A sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit.

Many musical compositions are named for the number of musicians for which they are written. If a piece is written for six performers, it may be called a "sextet". Steve Reich's "Sextet" is written for six percussionists.

In jazz music a sextet is any group of six players, usually containing a drum set (bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat, ride cymbal), string bass or electric bass, piano, and various combinations of the following or other instruments: guitar, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, trombone.

In heavy metal and rock music, a sextet typically contains, but is not restricted to, a lead vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist.

String sextets

See String sextet

Piano sextets

See Piano sextet

Sextets in rock, heavy metal, and hip hop

The Allman Brothers Band

Bleeding Through

Chimaira

Cradle of Filth

Dark Tranquillity (since 1998)

Despised Icon

The Devil Wears Prada

Dimmu Borgir

DragonForce

Electric Six

Foreigner

Forever in Terror

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Guns N' Roses

Ill Nino

INXS

Iron Maiden (since 1999)

Jefferson Airplane

Kansas

King Crimson

King Diamond (since 2003)

Lacuna Coil

Leaves' Eyes

Linkin Park

Mink DeVille

Nappy Roots

Neurosis

Procol Harum

Pussycat Dolls (2003-2008, now a quintet)

Rammstein

Soilwork

Styx

Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky

Underoath

Whitechapel

Whitesnake

Other sextets

Erno von Dohnanyi

*Sextet for Clarinet, Horn, String Trio, and Piano

Krzysztof Penderecki

*Sextet for Clarinet, Horn, String Trio, and Piano

Category:Musical groups 6

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Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (3 July 1676 – 7 April 1747) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau. He was also a ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the Prussian army. Nicknamed "the Old Dessauer" (German: ''der alte Dessauer''), he possessed only modest abilities as a field commander, but was a talented drillmaster who modernized the Prussian infantry.

Leopold was the ninth of ten children (and the younger of only two sons) of John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, by his wife Henriette Catherine, daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. An older brother died well before Leopold was born.

Early life

Leopold was born in Dessau. From his earliest youth he devoted himself to military pursuits, for which he educated himself both physically and mentally. He became colonel of a Prussian regiment in 1693, and in the same year inherited his own principality; for the remainder of his long life, he performed the duties of a sovereign prince and a Prussian officer simultaneously.

Leopold's first campaign was that of 1695 in the Netherlands, in which he was present at the Siege of Namur. He remained in the field to the end of the war of 1697, the affairs of the principality being managed chiefly by his mother, the Dowager Princess Henriette Katharina (in fact, she had been acting as regent since the death of his father until he reached adulthood the same year, but continued in charge of the government of Anhalt-Dessau for some time after he attained his majority).

Marriage and Issue

As a young prince, Leopold fell in love with Anna Louise Föse (Fösen according to some sources) (Dessau, 22 March 1677 – Dessau, 5 February 1745), an apothecary's daughter in Dessau. His mother, the Dowager Princess, tried to break up the relationship, sending her son abroad for an extended travel, but to no avail. One year after officially becoming an adult in 1697, he married his beloved Anna Louise in Dessau, on 8 September 1698. They had ten children: #William Gustav, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (Dessau, 20 June 1699 – Dessau, 16 December 1737). #Leopold II Maximilian, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (Dessau, 25 December 1700 – Dessau, 16 December 1751). #Dietrich (Dessau, 2 August 1702 – Dessau, 2 December 1769), later Regent. #Frederick Henry Eugen (Dessau, 27 December 1705 – Dessau, 2 March 1781). #Henriette Marie Louise (Dessau, 3 August 1707 – Dessau, 7 August 1707). #Louise (Dessau, 21 August 1709 – Bernburg, 29 July 1732), married on 25 November 1724 to Victor Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg. #Maurice (Dessau, 31 October 1712 – Dessau, 11 April 1760). #Anna Wilhelmine (Dessau, 13 June 1715 – Dessau, 2 April 1780). #Leopoldine Marie (Oranienbaum, 12 December 1716 – Kolberg, 27 January 1782), married on 13 February 1739 to Henry Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. #Henriette Amalie (Dessau, 7 December 1720 – Dessau, 5 December 1793).

On 29 December 1701 Anna Louise was created an Imperial Princess (German: ''Reichsfürstin'') by the Emperor Leopold I, who also declared that their children would be considered princes and princesses of Anhalt and would enjoy all the rights that other princes of the Empire enjoy. King Frederick I of Prussia extended his personal guarantee on 12 March 1702, promising to recognize the rights of the issue of this marriage. The agnates of all the branches of Anhalt also gave their agreement a few days later, on 21 March.

Leopold and Anna Louise enjoyed a long and happy marriage, and the princess acquired an influence over her husband that she never ceased to exert on behalf of his subjects. After the death of Leopold's mother she performed the duties of regent when he was absent on campaign. Often, too, she accompanied him into the field.

In later life, however, Leopold sired two illegitimate sons by one Sophie Eleonore Söldner (Ellrich, 7 September 1710 – Dessau, 16 September 1779):

#John Georg Henry von Berenhorst (Sandersleben, 26 October 1733 – Dessau, 30 October 1814), who married first in Zöberitz on 8 May 1781 to Katharina Christiane Maria Otto, but divorced in 1783; in Köthen on 26 October 1783 he married for a second time to Henriette Christine Karoline von Bülow (Predel, 30 June 1765 – Dessau, 29 August 1813), with whom he had six children, one son, George John (whose descendants in the male line became extinct in 1952), and five daughters: Louise Sophie, Eugenie Johanne (d. in infancy), Wilhelmine Henriette, Klara Hedwig, and Thekla Pauline, who, from her first marriage to Julius, Freiherr von Richthofen, was a great-grandmother of Manfred von Richthofen. #Karl Franz von Berenhorst (Sandersleben, 1 March 1735 – Dessau, 6 June 1804), married in Schweinitz on 7 February 1785 to Johanne Eleonore Scholtz; their two sons, Henry Karl and George Franz, were killed in battle; neither of them married or had children.

Military career

War of the Spanish Succession

Leopold's career as a soldier in important commands began with the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701. He had many improvements made in the Prussian army, notably the introduction of the iron ramrod about 1700, and he now took the field at the head of a Prussian corps on the Rhine, serving at the sieges of Kaiserswerth and Venlo in 1702. In the following year, having obtained the rank of lieutenant-general, Leopold took part in the siege of Bonnand fought as part of the Battle of Hochstadt, in which the Austrians and their Prussian allies were defeated by the French under Marshal Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars on September 20, 1703. In the campaign of 1704 the Prussian contingent served first under Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, then Prince Eugene of Savoy, and fought at Blenheim.

