Lori Arsenault

About the Artist

A classical guitarist, singer and songwriter, Lori Arsenault has been a music director in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine since 1998. She currently leads the congregational singing from the piano or guitar, and occasionally from the organ at the 5 p.m. Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's Church on Stevens Avenue in Portland, and the 4 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. Sunday Masses at St. Hyacinth Church in Westbrook. In addition to weekly Mass celebrations, she provides liturgical music for weddings and funerals, and freelances in music, communications, and website management for several musicians and organizations.

Lori also performs as a double bassist and vocalist with Saco River Jazz, a non-profit, 19-piece big band serving elder communities. She studies double bass with Bronek Suchanek at the University of Southern Maine and also performs with the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra.

A 1999 graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Lori holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance (Classical Guitar), and was the first-place winner of the 1995 Downeast Classical Guitar Society Competition. In 2020, she completed a Masters Degree in Leadership Studies at USM. Now retired from the position of Performing Arts Events Manager in the Osher School of Music at USM, she is currently the managing editor of the Gorham Times.