Bellingham High School Music Staff:
Marie Forte, Band and Chorus Director, BHS Fine Arts Department Head
Bellingham Memorial Middle School Music Staff:
Robert Glynn, Band Director
Monica Spencer, Chorus Director and General Music
Bellingham Elementary Music Staff:
Debra Hoppe, K – 4 Music Teacher
Patricia Renaud, K – 4 Music Teacher and BMMS Music Teacher
Adjunct Music Staff:
Beverly Bajgot, Colorguard Coach
Cindy Maxfield, Colorguard Coach
Peter Moffett, BHS Percussion Coach
Debra Hadges, Piano Accompanist
Harry Schreffler, Band-Aid
Marie Forte, BHS Band Director
Mrs. Forte is currently the band director at Bellingham High School where she has taught since 2003. She conducts the Concert, Marching and Jazz Bands, as well as teaches the following courses: Advanced Placement Music Theory, Music Technology and Theory, Jazz Studies and History of Rock n’ Roll. Mrs. Forte completed her Masters Degree in Music Education with a concentration in wind conducting from Rhode Island College and completed her Bachelors of Music Education at the University of New Hampshire. She has studied conducting with Andrew Boysen, Jr. and Robert Franzblau and flute with Peggy Vagts, Faith Williard, and MaryEllen Guzzio. She serves on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association as Central District Representative and Host for the Band & Orchestra Festival. She is a member of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference and the National Band Association.
Monica Spencer, BMMS Chorus Director & General Music
Mrs. Spencer is currently the Fifth and Sixth Grade General Music Teacher at Bellingham Memorial Middle School. She also conducts the Fifth and Sixth Grade Chorus and Seventh and Eighth Grade After School Chorus. She graduated with honors from Howard University where she earned the Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Music Education with a concentration in vocal performance and conducting. Mrs. Spencer did her post-graduate study of voice with former Metropolitan Opera soprano, Mattiwilda Dobbs and has appreared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Takoma Park Symphony Orchestra, The Heritage Chorale and in recital at the State Department, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and in many churches in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area and the Metrowest area of Boston, MA. Mrs. Spencer has also sung with the Joffrey Ballet, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and with jazz greats Donald Byrd, Max Roach and Oscar Brown, Jr. She is a board member of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Hopkinton, and member of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, and the American Choral Directors Association.
Robert Glynn, BMMS Band Director
Mr. Glynn is a music teacher in Bellingham, as well as a freelance percussionist in the Greater Boston, South Shore, Metro-West, and Western Massachusetts areas. Recently, he completed his Bachelor of Music degree with concentrations in Music Education and Percussion Performance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has studied privately with Lincoln Center’s resident chamber musician Ayano Kataoka, and with Drum Corps International Hall of Fame member Thom Hannum.
While at the University of Massachusetts, Robert was a section leader in the Wind Ensemble and Marching Band, and was an active member in the Orchestra, Marimba Ensemble, Percussion Ensembles, and performed several solo recitals. He has traveled throughout the United States performing with the ten-time World Champion Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. His musical activity has also brought him to live in Brazil for one month performing chamber and orchestral works with musicians from around the world.
As an arts-educator, Mr. Glynn is involved with South Shore Conservatory’s Summer Music Festival where he assists the Program Director and Music Director in the preparation and continuation of this annual summer camp for middle and high school student musicians, and has served as an instrumental coach there. Mr. Glynn has also instructed at various high school marching percussion programs.