In 1705 Leopold was sent with a Prussian corps to join Prince Eugene in Italy, and on August 6 fought at the Battle of Cassano. In the Battle of Turin, he was the first to enter the hostile entrenchments (September 7, 1706). He served in one more campaign in Italy, and then served under Eugene to join Marlborough in the Netherlands, being present in 1709 at the siege of Tournai and the Battle of Malplaquet.

In 1710 Leopold succeeded to the command of the entire Prussian contingent at the French front, and in 1712, he was made a field marshal at the particular request of the crown prince of Prussia, Frederick William, who had served with him as a volunteer. Shortly before this he had executed a ''coup de main'' on the castle of Mors, which had been held by the Dutch in defiance of the claims of the king of Prussia to its possession. The operation was effected with absolute precision and the castle was seized without a shot being fired. In the earlier part of the reign of Frederick William I, the prince of Dessau was one of the most influential members of the Prussian governing circle.

Great Northern War

Although Prussia was hostile to Sweden, the Prussians were reluctant to participate in the Great Northern War. Only after the Russians destroyed most of the Swedish army did Prussia enter the war in 1715. Leopold accompanied the king to the front, commanded an army of 40,000 men, and defeated the much smaller force of Charles XII of Sweden in a hard-fought battle on the island of Rügen on November 16 in alliance with the Danish army of Stralsund. In peacetime, and especially after a court quarrel and duel with General Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow in 1725, he devoted himself to the training of the Prussian army.

Training the Prussian Army

Although the reputation gained by the Prussian army in the wars fought between 1675 to 1715 was a good one, it was still considered one of the minor military forces in Europe by 1740, when the War of the Austrian Succession broke out. Leopold's outstanding achievement just before this time was his training of the Prussian infantry. The "Old Dessauer" was one of the sternest disciplinarians in an age of stern discipline, and the technical training of the infantry under his hand made the Prussian infantry into a formidable fighting force whose effectiveness had not yet been demonstrated. Leopold was essentially an infantry soldier; in his time, artillery usually did not decide battles, but he nonetheless chose to neglect the cavalry service, with results that manifested themselves at the Battle of Mollwitz in 1741. Frederick II of Prussia led the cavalry himself at the battles of Hohenfriedberg in 1745 and Leuthen in 1757, but had it not been for the supporting infantry trained by Leopold he would never have had the opportunity to do so.

Thus Leopold, with the steadfast support of King Frederick William of Prussia, himself one of the greatest drillmasters of Europe, turned to good account the twenty years following the peace with Sweden. During this time two incidents in his career deserve special mention: firstly, his intervention in the case of the crown prince Frederick, who was condemned to death for desertion, but due to his efforts reinstated in the Prussian army; and secondly, his successful role in the War of the Polish Succession on the Rhine, where he served under his old chief Eugene of Savoy and held the office of Field Marshal of the Empire.

Service under Frederick the Great

With the death of Frederick William in 1740, Frederick the Great succeeded to the Prussian throne, and a few months later initiated the invasion and conquest of Silesia, the first action in the long Silesian Wars and the test of Leopold's lifelong efforts to improve the effectiveness of the Prussian army. The prince himself was not often employed in the king's own army, though his sons held high commands under Frederick. The king, indeed, found Leopold somewhat difficult to manage, and the prince spent most of the campaigning years up to 1745 in command of an army of observation on the Saxon frontier.

Early in that year his wife died. Leopold was now over seventy, but his last campaign was destined to be the most successful of his long career. A combined effort of the Austrians and Saxons to retrieve the disasters of the summer by a winter campaign towards Berlin itself led to a hurried concentration of the Prussians. Frederick from Silesia checked the Austrian main army and hastened towards Dresden. But before Frederick arrived, Leopold had decided the war by means of his overwhelming victory over Saxons at Kesselsdorf on December 14, 1745. It was his habit to pray before battle, for he was a devout Lutheran. On this last field his words were, "O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days. Or if Thou wilt not help me, do not help these scoundrels, but leave us to try it ourselves." Leopold's career ended with this great victory. He retired from active service, and the short remainder of his life was spent at Dessau.

He was succeeded as prince of Anhalt-Dessau by his son, Leopold II Maximilian. Another of his sons, Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau, was a Prussian general, but the most famous of his sons was Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau.

References

Varnhagen von Ense, ''Preussische biographische Denkmale'', vol. ii. (3rd ed., 1872); ''Militär Konversations-Lexikon'', vol. ii. (Leipzig, 1833).

Anon., ''Fürst Leopold I. von Anhalt und seine Söhne'' (Dessau, 1852).

G Pauli, ''Leben grosser Heiden'', vol. vi.

von Orlich, ''Prinz Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau'' (Berlin, 1842); *Crousatz, ''Militärische Denkwürdigkeiten des Fürsten Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau'' (1875).

supplements to ''Militär Wochenblatt'' (1878 and 1889); *Siebigk, ''Selbstbiographie des Fürsten Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau'' (Dessau, 1860 and 1876).

Hosaus, ''Zur Biographie des Fürsten Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau'' (Dessau, 1876).

Würdig, ''Des Alten Dessauers Leben und Taten'' (3rd ed., Dessau, 1903).

''Briefe König Friedrich Wilhelms I. an den Fürsten L.'' (Berlin, 1905).

Ancestry

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Category:1676 births Category:1747 deaths Category:People from Dessau-Roßlau Category:Field Marshals of Prussia Category:German army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession Category:House of Ascania Category:Recipients of the Order of the Black Eagle Category:German military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession

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Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist.

Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet, Wagner, and Verdi, she was known for her performances in coloratura soprano roles in live opera and recordings. Sills was largely associated with the operas of Donizetti, of which she performed and recorded many roles. Her signature roles include the title role in Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', the title role in Massenet's ''Manon'', Marie in Donizetti's ''La fille du régiment'', the three heroines in Offenbach's ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'', Rosina in Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville'', Violetta in Verdi's ''La traviata'', and most notably Elisabetta in ''Roberto Devereux''.

After retiring from singing in 1980, she became the general manager of the New York City Opera. In 1994, she became the Chairman of Lincoln Center and then, in 2002, of the Metropolitan Opera, stepping down in 2005. Sills lent her celebrity to further her charity work for the prevention and treatment of birth defects.

