SACKETS HARBOR — If your patriotism is in a funk, the Sackets Harbor Vocal Arts Ensemble may hold the tickets to a remedy.

With 81 percent of respondents in a recent New York Times/CBS poll saying they believe the country is on the wrong track, the ensemble's Concert of American Music on Saturday and Sunday may be just the thing to lift pride, at least locally.

There will be familiar patriotic songs, poems about America set to music and selections almost lost to time that ensemble director Richard E. Probert has dusted off and sparked back to life.

"Underlying our emphasis on American composers is how they and their lyricists treat the subject of democracy," Mr. Probert said.

For example, let's lament over Boston for just a bit.

William Billings (1746-1800) wrote "Lamentation Over Boston" in 1778. Mr. Probert said the "Lamentation," which will be performed as a choral selection, captures the struggle of the American Revolution. Its text combines words from Psalm 137 with original verse added by Samuel Adams, Mr. Billings's friend and fellow patriot.

"Lamentation Over Boston" begins:"By the rivers of Watertown we sat down and wept"— the rivers of Watertown, Mass., that is. That's where Boston town meetings were held during that city's siege.

The varied program also includes styles ranging from opera to spirituals.

"It's a tremendous variety because we're trying to reflect American music, and that music is what America is — it is a wide variety," Mr. Probert said.

The 32-member Sackets Harbor Vocal Arts Ensemble began as an informal group in 2006. Auditions were held earlier this year by Mr. Probert, who had formed vocal groups in three communities where he used to live, in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Plattsburgh.

Guest soloist will be baritone Kenneth Weber, a native of Los Angeles who now lives in Mobile, Ala.

Mr. Probert is always on the lookout for new talent to perform at his ensemble's concerts. "A few phone calls were made, and those in the business led me to this young man," he said.

Most recently, Mr. Weber sang the role of Thomas Putnam in Mobile Opera's production of Robert Ward's "The Crucible." He also performed in New Orleans in "Otello," "Le Nozze di Figaro" ("The Marriage of Figaro") and "The Barber of Seville."

Mr. Probert said Mr. Weber's talents will be highlighted in Earl Robinson's "Ballad for Americans," in which Mr. Weber, backed up by the ensemble, will sing the role of Uncle Sam. The song was made popular in the 1950s by singer, civil rights activist and actor Paul Robeson, who died in 1976.

"It's a delightful piece where Uncle Sam is trying to explain to a crowd of people who he is," Mr. Probert said. "It explores what it is to be an American."

Honoring Sackets Harbor native Frances Lillian Bible, Mr. Weber also will perform arias from Gerald Moore's "Ballad of Baby Doe." A longtime mezzo-soprano with the Metropolitan Opera Company, Miss Bible was the first to play Augusta Tabor in that hallmark American opera. The Sackets Harbor Central School graduate died in 2001 at age 82 in California.

Featured local soloists include Lindsey Davis, a senior at Sackets Harbor Central School, singing the 1918 tune "Hello Central! Give Me No Man's Land," written by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young.

Miss Davis portrays a little girl trying to telephone her father, a World War I soldier in no man's land. She said the piece is not too difficult to sing in a technical sense, but added, "It really doesn't work unless you feel it. Musicality is really important to this piece."

Miss Davis, who plans to study music at SUNY Fredonia this fall, said her sister has a husband in the service who is deployed overseas. She said that situation helps her to capture the emotion of "Hello Central."

"Emotion is what singing is all about," Miss Davis said. "Especially if you sing solo. You get to tell your story."

Michaela Schied of Cape Vincent will perform "Laurie's Song" from Aaron Copland's opera "The Tender Land," which premiered in 1954 at the New York City Opera. It centers on a farm in the American Midwest in the 1930s. Laurie is the farm family's first high school graduate.

Kevin and Marietta Kitto, with a backup quartet of Kyrie Russ, Ginny Timmerman, Matthew Nitschke and Richard Stephens, will sing the original versions of "In the Good Old Summertime" and "You're a Grand Old Flag."

Other choral selections include Howard Hanson's "Song of Democracy." Mr. Probert said that in the song, American poet Walt Whitman speaks to the importance of education of young people toward preserving our democracy.

Among other selections include the spirituals "Soon-Ah Will Be Done" and "Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit," arranged by William Dawson, and two pieces by Aaron Copland: "At the River" and "Ching-a-Ring Chaw."