An auger is a drilling device, or drill bit, that usually includes a rotating helical screw blade called a "''flighting''" to act as a screw conveyor to remove the drilled out material. The rotation of the blade causes the material to move out of the hole being drilled.

An auger used for digging post holes is called an earth auger, soil auger, or mechanized post hole digger. This kind of auger can be a manually turned, handheld device, or powered by an electric motor or internal-combustion engine, possibly attached to a tractor (being provided with power by the tractor engine's power take-off as shown). Handheld augers can also be used for making holes for garden planting.

Wood augers have a screw to pull them into the wood, as a gimlet has, and a cutting lip that slices out the bottom of the hole. The auger bit, meant to be used in a brace, also has cutting spurs to cut a clean circle deeper than where the lips scrape out the wood.

In construction, augers are used for special drilling rigs to dig holes for deep foundation piles. Another use is for piles forming a piling retaining wall, which can be constructed in the same way as foundation piles.

Augers – either gas- or hand-powered – are used by ice fishermen to drill holes to fish through. Drilling into maple trees to extract maple syrup is also carried out with the use of augers.

References

Category:Agricultural machinery Category:Gardening tools Category:Mechanical hand tools

cs:Nebozez da:Naver (værktøj) de:Erdbohrer (Werkzeug) es:Barreno fr:Tarière is:Snigilbor it:Trivella nl:Avegaar ja:アースオーガー no:Navar nn:Navar pl:Świder (wiertnictwo) pt:Trado ru:Бур fi:Napakaira sv:Navare uk:Бур (інструмент)

name	Brian Auger
background	solo_singer
birth date	July 18, 1939
birth place	London, England
instrument	Keyboards
years active	1960s–present
associated acts	Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity, CAB, The Steampacket,
website
notable instruments	}}

Brian Auger (born 18 July 1939, London, England) is a jazz and rock keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ.

A jazz pianist, bandleader, session musician and Hammond B3 player, Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon and others. He has incorporated jazz, early British pop, R&B;, soul music and rock, and he has been nominated for a Grammy.

Biography

In 1965 Auger formed the group The Steampacket, along with Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, Vic Briggs and Rod Stewart. With Driscoll and the band, Trinity, he went on to record several hit singles, notably a cover version of David Ackles' "Road to Cairo" and Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", which was featured on ''Dylan Covered''. In 1969 Auger, Driscoll and Trinity appeared performing in the United States on the nationally telecast ''33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee''.

In 1970 he formed Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, shortly after abandoning the abortive "Wassenaar Arrangement" jazz-fusion commune in a small suburb of The Hague. The Oblivion Express served to cultivate several musicians, including future The Average White Band drummers Robbie McIntosh and Steve Ferrone, as well as guitarist Jim Mullen. Likewise, in 1971 he produced and appeared on Mogul Thrash's only album. Two members of that band, Roger Ball and Malcolm Duncan, would also go on to form the Average White Band.

In 1989, Auger was musical director for the thirteen-part film retrospective series "Villa Fantastica", made for German TV. A live recording of the series, ''Super Jam'' (1990), features Auger on piano, Pete York on drums, Dick Morrissey on tenor saxophone, Roy Williams on trombone, Harvey Weston on bass guitar, with singers Zoot Money and Maria Muldaur.

Auger toured with blues rocker Eric Burdon in the early 1990s, and recorded the live album ''Access All Areas'' with him in 1993. After several projects, including albums with family members, he reformed the Oblivion Express in the late 1990s, with a line-up that eventually featured both his son and daughter.

The Oblivion Express was revived with a 2005 recording and subsequent touring. The group featured Brian Auger, his son Karma Auger on drums, his daughter Savannah Auger on vocals, and Derek Frank on bass.

In 2012, Auger released one of the few solo albums of his career, "Language of the Heart", produced by Tea. It features Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Julian Coryell on guitars.

Discography

1965 - ''Don't Send Me No Flowers'' - Sonny Boy Williamson

1965 - ''Attention!''

