Nordica Day Concert scheduled for Aug. 17

This year’s Nordica Day Concert, set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at Nordica Auditorium in Merrill Hall on the UMF campus, will feature Farmington native Sally Swallow Maxwell, and this year’s winner of the annual Nordica Scholarship, Ida Santos.

Swallow, a previous Nordica scholar, now lives in Denver where she sings with Opera Colorado. While in Farmington she participated in the Children’s Summer Theater Workshop and later performed in Sandy River Players’ productions of The Mikado and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She also performed many leading roles with the Maine State Music Theatre and sang in a Kingfield Pops concert. Her upcoming performance in Farmington will include operatic and Broadway selections and will be accompanied by Patricia Hayden of Farmington.

Santos lives in Portland and is a senior performance major at University of Southern Maine where she was the winner of the 2018 Concerto Competition. Growing up in Concord, New Hampshire, she performed in many local theater productions. While at USM she performed leading roles in Merry Wives of Windsor, Don Pasquale and Candide. She will be performing a variety of art songs and arias, accompanied by her teacher, Scott Wheatley.

Nordica Day has long been celebrated in Farmington on Aug. 17, the date in 1911 when famed operatic diva, Lillian Nordica, last performed in her hometown. This year’s singers will perform on the same stage.

The concert is a gift to the community by the Nordica Memorial Association, and refreshments will follow the concert.

For more information about Lillian Nordica and this year’s singers, visit lilliannordica.com, or call the Nordica Homestead Museum at 778-2042.

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