feel even more like I am part of of a community. It’s a reminder that I am part of not just the group of people who are currently attending this school, but I am a part of a larger group of the 150 years worth of people who have attended this university too,” Gillis said of the event which resonates with the University’s 150 year celebration.
McNaboe is a conductor in all senses of the word. He conducts the event’s orchestra but as part of the fundraiser’s move to a bigger venue in the CCA, he conducts a team of people he recruited to help organize the event behind the scenes, which he said has been a lesson in delegating and surrounding himself with people he can trust. “This is such a big animal and you can’t do it yourself,” he said.
McNaboe’s family jokes that from a young age he talked like an adult. Though he’s appeared in various different TV spots and is always in meetings he doesn’t think he’ll get worn out. The idea of taking more than a few days off between semesters began to annoy him. He hates the word “settle.”
“Sometimes people don’t know what to think of you when you’re so laser focused to do something and passionate about something,” McNaboe said. However, his passion to enhance the community already apparent in the arts and SPA comes out through teaching, albeit not in a classroom, but through bringing people together.
“It’s not often that I’ve had the opportunity to play along with an orchestra and vocalists, so I think getting the feel of how everything will work could pose a challenge,” Jennifer Fletcher said. Fletcher is a third-year music education student and a saxophonist in the orchestra. “The only way to prepare is to know my music and trust Ben [McNaboe]. In the end, it’ll all come together.”
During a 700-call phone-a-thon, McNaboe realized the impact SPA has on it’s constituents. The phone-a-thon took longer than expected because the alumni on the other end of the line wanted to talk about SPA and it’s place at UMaine. “[It’s a] big statement about the community that not only SPA has, but the campus has,” McNaboe said.
One impacted alumni was Merritt David James, the show’s featured vocalist. After graduating from UMaine in 2004, the now 33-year-old began a career as an actor performing in title roles in six Broadway National Tours. James, a former member of UMaine’s male a cappella group The Steiners, has also performed as a vocalist in places like Broadway’s Beacon Theater and Carnegie Hall.
James’ trip to UMaine marks his first time visiting in six years. In addition to his performance on Friday at 7:30 p.m., James will also be conducting a Master’s Class Thursday at 2 p.m. in Minsky Recital Hall, which is open to the public and a guest performance at a local school.
James was inspired to enroll at UMaine after attending Maine Summer Youth Music Program as a middle school and high school student. SPA soon became James’ home base at UMaine.
“It was the center of everything I did during my entire time in school,” James said. “A place and time where I gathered ammunition to exist and survive in today’s musical and theatrical performing arena.”
Along with James “150 Years of American Song,” combines talents from across the university, giving students a chance to play music they wouldn’t ordinarily have and allowing vocalist to perform on a big stage with them. Thomas Macy, a fourth-year Sustainable Agriculture Student typically plays in the University Orchestra, which focuses on the professional repertoire.
“Big band music isn’t a part of that,” Macy said. “This performance will draw on an unusual amount of talent within the University of Maine’s SPA student body, or at least more than I’m used to working with.”
McNaboe hopes these connections can foster, not only support of SPA but the community.
“The most important thing we can do here is build community,” McNaboe said. “It’s one of the fundamental building blocks for everything a University has to do.”
150 Years of American Song is one night only on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the CCA. Tickets are $12 for students and $25 for adults.