1965-1969 - ''The Mod Years'' (Complete singles, B-sides, and rare tracks)

1967 - ''Open'' (Trinity's first album)

1968 - ''Definitely What''

1969 - ''Streetnoise'' (double album)

1969/1970 - ''Befour'' (Last Brian Auger Trinity album)

1970 - ''Oblivion Express'' (First Oblivion Express album)

1971 - ''A Better Land'' (Oblivion Express)

1972 - ''Second Wind'' (Oblivion Express)

1973 - ''Closer To It'' (Oblivion Express)

1975 - ''Straight Ahead'' (Oblivion Express)

1975 - ''Live Oblivion Volume 1''

1975 - ''Live Oblivion Volume 2''

1975 - ''Reinforcements'' (Oblivion Express)

1976 - ''Best of Brian Auger'' (double album)

1975 - ''Happiness Heartaches'' (Oblivion Express)

1978 - ''Encore'' - Brian Auger & Julie Tippetts (Reunion album)

1980 - ''Search Party''

1982 - ''Here and Now''

1987 - ''Keys to the Heart''

1990 - ''Super Jam''

1993 - ''Access All Areas: Live'' - Eric Burdon/Brian Auger Band (double album)

1993 - ''Tony Williams: Live in Tokyo'' 1978

1998 - ''Blue Groove'' - Karma Auger

1999 - ''Voices of Other Times'' (Oblivion Express)

2001 - ''Soft & Furry'' - Ali Auger

2004 - ''Auger Rhythms: Brian Augers Musical History'' (The Trinity, Julie Driscoll, Oblivion Express)

2005 - ''Looking In the Eye of the World'' (Oblivion Express)

2005 - ''Live at the Baked Potato'' (Oblivion Express) Double CD

2012 - ''Language of the Heart'' (Solo album)

Filmography

1969 - ''33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee''

2005 - ''Brian Auger: Insights of the Keyboard Master'' (DVD)

2005 - ''Live at the Baked Potato'' (Oblivion Express) DVD

See also

CAB

List of Hammond organ players

List of jazz fusion musicians

List of jazz organists

List of performers on Top of the Pops

References

Further reading

''Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul'' by Irwin Stambler

''Jazz-Rock Fusion: The People, the Music'' by Julie Coryell & Laura Friedman

''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' by Jon Pareles & Patricia Romanowski Bashe

''Encyclopedia of Rock'' by Phil Hardy & Dave Laing

''Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries of 60s Rock'' by Richie Unterberger

''Jimi Hendrix: The Man, the Magic, the Truth'' by Sharon Lawrence

''Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro'' by Michele Kort

''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' by Colin Larkin

''The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Seventies'' by Leonard Feather & Ira Gitler

''The New Musical Express Book of Rock'', 1975, Star Books

External links

Official Site - Brian Auger's Oblivion Express

Brian Auger Instructional Video/DVD - ''Insights of the Keyboard Master'' - Web Site

BBC - Classic Pop/Rock Review - Brian Auger Julie Driscoll & The Trinity, Open, Definitely What!, Streetnoise

Soul Patrol Jazz

''Brian Auger'' at All About Jazz

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:English jazz pianists Category:English keyboardists Category:English record producers Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:British rhythm and blues musicians

de:Brian Auger eo:Brian Auger fr:Brian Auger it:Brian Auger ja:ブライアン・オーガー sc:Brian Auger

name	Billy Mays
birth name	William Darrell Mays, Jr.
other names	Billy Mays, King of the Pitch
birth date	July 20, 1958
birth place	McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, United States
death date	June 28, 2009
death place	Tampa, Florida, United States
home town	McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
years active	1993–2009
parents	Billy Mays, Sr.Joyce Palm
children	Billy Mays IIIElizabeth Mays
spouse	Dolores "Dee Dee" MaysDeborah Mays
occupation	Television direct-response advertisement salesman }}

William Darrell "Billy" Mays, Jr. (July 20, 1958 – June 28, 2009) was an American television direct-response advertisement salesperson most notable for promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products on the Home Shopping Network, and through his company, Mays Promotions, Inc. He and his business partner, Anthony Sullivan, were also featured on ''PitchMen'', a TV series that documented their work. His distinctive beard and impassioned sales pitches made him a recognized television presence in the United States and Canada. Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida, home on the morning of June 28, 2009. He was pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight.

Early life

Mays was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, attended Sto-Rox High School, and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He later attended West Virginia University, where he was a walk-on linebacker on its football team during his two years there. After dropping out, he worked for his father's hazardous waste company before moving to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1983.

Career

On the Atlantic City boardwalk Mays sold the Washmatik portable washing device to passersby, along with other "As Seen on TV" products. In Atlantic City, he was taught how to sell by the older salesmen, saying "I was taught to pitch by a lot of old pitchmen. That's the kind of style I have." Mays then traveled to home shows, auto shows, and state fairs across the United States for a period of twelve years, selling various maintenance products and tools, including cleaning products and food choppers.

