Album Notes

Eileen Mager, soprano
Eileen studied voice with Marie S. Kraft at the Cleveland Institute of Music, with Julia LeVine in Chicago, and now works with John Merwin in Scottsdale. She began singing professionally in Chicago, moved with her husband to California, and then to Arizona in 1982. She is one of that rare breed: a recitalist. She is a leading performer for the Arizona Vivaldi Festivals, sings with the Arizona chamber choir Cantemus, and is a frequent solo performer in Arizona churches and concert venues. She was Artistic Director for the 2000-2001 Arizona Vivaldi Festival. Her repertoire is very broad - from opera to jazz, Broadway to folk, classical religious works to spirituals and gospels - and her performances have included works of more than 80 composers, in 15 languages.

Ellen Brown, piano and keyboard
Versatility is the word to use when describing Ellen Brown. A native of Ohio, she was educated in classical music and holds the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Mount Union College, and the Master of Music degree from Arizona State University, but her musical tastes go far beyond the classics. She has performed in a wide variety of musical venues, including doing two-piano jazz concerts with her husband Glenn Brown, accompanying for opera stars, jazz singers, Broadway shows, and classical organ concerts. She has arranged and accompanied for the McGuire Sisters, and for Metropolitan and New York City Opera singers Robers Hale, Richard McKee, and Patricia Miller. She is currently a professional church organist and choir director, and a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Phoenix College.

Isola Jones, mezzo-soprano
Isola Jones made her extraordinary professional debut in Verdi's Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Within one year, she had made her Metropolitan Opera debut as "Olga" in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Since then, she has sung more than 500 performances as a leading artist at The Met with such artists as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. Her signature role is that of Bizet's seductive free spirit, "Carmen." Ms. Jones has appeared in ten "Live from the Met" telecasts, and has been featured on the Met's popular Saturday matinee broadcasts and on many other opera and concert radio broadcasts throughout the world. This internationally-acclaimed artist can be heard on a number of recordings, including Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Mahler's Symphony #8, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. Videos include "Live from the Met" productions of Verdi's La Forza del Destino and Puccini's Manon Lescaut, and she has a solo disc, "Music of Bach, Handel, and Purcell."