Biography

Sills was born Belle Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn, New York to Shirley Bahn (née Sonia Markovna), a musician, and Morris Silverman, an insurance broker. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Ukraine (then part of Russia) and Bucharest, Romania. She was raised in Brooklyn, where she was known, among friends, as "Bubbles" Silverman. As a child, she spoke Yiddish, Russian, Romanian, French and English. She attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, as well as Manhattan's Professional Children's School.

At the age of three, Sills won a "Miss Beautiful Baby" contest, in which she sang "The Wedding of Jack and Jill". Beginning at age four, she performed professionally on the Saturday morning radio program, "Rainbow House", as "Bubbles" Silverman. Sills began taking singing lessons with Estelle Liebling at the age of seven and a year later sang in the short film ''Uncle Sol Solves It'' (filmed August 1937, released June 1938 by Educational Pictures), by which time she had adopted her stage name, Beverly Sills. Liebling encouraged her to audition for CBS Radio's ''Major Bowes' Amateur Hour'', and on October 26, 1939 at the age of 10, Sills was the winner of that week's program. Bowes then asked her to appear on his ''Capitol Family Hour'', a weekly variety show. Her first appearance was on November 19, 1939, the 17th anniversary of the show, and she appeared frequently on the program thereafter.

In 1945, Sills made her professional stage debut with a Gilbert and Sullivan touring company produced by Jacob J. Shubert, playing twelve cities in the US and Canada, offering seven different Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In her 1987 autobiography, she credits that tour with helping to develop the comic timing she soon became famous for: "I played the title role in ''Patience'', and I absolutely loved the character, because Patience is a very funny, flaky girl.... I played her as a dumb Dora all the way through and really had fun with the role.... My Patience grew clumsier and clumsier with each performance, and audiences seemed to like her.... I found that I had a gift for slapstick humor, and it was fun to exercise it onstage." Sills sang in light operas for several more years.

On July 9, 1946, Sills appeared as a contestant on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (radio). She sang under the pseudonym of "Vicki Lynn", as she was under contract to Shubert. Shubert did not want Godfrey to be able to say he had discovered "Beverly Sills" if she won the contest (although she did not ultimately win). Sills sang "Romany Life" from Victor Herbert's ''The Fortune Teller''.

In 1947, she made her operatic stage debut as the Spanish gypsy Frasquita in Bizet's ''Carmen'' with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company. She toured North America with the Charles Wagner Opera Company, in the fall of 1951 singing Violetta in ''La traviata'' and, in the fall of 1952, singing Micaëla in ''Carmen''. On September 15, 1953, she made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Helen of Troy in Boito's ''Mefistofele'' and also sang Donna Elvira in ''Don Giovanni'' the same season. In a step outside of the repertoire she is commonly associated with, Sills gave four performances of the title role of Aida in July of 1954 in Salt Lake City. On October 29, 1955, she first appeared with the New York City Opera as Rosalinde in Johann Strauss II's ''Die Fledermaus'', which received critical praise. As early as 1956 she performed before an audience of over 13,000 guests at the landmark Lewisohn Stadium with the noted operatic conductor Alfredo Antonini in an aria from Vincenzo Bellini's ''I puritani''. Her reputation expanded with her performance of the title role in the New York premiere of Douglas Moore's ''The Ballad of Baby Doe'' in 1958.

On November 17, 1956, Sills married journalist Peter Greenough, of the Cleveland, Ohio newspaper ''The Plain Dealer'' and moved to Cleveland. She had two children with Greenough, Meredith ("Muffy") in 1959 and Peter, Jr. ("Bucky") in 1961. Muffy is profoundly deaf and has multiple sclerosis and Peter is severely mentally disabled. Sills restricted her performing schedule to care for her children.

In 1960, Sills and her family moved to Milton, Massachusetts, near Boston. In 1962, Sills sang the title role in Massenet's ''Manon'' with the Opera Company of Boston, the first of many roles for opera director Sarah Caldwell. Manon continued to be one of Sills' signature roles throughout most of her career. In January 1964, she sang her first Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' for Caldwell. Although Sills drew critical praise for her coloratura technique and for her performance, she was not fond of the latter role; she observed that she often passed the time between the two arias and the finale addressing holiday cards.

Peak singing years

In 1966, the New York City Opera revived Handel's then virtually unknown opera seria ''Giulio Cesare'' (with Norman Treigle as Cæsar), and Sills' performance as Cleopatra made her an international opera star. Sills also made her "unofficial" Met debut in its "Opera in the Parks" program as Donna Anna in ''Don Giovanni'', though nothing further came of this other than offers from Rudolf Bing for roles such as Flotow's ''Martha''. In subsequent seasons at the NYCO, Sills had great successes in the roles of the Queen of Shemakha in Rimsky-Korsakov's ''The Golden Cockerel'', the title role in ''Manon'', Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', and the three female leads Suor Angelica, Giorgetta, and Lauretta in Puccini's trilogy ''Il trittico''.

In 1969, Sills sang Zerbinetta in the American premiere (in a concert version) of the 1912 version of Richard Strauss's ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' with the Boston Symphony. Her performance of the role, especially Zerbinetta's aria, "Grossmächtige Prinzessin", which she sang in the original higher key, won her acclaim. Home video-taped copies circulated among collectors for years afterwards, often commanding large sums on Internet auction sites (the performance was released commercially in 2006, garnering high praise). The second major event of the year was her debut as Pamira in Rossini's ''The Siege of Corinth'' at La Scala, a success that put her on the cover of ''Newsweek''.

Sills's now high-profile career landed her on the cover of ''Time'' in 1971, where she was described as "America's Queen of Opera". The title was appropriate because Sills had purposely limited her overseas engagements because of her family. Her major overseas appearances include London's Covent Garden, Milan's La Scala, La Fenice in Venice, the Vienna State Opera, the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland, and concerts in Paris. In South America, she sang in the opera houses of Buenos Aires and Santiago, a concert in Lima, Peru, and appeared in several productions in Mexico City, including ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' with Luciano Pavarotti. On November 9, 1971, her performance in the New York City Opera's production of ''The Golden Cockerel'' was telecast live to cable TV subscribers.

During this period, she made her first television appearance as a talk-show personality on ''Virginia Graham's Girl Talk'', a weekday series syndicated by ABC Films. An opera fan who was Talent Coordinator for the series persuaded the producer to put her on the air and she was a huge hit. Throughout the rest of her career she shone as a talk show guest, sometimes also functioning as a guest host. Sills underwent successful surgery for ovarian cancer in late October 1974 (sometimes misreported as breast cancer). Her recovery was so rapid and complete that she opened in ''Daughter of the Regiment'' at the San Francisco Opera a month later.

