PORTLAND – Traditional fiddler and singer Lissa Schneckenburger, who has ties to Lewiston-Auburn, will open for British folk legend Richard Thompson Friday, Oct. 17, at South Portland High School’s auditorium.

The 8 p.m. concert was rescheduled from April when Thompson sustained a scorpion bite while vacationing in Mexico.

Now a Brattleboro, Vt., resident, Schneckenburger has developed an impressive international reputation for her fiddling, singing and songwriting. She recently released an acclaimed album titled “Song,” featuring 10 timeless ballads going back as far as the 18th century that she set to carefully crafted modern arrangements. It is primarily traditional New England music with an emphasis on Maine work songs.

“There is currently a lot of focus on traditional American music from the South and many bands are exploring and recording that repertoire, but no one is getting to hear the amazing repertoire of traditional music from the North. This is my first attempt at getting some of that music out there for people to enjoy,” Schneckenburger said in a prepared statement.

Schneckenburger grew up with music in Lewiston and is well-known in the Lewiston-Auburn area where she played fiddle at age 6, inspired by her mother’s interest in folk music and a family friend who was a professional violinist. Soon she was studying with fiddler Greg Boardman and sitting in with the Maine Country Dance Orchestra. By the time she was in high school, she was playing concerts on her own.

In 2001, she graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a degree in contemporary improvisation and since then has been performing around the United States and abroad. She has recorded seven CDs, four solo and three with various groups.

“Dance,” a CD scheduled for release in 2009, will feature fiddle tunes.

Concert tickets, $35, are available online at www.mktix.com/heptunes; by calling 1-978-462-9630 and at all Bull Moose store locations.