At a Pittsburgh home show in 1993, Mays struck up a friendship with rival salesman Max Appel, founder of Orange Glo International, a Denver-based manufacturer of cleaning products. He was then hired by the company to promote their line of cleaners, OxiClean, Orange Clean, Orange Glo, and Kaboom, on the Home Shopping Network in St. Petersburg, Florida. Customer response to Mays's sales pitches was enthusiastic, with a sharp increase in sales after his first day on the network, although some reviews were poor. He was very well known for shouting in an abrasive manner during infomercials. For example, ''Washington Post'' staff writer Frank Ahrens called him and other similar television salesmen "a full-volume pitchman, amped up like a candidate for a tranquilizer-gun takedown".

Mays was the CEO and founder of Mays Promotions, Inc., based at his home in Odessa, Florida. His services as a pitchman became highly sought-after, and he appeared in commercials for many diverse "as seen on TV" products such as Mighty Putty. Mays claimed to be an avid user of the products he promoted. In December 2008, Mays began appearing in ads for ESPN's online service, ESPN360. These ads were a slight departure for Mays as they were designed to be parodies of his and other infomercial cliches with Mays appearing to be doing a parody of himself. He also made a live appearance during the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl promoting ESPN's and ABC's January 1, 2009, bowl games.

On April 15, 2009, the Discovery Channel began airing ''PitchMen'', a documentary series that featured Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their jobs in direct-response marketing. After Mays's death, Discovery Channel aired a special Billy Mays tribute episode of ''PitchMen'' called "Pitchman: A Tribute to Billy Mays".

On March 27, 2009, Mays appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. He and Sullivan also appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' on June 23, 2009.

Prior to his death, Mays had signed a deal with Taco Bell to film infomercial-style commercials for the chain. Shooting was scheduled to begin in August 2009.

Personal life

Mays's first marriage to Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays ended in divorce. He had a son with Dolores named Billy Mays III, who was 22 years old at the time of Mays's death and who worked as a production assistant alongside his father on the ''PitchMen'' television show. Mays had a daughter, Elizabeth, with his second wife, Deborah Mays. His daughter was three years old at the time of his death. Mays's mother is Joyce Palm, and his father is Billy Mays, Sr.; they both outlived him.

In an interview during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Mays revealed himself to be a Republican.

Death

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida, home on the morning of June 28, 2009. He was pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight. The Associated Press reported that there were no indications that the house had been broken into, and that police did not suspect foul play. Initially, there was wrong speculation that he had a head injury after he was struck on the head by luggage after an airline landing mishap where tires blew out.

After an initial autopsy on Mays's body on June 29, Dr. Vernard Adams, the Hillsborough County, Florida medical examiner, stated that Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease and that heart disease was the likely cause of his death. According to a toxicology report released August 7, 2009, heart disease was the "primary cause of death" and cocaine was listed as a "contributory cause of death." In response to the release of the toxicology report, the Mays family issued a press release stating, "We are extremely disappointed by the press release released by the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office. We believe it contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension..." and said in the release that they were considering "an independent evaluation of the autopsy results".

The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release. The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays's cocaine use. Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said. However, in October 2009, the results of a second medical examination, commissioned by Mays' family, concluded that "cocaine was not a significant contributing factor" to his death.

Longtime friend and colleague A.J. Khubani, founder and CEO of the "As Seen on TV" product company Telebrands, said Mays never exhibited any signs of drug use and was always prepared for his many commercial shoots. "I'm just shocked," Khubani said. "He was the model of a responsible citizen."

According to subsequent news reports the toxicology tests also showed levels of painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone and tramadol, as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepam. Mays had suffered hip problems and was scheduled for hip replacement surgery the day after he was found dead.

Mays's funeral was held on July 3, 2009 in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. The pallbearers for the funeral wore blue shirts and khaki pants at the funeral, much like Mays wore when he advertised his products.

Fictional representation

In the ''South Park'' episode "Dead Celebrities", Mays's ghost appears repeatedly to Ike Broflovski, trying to sell him products from the afterlife with his catchphrase "Hi, Billy Mays here with the...". Mays's son, Billy Mays III, a self-proclaimed South Park fan, said he loved "Dead Celebrities", and found its portrayal of his father to be both tasteful and respectful.