Following Sir Rudolf Bing's departure as director, Sills finally made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on April 7, 1975 in ''The Siege of Corinth'', receiving an eighteen-minute ovation. Other operas she sang at the Met include ''La traviata'', ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', ''Thaïs'', and ''Don Pasquale'' (directed by John Dexter). In an interview after his retirement, Bing stated that his refusal to use Sills, as well as his preference for engaging, almost exclusively, Italian stars such as Renata Tebaldi – due to his notion that American audiences expected to see Italian stars – was the single biggest mistake of his career. Sills attempted to downplay her animosity towards Bing while she was still singing, and even in her two autobiographies. But in a 1997 interview, Sills spoke her mind plainly, "Oh, Mr. Bing is an ass. [W]hile everybody said what a great administrator he was and a great this, Mr. Bing was just an improbable, impossible General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera.... The arrogance of that man."

Sills was a recitalist, especially in the final decade of her career. She sang in mid-size cities and on college concert series, bringing her art to many who might never see her on stage in a fully staged opera. She also sang concerts with a number of symphony orchestras. Sills continued to perform for New York City Opera, her home opera house, essaying new roles right up to her retirement, including the leading roles in Rossini's ''Il Turco in Italia'', Franz Lehár's ''Die lustige Witwe'' and Gian Carlo Menotti's ''La loca'', a role written especially for her.

Although Sills' voice type was characterized as a "lyric coloratura", she took a number of heavier spinto and dramatic coloratura roles more associated with heavier voices as she grew older, including Donizetti's ''Lucrezia Borgia'' (with Susanne Marsee as Orsini) and the same composer's Tudor Queens, ''Anna Bolena'', ''Maria Stuarda'' and ''Roberto Devereux'' (opposite Plácido Domingo in the title part). She was admired in those roles for transcending the lightness of her voice with dramatic interpretation, although it may have come at a cost: Sills later commented that ''Roberto Devereux'' shortened her career by at least four years.

Sills popularized opera through her talk show appearances, including Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, David Frost, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, and Dinah Shore. Sills hosted her own talk show, ''Lifestyles with Beverly Sills'', which ran on Sunday mornings on NBC for two years in the late 1970s; it won an Emmy Award. In 1979 she even appeared on ''The Muppet Show''. Down-to-earth and approachable, Sills helped dispel the traditional image of the temperamental opera diva.

Later years and death

In 1978, Sills announced she would retire on October 27, 1980, in a farewell gala at the New York City Opera. In the spring of 1979, she began acting as co-director of NYCO, and became its sole general director as of the fall season of that year, a post she held until 1989, although she remained on the NYCO board until 1991. During her time as general director, Sills helped turn what was then a financially struggling opera company into a viable enterprise. She also devoted herself to various arts causes and such charities as the March of Dimes and was sought after for speaking engagements on college campuses and for fund raisers.

From 1994 to 2002, Sills was chairman of Lincoln Center. In October 2002, she agreed to serve as chairman of the Metropolitan Opera, for which she had been a board member since 1991. She resigned as Met chairman in January 2005, citing family as the main reason (she had to place her husband, whom she had cared for over eight years, in a nursing home). She stayed long enough to supervise the appointment of Peter Gelb, formerly head of Sony Classical Records, as the Met's General Manager, to succeed Joseph Volpe in August 2006.

Peter Greenough, Sills's husband, died on September 6, 2006, at the age of 89. They would have had their 50th wedding anniversary on November 17, 2006.

She co-hosted ''The View'' for Best Friends Week on November 9, 2006, as Barbara Walters' best friend. She said that she didn't sing anymore, even in the shower, to preserve the memory of her voice.

She appeared on screen in movie theaters during HD transmissions live from the Met, interviewed during intermissions by the host Margaret Juntwait on January 6, 2007 (''I puritani'' simulcast), as a backstage interviewer on February 24, 2007 (''Eugene Onegin'' simulcast) and then, briefly, on April 28, 2007 (''Il trittico'' simulcast).

On June 28, 2007, the Associated Press and CNN reported that Sills was hospitalized as "gravely ill", from lung cancer. With her daughter at her bedside, Beverly Sills succumbed to cancer on July 2, 2007, at the age of 78.

Operatic repertoire

These are the roles that Sills has performed on stage or for television or radio.

