As the choir sings along, Mary Elizabeth Nordstrom’s nimble fingers stroll up and down the keys of the organ at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Sanford.
   Nordstrom, 82-years-old, has served as the church’s music and choir director since last November when the former organist at the church broke her arm.
   Nordstrom was serving as the interim organist at Congregational Church of Wells when officials from St. George‘s called her and asked her to play for the 100th anniversary celebration of the consecration of the church.
   The following Sunday, she was invited to take the organ seat permanently because the organist/music director had given her notice.
   Nordstrom was thrilled with the opportunity.
   At last, she said, she found work where she and the choir had the “right chemistry.”
   “I’ve had the best time,” she said.
  Every Sunday at 9 a.m., Nordstrom can be found at the organ warming up the choir for the 10 a.m. service.
   She guides the choir through hymns that will be sung during the service, gently offering suggestions and advice to the dozen choir members, comprised of both men and women. They heed her advice.
   Nordstrom’s ear for music is tuned just as perfectly as the organ she plays. Since the age of eight, Nordstrom has had an interest in music.
  “My grandmother boasted about my high school-aged cousins who played the piano so well,” Nordstrom said
   Fueled by the admiration her grandmother had for her cousins, Nordstrom began taking piano lessons when she was 8-years-old.
   At the end of her eighth grade year, she switched to the organ, a change that would impact the rest of her life.
   She said the difference between piano and organ is in the touch and “phrasing.” She said one must practice moving from one key to another without causing a break in the music.
   The organ does not sustain (sound) from one key to another, she said. Additionally, she also had to practice pedal technique.
   “Simple hymns can be played with one pedal,” she said. “I did that for awhile, but learned to use both pedals.”
   By the age of 13, she was a professional organist.
   Throughout her high school years, she played the organ as an extracurricular activity.
   In college she planned to major in music, but instead majored in political science. Despite changing her major, her heart was still in music.
   She taught piano to children in Middlebury Community House in Vermont, a community program and also served as the substitute organist at various churches in the Middlebury area.
   Later she found work as the glee club accompaniment at the New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H. While the school is now co-ed, she said back then it was a boys-only school.
   It was there that she met Everett, a faculty advisor who went on trips with the glee club. She and Everett were married the following year and had five children, Ellen, Christina, Rusty, Phyllis and David.
   She said all of her children have some interest in the musical arts.
   In 1966 she became a member of the American Guild of Organists, an organization which promotes the organ and encourages “excellence in the performance of organ and choral music.” It also provides support and education.
   The American Guild of Organists currently offers programs throughout the United States to introduce children to the organ. Currently, the American Guild of Organists offers two programs, “Pipes, Pedals and Pizza” and “Pipe Organ Encounters.”
   After a short stint in New Jersey, she and Everett returned to New Hampton, N.H. to raise their children.
   She said the most fun she had playing the organ was during what she called the “Holderness years.”
   For 11 years, she played the organ at Chocorua Island Chapel (Church Island) on Squam Lake, where the movie, “On Golden Pond” was filmed.
   “It was so much fun,“ she said. “Boat rides for the kids every Sunday.”
   Life led the family to North Carolina where Nordstrom worked as an interim organist at various churches for 30 years, but she and Everett returned to New England where their grown children now live.
   “Our children wanted us back in New England,” she said.
   She found work as a substitute organist for Congregational Church of Wells, but what she wanted was a permanent position.
   Her dream came true when St. George’s Episcopal Church invited her to be the permanent organist.
   She and Everett drive from their home in Kennebunk to Sanford every Sunday. She arrives early to rehearse. Everett sings in the choir, too.
   “We have about 12 regular singers in the choir,” she said.
   In addition to the regular singers, she said she has enjoyed the accompaniment of guest soloists, including local talents.
   Nordstrom said she welcomes other soloists and she would like to have substitute choir members, as well. She is currently recruiting volunteers with various instruments and singers to enhance the musical program.
   She said the spiritual and creative high from playing is exhilarating, yet tiring. But, she said, it’s not her fingers that get tired.
   As a matter of fact, she said, playing exercises her fingers and “takes away the aches and pains of age.”
   Being involved with the choir also regulates their senior life, she said.
   Her interest in music doesn‘t end there, though. She strives to promote other performing arts.
   She established Classical Voice of New England in 2006, an “online journal for classical music, including opera and dance.”
   The Web site offers a one-stop site for others interested in the performing arts. There they can peruse reviews of musical performances, as well as browse the calendar in search of upcoming performances in New England.
   Classical Voice on New England, she said, was modeled after Classical Voice of North Carolina, a sister-Web site that also offers recognition and support of the performing arts.
   When she lived in North Carolina, she often wrote reviews for the Classical Voice of North Carolina, too.
   She said Classical Voice of New England will soon file for 501(c) 3 non-profit status with the IRS.
   Although she was one of the founders of Classical Voice of New England, she now is a volunteer looking for board members for the organization. She also invites additions to the calendar.
   “It’s a great resource for people interested in performing arts,” she said.
   For more information about substituting in the choir or becoming involved in Classical Voices of New England, contact Nordstrom at mecn@alumni.middlebury.edu   or visit the Classical Voice of New England Web site at www.cvneweng.org.