OGUNQUIT — A rising star on the opera scene from Maine will perform locally this summer and will be joined by a popular area string quartet. 

“It’s awesome to be singing for the home crowd,” says mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich, a mid-coast Maine native who has become an international opera star.

“Its very comforting in some ways– a unique opportunity as a musician to show not just your musical expression and who you are now, but also where you have come from.”

Aldrich returns to the Mid-Coast next month for “Innerscapes,”a five-concert series with the DaPonte String Quartet, featuring a Ottorino Respighi’s Quartetto Dorico and two pieces for string quartet and mezzo-soprano: Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach and Respighi’s Il Tramonto.

They will perform from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7 in Rockport and Wells, as well as in three new summer venues: Bigelow Labs in E. Boothbay, the Alna Meetinghouse in Alna, and the UUA Church in Brunswick.

Aldrich grew up in Damariscotta and rose to international fame through her starring role in the Zeffirelli production of Aida.

She is just back from performances in France, and prior to that Los Angeles, where  she sang the part of Giulietta in Placido Domingo’s production of Tales of Hoffman. (“Big voiced and sultry” is how critics described that performance.) 

She’s been hailed as “the Carmen of this generation,” and has performed the title role of Bizet’s opera, as well as other major roles, to critical acclaim in theaters around the world, from the Met Opera to La Scala, and from the Korean National Opera to Beijing’s NCPA.  

The DaPonte String Quartet, Maine’s premier string ensemble, moved to Maine more than 20 years ago and now performs over 60 times a year, year round, from Presque Isle to Ogunquit.

Last year it celebrated its 25^th year as a string quartet.

A local performances of “Innerscape” will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, 342 Laudholm Farm Road.

For tickets and information call 646-4521.