{|class="wikitable sortable" !Composer!!Opera!!Role!!In repertoire!!Performed with!!Recorded |- |Bellini||''I Capuleti e i Montecchi''||Giulietta||1975||Opera Company of Boston||Yes |- |Bellini||''I puritani''||Elvira||1972–1978||Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Tulsa Opera||Yes |- |Bellini||''Norma''||Norma||1972–1978||Opera Company of Boston, Opera Theatre of New Jersey, Connecticut Opera, Ravinia Festival, San Diego Opera, San Antonio Opera||Yes |- |Bizet||''Carmen''||Frasquita||1951||Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company||No |- |Bizet||''Carmen''||Micaela||1952–1958||Charles Wagner Opera Company, Robin Hood Dell West, Cosmopolitan Opera||No |- |Bizet||''Carmen''||Carmen||1956||Musicarnival||No |- |Bizet||''Les pêcheurs de perles''||Leila||1956||DuMont Television Network||Yes |- |Boito||''Mefistofele''||Helen of Troy||1953||San Francisco Opera||No |- |Charpentier||''Louise''||Louise||1962–1977||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Anna Bolena''||Anna ||1973–1975||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Don Pasquale''||Norina||1978–1980||Opera Company of Boston, Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera||Yes |- |Donizetti||''La fille du régiment''||Marie||1970–1977||Opera Company of Boston, Carnegie Hall, San Antonio Opera, Philadelphia Lyric Opera, San Diego Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Edmonton Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Memphis, Palm Beach Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''L'elisir d'amore''||Adina||1964||Opera Company of Boston||No |- |Donizetti||''Lucia di Lammermoor''||Lucia||1968–1977||Fort Worth Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Edmonton Opera, Opera Company of Boston, New York City Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes, La Scala, San Antonio Grand Opera, Ravinia Festival, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Covent Garden, Tulsa Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Mississippi Opera Association, Zoo Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, New Orleans Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Seattle Opera, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Opera Memphis, San Antonio Symphony, Florentine Opera, Opera Omaha, Metropolitan Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Lucrezia Borgia''||Lucrezia Borgia||1975–1976||New York City Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Maria Stuarda''||Maria Stuarda||1972–1974||New York City Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Roberto Devereux''||Elizabeth I||1970–1975||New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Wolf Trap Opera ||Yes |- |Gounod||''Faust''||Marguerite||1963–1970||Boston Opera Group, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Orlando Opera, San Antonio Grand Opera Festival, Duluth Symphony Orchestra||Yes |- |Handel||''Ariodante''||Ginevra||1971||Kennedy Center||Yes |- |Handel||''Giulio Cesare''||Cleopatra||1966–1971||New York City Opera, Teatro Colón, Cincinnati May Festival ||Yes |- |Handel||''Semele''||Semele||1967–1969||Cleveland Orchestra, Caramoor Festival ||Yes |- |Hanson||''Merry Mount''||Lady Marigold Sandys||1964||San Antonio Symphony||No |- |Hindemith||''Hin und zurück''||Helene||1965||WGBH-TV||Yes |- |Kálmán||''Gräfin Mariza''||Countess Mariza||1946||Hartman Theatre in Columbus, Ohio||No |- |Lehár||''The Merry Widow''||Sonia||1956–1965||Musicarnival, New York City Opera, Casa Mañana, Robin Hood Dell||No |- |Leoncavallo||''Pagliacci''||Nedda||1965||Fort Worth Opera||No |- |Lehár||''The Merry Widow''||Hanna Glawari||1977–1979||San Diego Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera||No |- |Massenet||''Manon''||Manon||1953–1978||Baltimore Opera Company, New York City Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia||Yes |- |Massenet||''Thaïs''||Thaïs||1954–1978||DuMont Television Network, San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera||Yes |- |Menotti||''La Loca''||Juana La Loca||1979||San Diego Opera, New York City Opera||Yes |- |Meyerbeer||''Les Huguenots''||Marguerite||1969||Carnegie Hall||Yes |- |Montemezzi||''L'amore dei tre re''||Fiora||1956||Philadelphia Grand Opera Company||No |- |Moore||''The Ballad of Baby Doe''||Baby Doe||1958–1969||New York City Opera, Musicarnival||Yes |- |Moore||''The Wings of the Dove''||Milly Theale||1962||New York City Opera||No |- |Mozart||''Der Schauspieldirektor''||Madame Goldentrill||1956||New York City Opera||No |- |Mozart||''Die Entführung aus dem Serail''||Konstanze||1965–1975||Boston Opera Group, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Grant Park, Tanglewood Music Festival, Frederic R. Mann Auditorium, Ravinia Festival||Yes |- |Mozart||''Die Zauberflöte''||Queen of the Night ||1964–1967||Boston Opera Group, Théâtre de Beaulieu, Tanglewood Music Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Vienna State Opera, New York City Opera, CBC Radio||Yes |- |Mozart||''Don Giovanni''||Donna Elvira||1953–1955||San Francisco Opera, Chattanooga Opera Association||No |- |Mozart||''Don Giovanni''||Donna Anna||1963–1967||New York City Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Metropolitan Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Théâtre de Beaulieu, Baltimore Opera Company ||Yes |- |Mozart||''Le nozze di Figaro''||Countess||1965||Miami Opera||No |- |Offenbach||''Les contes d'Hoffmann''||Three Heroines||1964–1973||New Orleans Opera, Grant Park, Opera Company of Boston, Cincinnati Opera, New York City Opera, Baltimore Opera Company, Palacio de Bellas Artes, San Antonio Grand Opera, San Antonio Symphony, Shreveport Opera, Municipal Theater of Santiago, San Diego Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Symphony ||Yes |- |Puccini||''La bohème''||Musetta||1958–1963||Cosmopolitan Opera, New York City Opera||No |- |Puccini||''La bohème''||Mimi||1965||Seattle Opera||No |- |Puccini||''Gianni Schicchi''||Lauretta||1967||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Puccini||''Suor Angelica''||Suor Angelica||1967||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Puccini||''Il tabarro''||Giorgetta||1967||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Puccini||''Tosca''||Tosca||1957–1960||Murrah High School Auditorium for the Jackson Opera Guild, Musicarnival|| No |- |Rameau||''Hippolyte et Aricie''||Aricie||1966||Opera Company of Boston||Yes |- |Rimsky-Korsakov||''Le Coq d'Or''||Queen Shemakha||1967–1971||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Romberg||''The Student Prince''||Kathie||1954||''Chicago Theater of the Air''||Yes |- |Rossini||''The Barber of Seville''||Rosina||1974–1980||Opera Company of Boston, San Antonio Symphony, New York City Opera, Kennedy Center, Fort Worth Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Festival Internacional Cervantino, Robin Hood Dell ||Yes |- |Rossini||''Il turco in Italia''||Fiorilla||1978–1979||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Rossini||''The Siege of Corinth''||Pamira||1969–1976|| La Scala, Metropolitan Opera||Yes |- |Johann Strauss II||''Die Fledermaus''||Rosalinda||1955–1980||Musicarnival, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Company of Boston||Yes |- |Johann Strauss II||''Die Fledermaus''||Adele||1977–1980||New York City Opera, San Diego Opera||Yes |- |Richard Strauss||''Ariadne auf Naxos(original version)''||Zerbinetta||1969||Boston Symphony Orchestra||Yes |- |Richard Strauss||''Elektra''||Fifth Maidservant||1953||San Francisco Opera ||No |- |Sullivan||''H.M.S. Pinafore''||Josephine||1945||Providence, Rhode Island at the Metropolitan Theater and Hartford, Connecticut at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium||No |- |Sullivan||''The Pirates of Penzance''||Mabel||1945||Hartford, Connecticut at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium||No |- |Suppé||''Die schöne Galathee''||Galatea||1965||Fort Worth Opera||No |- |Tchaikovsky||''Cherevichki'' (performed under the title ''The Golden Slipper'')||Oxana||1955||New York City Opera||No |- |Thomas||''Mignon''||Philine||1956||New York City Opera||No |- |Verdi||Aida||Aida||1954–1960||University of Utah football stadium, Paterson, New Jersey, Central City Opera|| Yes |- |Verdi||''La traviata''||Violetta||1951–1977||Kingston High School (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), Charleston Municipal Auditorium, Orlando Municipal Auditorium, Saenger Theatre, Duke University, Academy of Music, Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, Portland Civic Opera Association, DuMont Television Network, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Tulsa Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Antonio Symphony, Grant Park, Teatro di San Carlo, Connecticut Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera Company of Boston, La Fenice, San Antonio Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Ravinia Festival, Palm Beach Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Wolf Trap Opera Company, San Diego Opera || Yes |- |Verdi||''Rigoletto''||Gilda||1957–1977|| Grant Park, Opera Company of Boston || Yes |- |Wagner||''Die Walküre''||Gerhilde||1953||San Francisco Opera||No |- |Weisgall||''Six Characters in Search of an Author''||Coloratura||1959–1960||New York City Opera||Yes |- |-class="sortbottom" |}