Notable products pitched

!Product	!Description
Awesome Auger	A gardening tool.
Big City Slider Station	A mini-burger cooker.
The Ding King	A dent repairing device.
DualSaw	A circular saw with two blades.
ESPN360	A broadband service.
EZ Crunch Bowl	"A new way to eat breakfast cereal".
Flies Away	A fly trap.
Gopher	A tool for grabbing out-of-reach objects.
Grater Plater	A ceramic plate with grater teeth.
Green Now!	Lawn fertilizer in a can.
Grip Wrench	A tool to help gripping.
Handy Switch	A wireless electric switch.
Hercules Hook	A hook for hanging objects on a wall.
	Health insurance.
Impact Gel	A shoe insert.
iTie	A necktie with a hidden pocket.
Jupiter Jack	Cell-phone speaker system for the car
Kaboom!	Tile and shower cleaner.
Mighty Mendit	A bonding agent for mending cloth.
	An epoxy putty adhesive.
Mighty Putty Steel	A metal alloy adhesive putty.
Mighty Putty Wood	A non-shrinking epoxy putty for wood.
Mighty Tape	A self-fusing silicone rubber waterproof tape.
Orange Glo	A wood cleaner.
OxiClean	A general purpose cleaner.
Quick Chop	A chopping device.
Samurai Shark	A knife sharpener.
Simoniz Fix-It	A scratch remover.
Tool Band-it	A magnetic armband for holding hand tools.
Turbo Tiger	A vacuum cleaner.
Ultimate Chopper	A kitchen tool.
Vidalia Slice Wizard	A kitchen tool.
WashMatik	A hose that could pump water from a bucketwithout being hooked up to a faucet.
What Odor?	An odor-removing fluid.
Zorbeez	A chamois cloth.

References

External links

Official Twitter page

Category:1958 births Category:2009 deaths Category:American television personalities Category:Burials in Pennsylvania Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in Florida Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Florida Republicans Category:Infomercials Category:Pennsylvania Republicans Category:People from Atlantic City, New Jersey Category:People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania Category:People from Tampa, Florida Category:Salespeople Category:West Virginia Mountaineers football players

de:Billy Mays es:Billy Mays fr:Billy Mays nl:Billy Mays pt:Billy Mays ro:Billy Mays simple:Billy Mays fi:Billy Mays sv:Billy Mays

name	Julie Tippetts
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Julie Driscoll
birth date	June 08, 1947
Birth place	London, England
genre	pop music, jazz
years active	1960s–present
label	Marmalade
associated acts	Brian Auger, Keith Tippett
website	mindyourownmusic.co.uk
notable instruments	}}

Julie Tippetts (born Julie Driscoll, 8 June 1947, London, England) is an English singer and actress, known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger & The Trinity. Along with The Trinity, she was featured prominently in the 1969 television special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, singing "I'm a Believer" in a blues style with Micky Dolenz. She and Auger had previously worked in Steampacket, with Long John Baldry and Rod Stewart.

"This Wheel's on Fire" reached number five in the United Kingdom in June 1968. With distortion, the imagery of the title and the group's dress and performance, this version came to represent the psychedelic era in British music. Driscoll recorded the song again in the early 90s with Adrian Edmondson as the theme to the BBC comedy series ''Absolutely Fabulous'', whose main characters are throwbacks to that era.

Since the 1970s Driscoll has concentrated on experimental vocal music, married jazz musician Keith Tippett and collaborated with him. Her name is now 'Julie Tippetts', thus using the original spelling of her husband's surname. She participated in Keith Tippett's big band Centipede and, in 1974, took part in Robert Wyatt's Theatre Royal Drury Lane concert; released a solo album, ''Sunset Glow'' in 1975; and was lead vocalist on Carla Bley's album ''Tropic Appetites'' and in John Wolf Brennan's “HeXtet".

Later in the 1970s she toured with her own band, and recorded and performed as one of the vocal quartet 'Voice', with Maggie Nichols, Phil Minton and Brian Eley.

Discography

Here is a list of her selected work sorted mostly by recording date:

1963 - ''Take Me by the Hand (and Lead Me)(with the Harold Geller Group)''

1967 - ''Open'' (with Brian Auger & The Trinity)

1969 - ''Streetnoise'' (with Brian Auger & The Trinity)

1969 - ''Jools & Brian'' (with Brian Auger & The Trinity)

1971 - ''1969'' (featuring Keith Tippett Group)

1971 - ''Quartet Sequence'' (with John Stevens, Ron Herman & Trevor Watts)

1971 - (June) ''Septober Energy'' (with Centipede) (recorded at Wessex Sound Studios, London, during three days, produced by Robert Fripp)

1972 - ''Blueprint'' (with Keith Tippett, Roy Babbington, Frank Perry & Keith Bailey) (produced by Robert Fripp)

1974 - ''Tropic Appetites'' (with Carla Bley)

1975 - (August 6) ''Ovary Lodge'' (with Keith Tippett, Harry Miller & Frank Perry) - Live at Nettlefold Hall, London

1975 - ''Sunset Glow''

1975 - ''The Rock Peter and the Wolf'' (an arrangement of songs of the classic Peter and the Wolf story, with Gary Brooker, Bill Bruford, Phil Collins, Stephane Grappelli, Jack Lancaster, Jon Hiseman, Brian Eno, Alvin Lee, Gary Moore, Cozy Powell, Manfred Mann, Keith Tippett, Viv Stanshall, etc.

