The Saratoga Orchestra will be hosting a tribute to a 19th century Swedish sensation this weekend.

The multimedia program sponsored by the orchestra runs 2-3:30 p.m. this Saturday, March 26 at the Nordic Hall in Coupeville.

The event is titled “the Nightingale Project” and highlights Jenny Lind, one of the most popular singers to ever perform. Showman P.T. Barnum invited her to America to perform at 93 of his events. She toured the U.S., earning what would be equivalent to $5 million in today’s dollars. She donated proceeds from her performances to charity, such as free schools in her native country of Sweden.

Soprano Laura Loge, the music director for the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, will sing songs performed by Lind in Swedish, with accompaniment by pianist Steven Luksan and narrator Kevin Hugh Lynch, who is also a historian and archivist living in Langley. Loge is a specialist in Scandinavian music and culture. Luksan is a composer, pianist and educator making music in Seattle.

Lynch said he has been studying Lind for the past 20 years.

“The multimedia presentation will be episodic and include periods of six to eight minutes of narrative on Lind’s life in addition to sections of song and music,” Lynch said. “Images of Lind in portrait and sometimes in costume will be projected above our heads. These are lithographed prints adorning music from the time, roughly 1847 to 1852.”

The Saratoga Orchestra itself is not involved, but rather is acting as the presenter for this event.

The organization recently updated its COVID restrictions. Vaccination verification is no longer required. Masks are optional but encouraged.

General admission tickets cost $15 and can be found at Bayleaf in Coupeville, Click Music in Oak Harbor, Blue Sound Music in Langley and on the day of the event at the door. For more information, visit sowhidbey.com.