The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor was the recipient of a $480 gift on Sunday, Oct. 6. The amount was the proceeds from a benefit concert held to provide a forum for local singing talent to perform while raising money to support the Opera House’s efforts to support the arts. Betsey deGroff organized and directed the concert.

The concert, A Sunday Summer Songbook, was held Sept. 15 at the Congregational Church. Area singers performed a potpourri of songs filled with opera, art songs and Broadway tunes.
“I wanted to put together a platform for some of my students to showcase their marvelous singing talents, and having a benefit concert seemed just the right thing,” said deGroff. “Most of the performers were my students and using their singing to support the Opera House was almost a no-brainer.”

deGroff has been a voice teacher in Connecticut, California and Maine, and currently teaches from her home here in Boothbay. Among her students here in the Pine Tree State were Kate Aldrich and Lisa Graf, both successful opera singers. Another former student, Anna Mintzer, just finished a national tour in the Broadway cast of “The Sound of Music” in the role of Maria.