Arts Institute of Western Maine will present St. Mary Schola at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 1, in Nordica Auditorium at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Directed by Bruce Fithian, and based at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary in Falmouth, the ensemble was founded in 2008 by Fithian and the Rev. James Dalton-Thompson. Three programs are presented per year (with three performances each, at Southern Maine venues): Advent or Christmas, Lent and Easter or Spring. This Spring there will be a fourth performance, sponsored by AIWM, an affiliate of the University of Maine at Farmington.

The program “Ode to Music” is dedicated to the praise of music’s power to touch our hearts. Excerpts from The Ode to Music by Purcell will be performed, as well as pieces by Monteverdi, Lassus, Bach, Milano and Richard Dering (“City Cries”). Excerpts from Hildegard von Bingen’s Musical Harmony will be read. An informative lecture by Bruce Fithian is set for one-half hour prior to the show.

Farmington’s John and Kathryn Sytsma perform on viola da gamba in “City Cries,” as well as previous Farmington residents, Dr. Phillip Carlsen (UMF Professor emeritus) and Mary Jo Carlsen, violinist.

Tickets cost $12 at the door for adults, free for students.

For more information about St. Mary Schola, visit stmaryschola.org.