Honors and awards

Sills received many honors and awards from the 1970s through her final years. Here are a list of her major awards, divided by category:

Grammy Award Nominations:

*1969 - Scenes and Arias from French Opera;

*1970 - Mozart and Strauss Arias;

*1976 - Music of Victor Herbert (WINNER)

Emmy Award Nominations:

*1975 - Profile in Music: Beverly Sills, Festival '75 (WINNER);

*1977 - Sills and Burnett at the Met;

*1978 - Lifestyles with Beverly Sills (WINNER);

*1980 - Beverly Sills in Concert;

*1981 - Great Performances: Beverly! Her Farewell Performance

Honorary Doctorates in Music:

*1972 - Temple University;

*1973 - New York University & New England Conservatory of Music;

*1974 - Harvard University

*1975 - California Institute of the Arts

Other Music-related awards:

*1970 - Musical America - Musician of the Year;

1971 - Inducted as a National Patroness of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity on May 1

*1972 - Edison Award - Manon recording;

*1973 - Handel Medallion from New York City for artistic achievement;

*1979 - Recording Industry of America Cultural Award;

*1980 - Golden Baton, American Symphony Orchestra League;

*1985 - Kennedy Center Honors;

*1990 - National Medal of Arts from National Endowment for the Arts;

1996 - The 2nd Annual Heinz Award in Arts and Humanities

*2005 - Beverly Sills Artist Award established by the Metropolitan Opera ($50,000 annual award);

*2007 - Inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame

Charitable and Humanitarian Awards:

*1979 - Pearl S. Buck Women's Award;

*1980 - Presidential Medal of Freedom;

*1981 - Barnard College Medal of Distinction;

*1984 - Charles S. Hughes Gold Medal Award - Nat. Conf. of Christians and Jews;

*1985 - Gold Medal from National Institute of Social Sciences

Recordings and broadcasts

During her operatic career, Sills recorded eighteen full-length operas:

''The Ballad of Baby Doe'' (Bible, Cassel; Buckley, 1959)

''Giulio Cesare'' (Wolff, Forrester, Treigle; Rudel, 1967)

''Roberto Devereux'' (Wolff, Ilosfalvy, Glossop; Mackerras, 1969)

''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (Bergonzi, Cappuccilli, Díaz; Schippers, 1970)

''Manon'' (Gedda, Souzay, Bacquier; Rudel, 1970)

''La traviata'' (Gedda, Panerai; Ceccato, 1971)

''Maria Stuarda'' (Farrell, Burrows, L.Quilico; Ceccato, 1971)

''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (Marsee, Burrows, Treigle; Rudel, 1972)

''Anna Bolena'' (Verrett, Burrows, Plishka; Rudel, 1972)

''I puritani'' (Gedda, L.Quilico, Plishka; Rudel, 1973)

''Norma'' (Verrett, di Giuseppe, Plishka; Levine, 1973)

''The Siege of Corinth'' (Verrett, Theyard, Díaz; Schippers, 1974)

''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' (Barbieri, Gedda, Milnes, Raimondi; Levine, 1974–75)

''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (Baker, Gedda, Herincx, Lloyd; G.Patanè, 1975)

''Thaïs'' (Gedda, Milnes; Maazel, 1976)

''Louise'' (Gedda, van Dam; Rudel, 1977)

''Don Pasquale'' (Kraus, Titus, Gramm; Caldwell, 1978)

''Rigoletto'' (M.Dunn, Kraus, Milnes, Ramey; Rudel, 1978)

Sills also recorded nine solo recital albums of arias and songs, and was soprano soloist on a 1967 recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 2.

She starred in eight opera productions televised on PBS and several more on other public TV systems. She participated in such TV specials as ''A Look-in at the Met'' with Danny Kaye in 1975, ''Sills and Burnett at the Met'', with Carol Burnett in 1976, and ''Profile in Music'', which won an Emmy Award for its showing in the US in 1975, although it had been recorded in England in 1971.

Some of those televised performances have been commercially distributed on videotape and DVD:

''Ariadne auf Naxos'' (Watson, Nagy; Leinsdorf, 1969) [Concert Version]

''La fille du régiment'' (Costa-Greenspon, McDonald, Malas; Wendelken-Wilson, Mansouri, 1974)

''Roberto Devereux'' (Marsee, Alexander, Fredricks; Rudel, Capobianco, 1975)

''La traviata'' (H.Price, Fredricks; Rudel, Capobianco, 1976)

''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' (H.Price, Titus, Gramm, Ramey; Caldwell, Caldwell, 1976)

''Manon'' (H.Price, Fredricks, Ramey; Rudel, Capobianco, 1977)

Others not available commercially include:

''The Magic Flute'' (Pracht, Shirley, Reardon; NN, NN, 1966)

''Le coq d'or'' (Costa-Greenspon, di Giuseppe, Treigle; Rudel, Capobianco, 1971)

''Die lustige Witwe'' (H.Price, Titus; Alcántara, Capobianco, 1977)

''Il Turco in Italia'' (Marsee, H.Price, Titus, Gramm; Rudel, Capobianco, 1978)

''Don Pasquale'' (Kraus, Hagegård, Bacquier; Rescigno, Dexter, 1979)

After her retirement from singing in 1980 up through 2006, Sills was the host for many of the PBS ''Live from Lincoln Center'' telecasts.

Further reading/listening/viewing

Sills, Beverly (1976). ''Bubbles: A Self-Portrait''. New York: Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN 0-446-81520-9. A revised edition was issued in 1981 as ''Bubbles: An Encore''.

Sills, Beverly (with Lawrence Linderman) (1987). ''Beverly: An Autobiography''. New York: Bantam Books.ISBN

0-553-05173-3.

Sills, Beverly (1987). ''Beverly Sills: On My Own''. ISBN 0-553-45743-8. An audio book designated as a companion to ''Beverly: An Autobiography'', with Sills speaking in interview about her life, interspersed with narration and live musical excerpts. There is no direct text from the printed autobiography.

