Compiled by Nordica Memorial Association
Images from Nordica Memorial Association
In 1876, a girl from Farmington graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. This girl was Lillian Norton who, as Lillian Nordica, was chosen by Cosima Wagner to create the role of Elsa in Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival in 1894. She was the first American singer to appear there.
Nordica's association with the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, during the latter half of the 1890s lent luster to that galaxy of artists. Her fame penetrated to every civilized corner of the earth, and her name was synonymous with everything fine in vocal art. (Opera News)
Nordica sang before presidents, crowned heads, and working persons with equal aplomb.
