WESTBROOK – For Gretchen Carroll, who grew up in Westbrook and took part in the tradition of studying music in the city’s schools, music has continued to shape her life into adulthood. Carroll is on the first leg of a tour with a 16-member choir known as Northern Harmony that will eventually take her through the northeastern U.S. and into the U.K., Germany and other European countries.

Based in Vermont, and working under the umbrella of Village Harmony, an international organization, Northern Harmony is convened once every year and a half, and gives specialized performances and hosts workshops for choirs around the world.

At 27, Carroll is adding this experience to a list that is already highlighted by a college degree, three years of teaching music in Auburn and two years in the Peace Corps, teaching English on a far-flung island nation. According to a Northern Harmony press release, the choir presents “a thrilling mix of world harmony traditions including South African songs and dances, traditional polyphony from Georgia, Corsica, and the Balkans, American shape-note singing and quartet gospel, and renaissance motets.”

Carroll and Northern Harmony will perform here in Maine on Saturday, Sept. 13, before heading overseas Sept. 16. The concert is at the Universalist Church, 97 Main St., Yarmouth. For more information, call-856-6415 or visit www.villageharmony.org

The American Journal spoke with Carroll while she was on tour this week about the group, and how her learning experiences in Westbrook have inspired what she’s doing now.

Q: How did you get involved with Village Harmony and Northern Harmony? How were you chosen to be a part of the 16-member choir? Was there training involved?

A: When I was in high school my mom took my grandmother to a Village Harmony concert. She was so moved by the performance we drove two hours the next day to see the next performance. I was thrilled. A group of teens was singing great folk music from around the world. They were all so energetic and gleeful while performing. I knew I wanted to be part of the group someday. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I attended my first and only Village Harmony teen camp. It was the perfect way to reinvigorate my own love of music. After studying music intensely during my freshman year of college I felt like my love of music had been almost completely squashed. Village Harmony brought back my love of music and allowed me to sing and perform passionately. I have participated in three international Village Harmony camps, one in Italy, and two in the Republic of Georgia. I was also a member of Boston Harmony, a chorus that meets once a month during the school year, for three years. Every year and a half, Village Harmony co-founders Larry Gordon and Patty Cuyler lead a Northern Harmony tour comprised of singers from various Village Harmony camps and workshops. I was selected to be a member of Northern Harmony based on my previous involvement and experiences with Village Harmony.

Q: You are currently on tour with the group. What has the experience been like so far?

A: The 16 of us met in Vermont for our intense rehearsal week. It was evident the first night we sang together that we had a very talented group of singers. I am thrilled to be a part of this tour and performing with such a great group of people. We have been on the road for a week and have had concerts in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Traveling and sleeping in different hosts houses each night is an integral part of the Northern Harmony experience. Because we perform in small towns in local venues, we all have the chance to make personal connections each place we go. Each town provides a potluck dinner and people in the communities open their homes to us for the night before we head off on the road the next day. I am very excited that Northern Harmony will be performing in Maine and two communities that I love and hold dearly in my heart will converge.

Q: After the U.S. run ends in Boston, the group will continue on to the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and Germany. Where are you most excited to go?

A: I have to admit that I am very excited about the entire tour abroad. We will be spending a month in the U.K. and I love the idea that I will not have the tourist experience but will come away with stories and memories from small towns and people we meet and spend time with. I remember as a young child telling my mom that I wanted to travel to England someday, and I’m looking forward to fulfilling a childhood dream. I’m also looking forward to Germany because it is the home of some of my ancestors.

Q: Prior to joining Northern Harmony, you volunteered in the Peace Corps for two years. What was that like?

A: I spent two years living and working in the Mortlocks, a region of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. My Peace Corps experience has had a great impact upon me and I sure it will for the rest of my life. I spent two years living on an island with less than 1 square mile of landmass in a community of approximately 500 people. I taught English to students in grades 6, 8, and 12. For each of my classes I was also working with a local teacher training them in teaching techniques, lesson planning, and class content. It was both challenging and exciting to be teaching students and teachers of a vastly different culture. During my two years I lived with two host families who helped immerse in the Mortlockese ways of life and to learn the Chuukese language.

Q: Do you have any plans for after the Northern Harmony tour? Would you like to continue in teaching music?

A: In the spring of 2015 I plan to embark on a through-hike on the Appalachian Trail with two of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers. While hiking the trail I plan to raise money for Rippleffect, a great organization in Portland that combines outdoor education and personal development for youth in Maine. After, I do plan to continue teaching. I loved my job when I worked in Auburn. I was able to share my love of music and dance with students every day. My goal as a teacher was to expose students to singing, movement, and instruments that would allow students to feel comfortable and confident in their own bodies and voices.

Q: How do your music experiences at Westbrook High School play into what you do now, or how you teach?

A: It is because of the music teachers I had in Westbrook that I decided to become a music teacher. I feel lucky that Tony Boffa encouraged me to take trumpet lessons when I was in middle school. Ann Mason-Osaan had more energy and passion for music and teaching than anyone I have ever met. In high school, I participated in every music activity possible – chorus, honors chorus, wind ensemble, marching band, pep band, and jazz band. Having such a great music department in Westbrook certainly played an integral part in developing my passion for music.

Westbrook native Gretchen Carroll, front right, kneeling, with her group, Northern Harmony.