Grace Coolidge Musicale Features Tunes from the Roaring Twenties

PLYMOUTH NOTCH, Vt. – The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site hosts the final Grace Coolidge Musicale on Sunday, October 3 at 4:00 p.m. The 45-minute concert is free; donations are welcome. Back by popular demand are mezzo-soprano Ellen Nordstrom and pianist Abigail Charbeneau as the Mairzy Doats Duo, performing Ain’t Misbehavin’ and other classic songs of the 1920s. Appearing in period outfits and with props, they present perennial favorites I'm Just Wild About Harry, I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover, and a set from the Broadway hit Showboat.

The musicale will be held in the President Calvin Coolidge Museum & Education Center. It showcases the piano given to Mrs. Coolidge by the Baldwin Company and used in the family quarters at The White House. It was the first piano ever to be flown in an airplane.

The Grace Coolidge Musicales are organized by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and generously sponsored by the Alma Gibbs Donchian Foundation. For further information, call 802-672-3773, or visit our website: www.HistoricSites.Vermont.gov

The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site is open Tuesday – Sunday through Oct. 17, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. For further information and event listings, visit us online at www.historicsites.vermont.gov and on Facebook at Vermont State Historic Sites.

The performers:

Abigail Charbeneau earned a BA in music from Skidmore and an MM in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Charbeneau has lived and worked in Concord, New Hampshire, for 19 years teaching at the Concord Community Music School and at St. Paul's School. She is the organist at South Congregational Church in Concord and regularly performs with the Musicians of Wall Street in Concord and accompanies the St. Paul's theater productions.

Ellen Nordstrom graduated from the University of North Carolina and continued her studies at Dartmouth College. She debuted in Europe in 1995 with the Rome Opera Festival as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus. Nordstrom has performed lead and comprimaria roles with the Brandenburg Opera, Granite State Opera, Opera North, and Vermont Opera Theater. She teaches at several prestigious institutions in New Hampshire and Vermont. Some of her current and former students have performed for three New Hampshire governors, as well as on American Idol, Star Search, Up With People, and the Metropolitan Opera.

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About the Division for Historic Preservation
The Vermont State Historic Sites are owned and operated by the Division for Historic Preservation, which is part of the Department of Housing and Community Development. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) works to support vibrant and resilient communities, promote safe and affordable housing for all, protect the state’s historic resources, and improve the quality of life for Vermonters.