St. Stephen's Catholic Parish in Lacombe is excited to welcome Anna Maria Kaufmann for two concerts this weekend, paying tribute to her mother Ruth and raising funds for the church building fund.

The parish celebrated the first mass in their new church in mid-December; however fundraising continues to help take care of final costs.

The opera singer with roots in Lacombe has performed around the world and as parishioner Lucille Koppel explains, these concerts were Anna Maria's idea.

“Anna Maria wanted to do a benefit concert for our new church, as you know we are in it and it’s very beautiful, but to raise money for our building fund was the goal for our concerts and certainly she expected her mother to be in the front row, but very sadly her mother passed away on Boxing Day”.

Koppel knows Anna Maria's mother Ruth will be in the church in spirit, she says was a very dedicated and active parishioner.

“For as long as I have been here which was in 1981 she was always a very beautiful presence in our church, always welcoming, always smiling”.

Ruth Kaufmann passed away at the age of 98.

Anna Maria will perform at St. Stephen's tomorrow night (Feb 10th) at 7 pm and Sunday afternoon (Feb 11th) at 3 pm, there are a few tickets remaining, you can purchase them at Healthfitters in downtown Lacombe.