OUR DIRECTOR: Wendy McCoole
Wendy McCoole took on directorship of the Sounds of the
Seacoast in October of 2003 — the very group her father, Jim
Dodge, founded in 1978 (known then as the Harborbelles).
Wendy, now 48 years old, was in her late teens
when her father launched the group. She has known many of the
members since then and is completely honored to be directing
them now.
Music has always been a mainstay in Wendy’s
life. She played guitar, sang and wrote songs all through
her young adulthood and although she grew up in a barbershop
family and loved going to shows, she didn’t truly catch the bug
until she was in her late 20's when she
starting singing in quartets, performing on shows and going to
competitions.
Wendy has won three International Quartet Championships
singing with Exhilaration, Harmony, Inc.'s 2005 International Quartet
Champions, Limited Edition in 1995 and Heart's Delight in 1989
(with her sister Debbie). The sisters also founded
New England Voices in Harmony, a
women’s barbershop chorus based out of Nashua, NH.
Wendy recently became a Certified Singing Judge with
Harmony,
Inc. and has
taught at numerous barbershop schools and coached a number of
men’s and women’s quartets through New England and southern Canada.
Aside from Wendy’s barbershop activities, she
is Executive Director of a non-profit organization called
BreastCancerStories.org and has
two children, Brittany (24) and Ryan (22), and two
step-children, Sean (23), and Erienne (25) . Wendy and her husband,
Kevin (deemed “chorus mascot”) live in Eliot, Maine and
love spending time sailing, biking, visiting with friends and
family, and enjoying the beautiful seacoast.
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