YARMOUTH — The high school Glee Club is competing to win $5,000 – a prize members will put toward the purchase of a new concert piano for the Performing Arts Center.

The club is competing against four others from Buckfield High School, Moultonborough Academy, Camden Hills Regional High School and Kennett High School.

With 10 vocalists and four instrumentalists, the group videotaped a performance of Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” for the “Glee for All” contest hosted by Fox 23. Online voting will begin Friday, Nov. 12, and the group with the most votes will win the $5,000 prize.

Students from different clubs and sports groups at Yarmouth High School joined together to create the club.

“We have the captain of the soccer team, freshman and senior class presidents, student senate president, members of the ski team, choir, crew, math team and lacrosse,” student body President Ben McNaboe said. “It may be my favorite thing about Yarmouth High School. Kids with different interests can work together. It makes me proud to be a part of this school.”

“The way we all came together was quite remarkable,” McNaboe said. “The prize money has to go to the Music Department and we really need this new piano. It’s for the community as much as for the school.”

Superintendent of Schools Judy Paolucci said the School Board has been talking for months about how to replace the Performing Arts Center piano, but it seemed like a bad time to add a large item to the budget. Instead, a fundraising campaign is getting started to fund the purchase entirely through donations.

“The piano doesn’t hold a tune,” she said. “We have a wonderful Performing Arts Center and incredibly talented students, but we need to update the piano.”

Paolucci said a new piano will cost about $30,000. Yarmouth Alumni Association has agreed to donate $5,000 to the piano, and Yarmouth Arts has also agreed to donate proceeds from their Holiday Art Walk on Dec. 4.

“We will officially kick off a capital campaign at the holiday concert at the end of November,” Paolucci said. “We will try to get a loaner of the piano we want to buy so people can see and hear the difference.”

Families and companies are invited to participate in the campaign by buying a piano key for $150 or sponsoring a larger piece of the piano. The bench, lid and other parts of the piano will be for sale as well, she said.

“Our aim is to raise the money by March in time to buy the piano buy the spring concert,” she said.

In the meantime, Kimberly Grover, Harrison Middle School choral director and the vocal director for the high school musicals, worked with the high school students to get ready for the “Glee for All” contest.

She said the students were committed to the performance and showed it by staying after classes, sports practices and play rehearsals to make it work.

“These kids never cease to amaze me,” she said. “They are mature, involved and inspiring.”

“This is done completely by popularity,” Grover added. “We need all of Southern Maine and Yarmouth to get out and vote.”

Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net

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The Yarmouth High School Glee Club is one of five competing to win $5,000. Club members are, back row from left, Jordan Brown, Connor O’Donnell, Catie Morton, Amelia French, Jake Smith, Carrie Adams, Ben McNaboe, Jack Gilman, Nicole Hoehle, Graeme Gengras, Sarah Wood, and Kyle Brunelle; middle row, from left, Hannah Waxman, musical director Kimberly Grover and Olivia Richmond, and front row, from left, Michael McCormack, Sam Coleman and Campbell Belisle Haley.

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