Paolucci, Bridget (1990). ''Beverly Sills''. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 1-55546-677-X.

Sargeant, Withrop (1973). ''Divas''. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 0-698-10489-7.

''Beverly Sills: Made in America'' (2006). Deutsche Grammophon B0007999-09. A 90-minute documentary on Sills's singing career with many rare video performance and interview clips.

References

External links

Beverly Sills Online: tribute site with discography, bibliography, photo gallery, sound and video clips, timeline, press articles and other resources.

Beverly Sills:Special mother to the special children: summarizes Sills' charitable work for disabled children.

: Filmography

Beverly Sills: National Women's Hall of Fame profile

Beverly Sills at BrainyQuote: quotations

Beverly Sills: Made in America (PBS Great Performances)

Beverly Sills at OperaMom.com

''NY Times'' five-page obituary, dated July 3, 2007

Category:1929 births Category:2007 deaths Category:American female singers Category:American Jews Category:American opera singers Category:American singers Category:American sopranos Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Category:Cancer deaths in New York Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Erasmus Hall High School alumni Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Jewish opera singers Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Opera managers Category:Operatic sopranos Category:People associated with the Metropolitan Opera Category:People from Brooklyn Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients

de:Beverly Sills es:Beverly Sills fr:Beverly Sills it:Beverly Sills he:בוורלי סילס nl:Beverly Sills ja:ビヴァリー・シルズ pl:Beverly Sills pt:Beverly Sills simple:Beverly Sills sr:Беверли Силс sv:Beverly Sills zh:贝弗利·希尔斯

Coordinates	54°45′″N55°58′″N
name	Charlie Sexton
background	solo_singer
born	August 11, 1968
origin	Born: San Antonio, TexasRaised: Austin, Texas
instrument	Guitar
genre	BluesFolkRock
occupation	Musician
years active	1983–present
label	Back Porch Records, MCA Records
associated acts	Bob Dylan, Arc Angels, Los Super Seven
website	charliesexton.com }}

Charles Wayne Sexton (born August 11, 1968) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band from 1999 to 2002 and since 2009. His style of playing has varied and he has been associated with artists in the blues, folk, rock and punk genres.

Biography

Sexton's mother was 16 years old when she gave birth to him in San Antonio, Texas. When he was four, he and his mother moved to Austin, where clubs such as the Armadillo World Headquarters, Soap Creek Saloon, and more notably the Split Rail and Antone's Blues Club later exposed him to popular music.

After a brief period living outside Austin with his mother, Sexton moved back to Austin at the age of 12.

By the early 1980s, while Charlie and his brother Will Sexton were still young boys, they were both taught how to play guitar by the local Austin legend W. C. Clark, known as the "Godfather of Austin Blues". With the help of Joe Ely and other local musicians such as Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sexton developed his talents as a musician.

Early successes

In 1983 Sexton (under the name "Guitar Charles Sexton") appeared on a five-song EP by the group Maxwell (a.k.a. the Eager Beaver Boys). Entitled ''Juvenile Junk'', the EP's credits list the following musicians: Maxwell (lead vocals), Charles Sexton (guitars, backup vocals), Alex Buttersworth Napier (bass, backup vocals, maracas), and Gary Muddkatt Smith (drums, backup vocals, claves). Song titles are ''Straight As An Arrow'', ''Don't Cha Know'', ''Anna Lou'', ''Back To School Blues'', and ''Oh Baby Show''. All five songs appear on side one (with side two being empty dead space). Old album jackets by groups such as the Flock were turned inside-out and used in the making of the EP's homemade covers. The front side is simply a pasted-on sheet of lined tablet paper with "Maxwell" and "Juvenile Junk" written in crayon; the back side is a pasted-on blue sheet with credits and photos. ''Juvenile Junk'' is one of the rarest and most sought after items in Sexton's vinyl discography.

In 1985 Sexton released his debut full-length album, ''Pictures for Pleasure''. Recorded in Los Angeles when he was 16 years old, it yielded the Top 20 hit single, ''Beat's So Lonely''.

In 1987 Sexton was an occasional opening act for David Bowie on his Glass Spider Tour. Sexton appears on the Glass Spider video playing guitar on Iggy Pop's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and the Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat".

While still in his late teens, Sexton's skills as a guitar player were in great demand, and he became a popular session player, recording with artists such as Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Don Henley, Jimmy Barnes and Bob Dylan. He eventually followed up his debut with the self-titled album ''Charlie Sexton'', recorded at the age of twenty.

Other projects

In 1988 Sexton worked for a time with Will Sexton, his brother. The band, Will and the Kill, released a 38 minute self-titled album featuring both Sexton and Jimmie Vaughan on tracks. The album was recorded at the Fire Station Studio and produced by Ely and released via MCA Records.

Sexton later contributed songs to various motion picture soundtracks, including ''True Romance'' and ''Air America'' while making a cameo fronting a bar band in ''Thelma & Louise''.

In 1992, Sexton along with Doyle Bramhall II (son of Stevie Ray Vaughan's writing partner Doyle Bramhall), Tommy Shannon, and Chris "Whipper" Layton (both from Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan's famed rhythm section) formed Arc Angels. The blues/rock band recorded and released a self-titled album on Geffen Records that same year. The Steven Van Zandt-produced disc was well-received by fans and critics alike. However, due to internal strife, including lack of communication (all members involved) and drug abuse (Bramhall), the band broke up in less than three years.

Next was the Charlie Sexton Sextet in 1995. ''Under The Wishing Tree'' was released on MCA Records. Although sales were disappointing, it was met with critical acclaim.

In the meantime, Sexton continued to perform with other artists, appearing on such notable albums as Lucinda Williams' ''Car Wheels on a Gravel Road'' and Shawn Colvin's Grammy-winning album ''A Few Small Repairs''.

Association with Bob Dylan

In 1999, Sexton was hired by Bob Dylan to replace Bucky Baxter. Sexton had previously played with Dylan during a pair of Austin, Texas concerts in 1996, and on some demos recorded in the fall of 1983.

Sexton's residency with Dylan from 1999–2002 brought him great exposure, with many critics singling out the interplay between him and Larry Campbell, who was also a guitarist in Dylan's backing band. Hailed as one of Dylan's best bands, the group recorded a number of studio recordings, including ''Things Have Changed'' (from the 2000 film ''Wonder Boys'') and 2001's critically acclaimed album, ''Love and Theft''. He also performed and appeared with them in 2003's ''Masked & Anonymous''.

