Tracey MacLean, Brunswick High School class of 1979, remembers how chorus teacher Carroll “Sonny” Googins changed her life.
“Three of the five kids in my family were involved in music because of Sonny,” MacLean said. “He was just that good.”
Googins, who was 72, died in June. He was a music teacher at Brunswick High School for 35 years, and also spent time with numerous local theater and repertory groups, either as an accompanist or choir director.
Twenty-five of his former students have organized a benefit concert to establish a scholarship in his name. They call themselves the Brunswick High School Alumni Chorus, and have scheduled the concert for Saturday, Oct. 20.
The music begins at 7 p.m. in Crooker Theater at Brunswick High School.
MacLean continues to work as a musician and also as a private vocal instructor at Bowdoin College; her brother is a longtime instructor at Berklee School of Music in Boston.
It’s all because of Googins, she said, who was more than a teacher and more fun than a bottle of helium.
“It’s been quite a journey and Sonny was an integral part of what we all do,” MacLean said, referring to the other members of the Brunswick High School Alumni Chorus. “I really didn’t have time to do this concert, but it’s the least I can do. I really need to do this to honor him.”
Rebecca Beck owns Studio 48 Performing Arts Center on Davis Road in Brunswick and Studio 48 Dance Studio on Main Street in Topsham. Beck, class of 1978, went on to study music at Boston University, the University of Maine and privately at The Juilliard School.
She remembers Googins as someone who showed her it was possible to have a career in music.
“He was one of the best chorus teachers I ever had,” Beck said. “I remember his sense of humor, structure, discipline, his knowledge of music. He made chorus fun.”
She recalled how Googins would record all of the school’s chorale concerts and have them pressed into vinyl LPs.
It was the late 1970s, remember, and the large-format, long-playing vinyl record album still was king of the audio heap.
Beck and three other Brunswick grads — Vikki Taggart, Beth Larrabee and Christina Thibeault — created a Facebook page, looking for other grads. They got waves of responses and decided to throw a concert to raise money to start a scholarship in Googins’s name.
“It really says a lot for Sonny to see how many people stepped up for this show,” Beck said.
Every week about 25 people wedge themselves into Beck’s Brunswick studio space to rehearse.
“It’s a pretty good space for practicing,” said MacLean.
During the most recent rehearsal, MacLean said, “we had a few moments of vocal, choral bliss. Those don’t happen very often, but when they do, it’s like nothing else matters. We’re all right there in the moment.”
The upcoming show is limited to students who had Googins as a teacher. But future shows will be open to all former and current BHS students.
Caribou’s “Miss Maine 2012” Molly Bouchard, a senior at Boston Conservatory fo Music, also will make a special appearance.
Tickets in advance of the show are $10 for adults, $8 for children. For tickets and more information, call Studio 48 at 798-6966.
jtleonard@timesrecord.com
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