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Senior Spotlight: Fitchburg Singers
26 Young at Heart February 2021 Unified Newspaper Group Senior Spotlight
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Fitchburg Singers look forward to performing around the area again
Story by Mackenzie Krumme - Photos by Kimberly Wethal
For someone who claims to have “no musical talent,” Doris Koster sure has made a name for herself in her second “career” directing the Fitchburg Singers. Although the group of singing seniors hasn’t been able to physically meet since last March, the energy of the members still resonates during the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the modest Koster, a retired English teacher now in her 21st year leading the Fitchburg Singers, the group is more than a chorus. It’s a place to have fun, and make connections. If you’ve ever watched the singers perform, you can see their joy interacting with the audience. “This is music they like,” Koster said. “They tap their feet and they are happy.” Since Koster joined the group, which was established in the early 1980s, it’s doubled in size, performances and breadth. Since 1999, she’s never missed a performance, and only a handful of rehearsals. When the group started a Veterans Day program 15 years ago, few veterans knew it existed. Now, several dozen veterans gather each year to watch the powerful performances that recognize soldiers of all ages. Before COVID-19, the Singers rehearsed two days per month, logging between 15-20 performances a year. Koster and accompanist Carolyn White guided them in a variety of different programs.
Doris Koster has directed the Fitchburg Singers since 1999.
Q&A with Doris Koster
You’ve said the group is as much about fun as it is about performances. Can you explain that? We laugh a lot. The audience sings with us, and sometimes I dance with audience members or we dance together. This is not a place if you want to learn about music -- this is a place you are going to have fun. It is good for you -- when someone who has Alzheimer’s can sing who hasn’t said 10 words in the last week. Music is something that can change your life. One woman who is no longer with us, when she couldn’t make it to practice she would call me and cry. She would say “Doris, this is the only place that I’m happy.” One man was 97 and had just lost his wife. He came to practice and had a beautiful voice. There is something about music that brings you back to a good place. It is a beautiful thing. What do the Fitchburg Singers mean to you? I think I’m the most blessed person that you could ever meet because I’ve been able to do this. It is funny – I had no music talent, except I loved to dance and loved to sing. I married a man who was a concert violinist and I’m sure he’s up there saying, ‘You’re doing what?!’ For years before a concert, I wouldn’t sleep at night. I’d toss and turn and say ‘God, why did you put me in this position? I can’t play the piano, I don’t know how to read music, so why do I have this job? Then a lady gave me a book, “7 Prayers that will change your life forever.” I read it twice. The third time I picked it up, I understood why. God doesn’t expect you to do anything you can’t do. And he doesn’t expect you to do anything you don’t have the talent to do. He says you use what talent you are given, and the talent that you have, Doris, is to put this music together, to be with people and to schedule. That blessing changed my life. I’m so glad I kept going. How much preparation does it take to prepare the programs? We always have a beginning and an end in the programs. And each program has a theme, such as “Sun Moons and Stars,” “Seasons,” or “Colors and Nostalgia: The story of your life.” Everything has to be gone over 100 times. When Carol and I did it together, we’d both play about 800 hours each. I get all the music ready, and it isn’t just picking a song, you have to play it through and see what part you want to use, because sometimes you have to shorten it. Then you have to have parts for the singers. Everything has to be timed to the second. Then you have to play it together, and together and together to find out if it works together. Are you ready to get back to practicing? I’m hoping to meet soon. That is what I want. I’ve had people who have called me and really wanted to get back. It is hard.
In pre-pandemic days, The Fitchburg Singers practice, under the direction of Doris Koster.
