It was an all-star music fest at the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor on June 23, featuring Grammy-winning pianist Paul Sullivan, drummer Gordon Gottleib, and soprano Suzanne Nance, Maine Public Radio's classical music host.

But the star of the show, “P.S., I Love Music,” was Sam Schwehm, who recently was graduated from Boothbay Region High School.

Schwehm won over the audience, turning from a shy high school kid to a polished performer, by sitting down at the grand piano and attacking the bombastic “Toccata” by Aram Khachaturian and Claude Debussy's stunningly romantic prelude titled “The Sunken Cathedral.”

Sullivan, a top pro piano player, late of the Paul Winter Consort, told the audience of how he went to Schwehm's house and happened to hear him improvise. He marveled at the complex harmonic structure that flowed from the hands of this young artist.

Sullivan acted as both performer and host as he introduced and interviewed the performers. Gottleib, who has played with the New York Philharmonic, Miles Davis and others, told the audience the real musical genius on the current music scene is Stevie Wonder.

He related an anecdote where Wonder led a jam session that roamed from rock to complex jazz riffs while shouting out the chords changes to the other players so they could follow his improvisations.

The evening ended when Sullivan joined Schwehm at the piano, with Gottleib on drums, as Nance handled the vocals for a smooth version of  “Summertime.”

Nance has shared her lovely voice with audiences around the world. A member of the audience asked her to name her favorite concert venue.

After a few moments, she signaled out Westminster Abby, but before her final answer, she praised the local performance venue for its acoustics. Her comment prompted Sullivan to compare the tiny Boothbay Harbor venue to a famed Italian opera theater.

“This is the La Scala of Maine,” he said.