Robert A. “Bob” Lague worked for 40 years in public education, developing the talents of young singers, actors and musicians in his role as music educator, choral director, conductor and drama director.
He directed no fewer than 40 high school musicals, guiding young students through what for many would be a first performance. He organized and led the MTA Chorus, open to all members. He was the founder and music director of the Lexington Pops Chorus, an all-adult community chorus now in its 41st year.
Open photo in lightboxBob Lague was the longtime director of the MTA Chorus.
But none of this was work for him; it was his passion, said his daughter, Jessica Lague McGrath, who followed her father into public education. “From as far back as I can remember, his love for teaching permeated who he was,” McGrath said. “He loved especially doing the drama, the chorus, teaching children how to confidently perform. He’s the reason why I got into teaching.”
McGrath, who is also an MTA member, is an English teacher at a middle school in Beverly.
Before he died on Sept. 28, while battling brain cancer, many of his former students came to visit him, and a few serenaded him. Some of his former students who became professional artists performed at his funeral, including jazz pianist Frederick Moyer and gospel singer Ralph Graham. The Lexington Pops Chorus, in its entirety, sang.
“It was a big concert, it was amazing,” McGrath said.
Lague, who was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, learned to play the piano at home, taught by his father, Alfred, who was also a professional pianist and educator. Lague graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, with degrees in music education, applied piano and piano performance.
He taught in the Lexington, Andover and Stoneham public schools until retiring in 2008. He was a founding member of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and the NEA Fine Arts Caucus.
As a child, McGrath remembers the high school dramas and musicals that her father directed became family affairs. “My sister and I somehow made it into all of his plays. If there was a call for a small child to walk across the stage, or for a baby, that was us,” she said.
In addition to his work with schools, and the MTA and NEA, Lague was active in his community. He spent 53 years as the organist or choir director in churches including the First Congregational Church in Natick, the Beverly Second Congregational Church, South Church in Andover and most recently at Trinity Baptist Church in Arlington.
To read the obituary for Lague that was published in September, please visit: https://www.currentobituary.com/obit/278794.
