FARMINGTON – A long tradition of community choral music will continue when the Western Maine Choral Society commences its season in the fall.

The name change from the University of Maine at Farmington Choral Program to Western Maine Choral Society was established in an effort to foster more community involvement in the vocal groups. Steven Pane, choral program director, said that the University of Maine’s recent strategic planning process prompted members of the music department to ask themselves what makes their programs unique.

Their answer: Community involvement.

“We want to foster that involvement,” said Pane, whose Italian name is pronounced PAN-ay.

“Many people thought the program was only for the university,” he said in an interview Thursday. “We wanted to get beyond a broader area and get to people who have had little contact with the university.”

The program this year will offer singing opportunities for every level of vocalist. Five different singing groups will present four concerts throughout the school year. A one-night introductory “choral primer” course will also be offered.

The chamber choir from previous years will be on hiatus and may be brought back in the future. Intended for musicians who can commit only a limited time to a singing engagement, that choir’s rehearsals will be shorter but more intense. This allows singers to work conscientiously for a shorter period of time, culminating with a performance. This level of intensity may require additional practices.

The University of Maine Community Choir will remain essentially unchanged in its design but will be only one of five choral groups under the new moniker, according to Pane.

• The UMF Community Chorus is open to anyone, from beginner to advanced singers, and will feature more than 100 voices. It will perform in December and the spring and rehearse Monday evenings starting Oct. 4. Vocalists can sing in one or both concerts. No auditions are required.

• Nordica Women’s and Nordica Men’s choruses are open to anyone of the appropriate gender. Both groups will perform in a benefit gala concert for the New Arts Media Center in Mantor Library in March. Women will rehearse Monday evenings, men Tuesdays, both starting in January. Turnout for the men’s chorus is expected to be low, therefore auditions will not be necessary, the director said. Open auditions for women will be held in January.

• Nineteenth Century Singers will feature 50 voices performing in October. They will rehearse Tuesday evenings starting Sept. 7. Open auditions will be Sept. 1 and 2.

• Camerata Choir will perform in the same concert with the Nineteenth Century Singers in October with 16 vocalists. Rehearsals will be held Monday evenings starting Sept. 13;auditions will be Sept. 1 and 2.

Pane wanted to be clear that though the community chorus is open to everyone, it is not a beginners group. Beginners with little or no experience are welcome and have provided him with some of his most fond memories in his 11 years with the program.

He told of a first-year UMF student, “a scared alto,” who at her first rehearsal sat next to a seasoned member, a teacher from SAD 9. The two became good friends as the elder mentored the newer member. When the student graduated, she became a teacher with SAD 9, her room next to her mentor’s.

“The general feeling around this program is supportiveness,” said Pane. “I love the community aspect, the literature (musical) and the diversity,” he continued.

Some of the chorus members have been with him since he has taken the baton from the group’s founder, Joel Hayden.

“We’re growing old together making music,” he said.

More information may be obtained on the Internet at www.franklincountyarts.org or by calling 778-7515.