In October 2009, Sexton rejoined Dylan's touring band, replacing Denny Freeman.

Recent activity

In the meantime, Sexton continued working with other artists, producing Double Trouble's ''Been a Long Time'' and Lucinda Williams's ''Essence'', both released in 2001. Since first leaving Dylan's band, Sexton has produced numerous other works, including Edie Brickell's ''Volcano'' (2003), Jon Dee Graham's ''Great Battle'' (2004), Shannon McNally's ''Geronimo'' (2005), and Los Super Seven's ''Heard It on the X'' (2005). In late 2005, Sexton released his latest album, ''Cruel and Gentle Things''. He has continued his record producing role for other artists, including 2007's release ''Wall of Fire'' by Canadian Peter Elkas.

In 2002, the Arc Angels began playing occasional "reunion" shows around Austin and Dallas. In 2009, it was announced the band, with original members Layton and Bramhall (but not Shannon), would begin touring extensively — including a stint with Eric Clapton in England — and recording a second album, their first new studio album in 17 years.

He played the guitar and sang alongside Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris, who performed Leonard Cohen's ''Hallelujah'' for the Hope For Haiti Now Benefit.

On April 24, Charlie and Will Sexton made a rare appearance as a duo, opening for Roky Erickson and Okkervil River at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. Sexton was also the guest performer for Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour stop in Austin on May 14, 2010.

Most recently, Charlie appeared as a guest guitarist on the band Spoon's performance on the television show Austin City Limits. The episode premiered on PBS on October 9, 2010. Sexton appeared on one song, ''Who Makes Your Money''.

Discography

;Studio albums ''Pictures for Pleasure'' (1985) U.S. #15 ''Charlie Sexton'' (1989) U.S. #104

''Under the Wishing Tree'' (1995)

''Cruel and Gentle Things'' (2005)

References

External links

Charlie Sexton collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Category:1968 births Category:American blues guitarists Category:American blues singer-songwriters Sexton, Charle Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:Blues rock musicians Category:Living people Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from San Antonio, Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Live Music Archive artists

fr:Charlie Sexton it:Charlie Sexton ja:チャーリー・セクストン pt:Charlie Sexton

Vinson Valega is a jazz musician and composer who resides in New York City. He was born in Silver Spring, MD, on March 12, 1965. He was raised outside of Washington, DC in Olney, MD.

Vinson is also involved in environmental issues and progressive activism. Inspired by the concept of Consilience that was first developed by the socio-biologist, Edward O. Wilson, he is stimulating a "dialogue BEYOND music" at his non-profit, artist-run production company, "Consilience Productions". He has been married since 1998 to artist, Sharon Louden.

Biography

thumb|right|Vinson ValegaVinson grew up in a musical family near Washington, D.C., studying classical piano from age seven until switching to the drums when he was 12. He played drums for three years in the All-County Jazz Ensemble during high school and subsequently held the drum chair in the University of Pennsylvania Big Band during college. After graduating from UPENN with a B.A. in Economics, Vinson moved to New York City in the early 90's to study music at the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan, where he studied with Marvin Smith (of The Tonight Show Band), Vernel Fournier, and Norm Freeman (of the New York Philharmonic).

Vinson has performed in many clubs in the New York Metropolitan area, including the Blue Note, Smoke, The Jazz Gallery, 55 Bar, Birdland, Smalls, Cornelia Street Cafe, Cleopatra's Needle, and Trumpets of Montclair, NJ. An avid composer, Vinson also teaches privately and served on the staff of the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California from 1999-2001. He has toured throughout North America and Europe with his groups and others, and he appears on Matthew Fries' CD, ''Song For Today'' (TCB) and the Ganz Brother's release, ''First Steps'' (Extravaganza). Vinson also has four CDs out as a leader, ''Biophilia'', ''Awake'', ''Consilience'', and ''Live@147''.

In addition, Vinson has also worked with or played alongside with many of the great musicians in jazz, such as Grover Washington, Jr., Dakota Staton, Clarke Terry, James Williams, Donald Brown, Harold Mabern, Jr., Jamil Nasser, Ron McClure, Bob Mintzer, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner, Terell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Jim Rotundi, David Hazeltine, Joel Frahm, Dena DeRose, Vincent Herring, and Candido Camero, among others.

References

"...traditional jazz styles are merged with modern songwriting to create an engaging new whole. The interplay between all of the musicians is quite organic..and highly successful in creating a plethora of colors, while bridging the gap between divergent styles." JazzChicago.net (2010)

"On ''Biophila'', Valega’s tour de force, 'A Moment of Silence,' is a challenging, shape-shifting number that puts the entire ensemble through its paces." Jazz Times (2010)

"There is a lot to love on ''Biophilia'', if for no other reason than to hear a band truly listening to each other. That is an art that should never be taken for granted. Anton Denner's flute is magical, adding pure beauty to the Duke Ellington masterpiece, 'Sunset and the Mockingbird.'" NY Culture Examiner (2010)

"Valega's ”d-ruminations” are colorful and deliberate as every part of his kit is skillfully used." AllAboutJazz.com (2004)

"Valega finds quirky ways of laying down the groove, coloring it with subtle polyrhythms and syncopation." Cadence Magazine (2004)

"Valega’s drumming continually evolves, steady rhythmically but given to frequent tonal shifts which create new environments which his bandmates respond to with snap reflexes." Philadelphia City Paper online (2005)

"The reality of jazz in the 21st century is that there are many talented players, but not enough long term collaborations between musicians sharing common musical values and a similar vision. The Vinson Valega Trio seeks to defy this trend, using its five years as a working group to carefully construct a book of original and standard songs that reflects their extensive experience together while keeping in tune with each member’s inventive style." The Villager, New York City (2005)

"The album (''Consilience'') is filled with energized rhythms, smooth melodic structures and understated harmonies; many of which are not only surprising, but are also thought-provoking. There are mind-blowing solos as well as well-rounded augmentations of some of the finest composers and innovators in music. Jazzreview.com (2005)

Song Samples

All compositions by Vinson Valega

External links

Official Vinson Valega website: Consilience Productions Vinson Valega releases:

''Biophilia''

''Awake''

''Consilience''

''Live@147''

AllAboutJazz.com

Online essay: Get Involved! Music agency: ''Just Jazz''

Co-Op America member

Category:American jazz drummers Category:American jazz composers Category:Musicians from New York Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Internet activism Category:American activists Category:1965 births Category:Living people