The Arts Institute of Western Maine will present Mastersingers USA at 6 p.m. Friday, July 1, at the Weld Bicentennial celebration in Weld, and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 2, in Nordica Auditorium, University of Maine at Farmington. This internationally acclaimed men’s group of some 80 choristers under the direction of Bruce McInnes is celebrating its 13th year of camaraderie and song.

Admission will cost $15 for adults and is free for those 18 and younger and students with ID. Advance tickets are available at Broadway Music on Broadway in Farmington, or at tickets/www.artsinstituteofwesternmaine. Those ordering online should be sure to retain their purchase receipt as this is the ticket for admission.

Members, who range in age from 18 to 75, are doctors, lawyers, businessmen, clergymen, professors, editors, artists, school teachers, civil servants and university students who meet in various local areas but come together once a year for U.S. performances and for international tour every third year.

The repertoire of the Mastersingers includes sacred and secular music, folksongs, spirituals and contemporary music spanning some 500 years. There are works by masters of polyphony such as Josquin, deKerle, Palestrina, Vittoria, Gallus, Allegri and Lotti, as well as 20th century compositions by Bédard, Bieb, Clausen, Heath, Mawby, Theimer and Thompson. There are also works by Schubert, Bruckner, Gounod, Kedrov and Tchaikovsky. The repertoire is widely varied, challenging, and mostly a capella.

For more information, call 645-3137.

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