DENYCE GRAVES
Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most exciting vocal stars, mezzo-soprano artist Denyce Graves continues to gather unparalleled popular and critical acclaim in performances on four continents. Her career has taken her to the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. The combination of her expressive, rich vocalism, elegant stage presence, and exciting theatrical abilities allows her to pursue a wide breadth of operatic portrayals as well as delight audiences in concert and recital appearances.
Performed at The Grand – November 2001
Photo credit: John Matthew Smith and www.celebrity-photos.com
BILLY TAYLOR
(1921–2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
A jazz activist, Taylor sat on the Honorary Founders Board of The Jazz Foundation of America, an organization he started in 1989. Taylor was also a jazz educator, who lectured in colleges, served on panels and travelled worldwide as a jazz ambassador. Critic Leonard Feather once said, “It is almost indisputable that Dr. Billy Taylor is the world’s foremost spokesman for jazz.”
Performed at The Grand – October 1977