1978 - (May 22 thru 24) ''Frames: Music For An Imaginary Film'' (Keith Tippett's Ark) (recorded at Wessex Sound Studios, London)

1978 - ''Encore'' (with Brian Auger)

1982 - ''Best of Julie Driscoll'' - compilation

1982 - (June 29 thru July 3) with ''Company'' (Ursula Oppens, Fred Frith, George Lewis, Akio Suzuki, Keith Tippett, Moto Yoshizawa, Anne Le Baron, Phil Wachsmann & Derek Bailey (recorded in London during Company Week)

1987 - ''Couple in Spirit'' (duet with Keith Tippett) (mixed by Robert Fripp)

1989 - ''Fire in the Mountain'' (with Working Week)

1989 - ''Women With Voices'' (track #12, with Maggie Nicols, Sue Ferrar & Sylvia Hallett, recorded live, March 4, at Air Gallery, London)

1991 - (June 1) ''The Bristol Concert'' (with Mujician & The Georgian Ensemble as honorary guest) (recorded live at at St. George's concert hall, Brandon Hill, Bristol, UK, for BBC)

1991 - ''With Brian Auger & The Trinity'' - compilation

1992 - (January 2 & 3) ''Spirits Rejoice'' (with The Dedication Orchestra) (recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston, Surrey, UK)

1993 - (October 23) ''Twilight Etchings'' (with Willi Kellers & Keith Tippett) (recorded at the Podewil in Berlin during the Total Music Meeting)

1994 - (January 3 thru 5) ''Ixesha (Time)'' (with The Dedication Orchestra) (recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston, Surrey, UK)

1996 - ''Couple In Spirit II'' (duet with Keith Tippett) (recorded live at The Stadtgarten, Cologne)

1998 - (February 6 & April 30) ''The First Full Turn'' (with RoTToR: Paul Rutherford, Julie & Keith Tippett, Paul Rogers) (recorded various locations)

1998 - (May 3) ''First Weaving: Live at Le Mans Jazz Festival'' (Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra)

1998 - “HeXtet: Through the Ear of a Raindrop“ (with John Wolf Brennan, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Chris Cutler and Peter Whyman (Leo Records 254)

1999 - ''Season of the Witch'' - compilation

1999 - ''Shadow Puppeteer'' - solo

2001 - ''If Your Memory Serves You Well'' - compilation

2001 - 2002 (November & February) ''Fluvium'' (with Martin Archer & Geraldine Monk) (electronics recorded at Telecottage, Sheffield, between January 2000 & March 2002, vocals & acoustic instruments recorded at The Sound Kitchen, Sheffield, between November 2001 and February 2002)

2003 - ''The Dartington Trio'' (with Keith Tippett & Paul Dunmall) - Live at The BBC & Live at The Vortex

2004 - (August 8) ''Dartington Improvising Trio'' (with Keith Tippett & Paul Dunmall) - Live at The Priory (recorded live at Priory Park, 3rd Southend International Jazz Festival)

2004 - ''Julie Driscoll''

2004 - ''London 1964-1967'' - compilation

2004 - ''A Kind Of Love In 1967-1971'' - compilation

2004 - (September 5) ''Viva La Black: Live at Ruvo Jazz Festival'' (with Keith Tippett, Louis Moholo-Moholo & Canto General) in Ruvo di Puglia, Bari, Puglia, Italy

2005 - (April 24) ''Mahogany Rain'' (with Paul Dunmall, Philip Gibbs & Keith Tippett) (recorded at Victoria Rooms Studio, Bristol, UK)

2008 - (November 14) duet with Keith Tippett, ''Couple In Spirit - Live at the Purcell Room'' (recorded at the Purcell Room, London, as part of the 2008 London Jazz Festival)

2008 - ''Nostalgia 77 Sessions featuring Keith & Julie Tippett''

2009 - ''Ghosts of Gold'' (with Martin Archer)

2011 - ''Tales of FiNiN'' (with Martin Archer)

2011 - (January 30 & 31) ''From Granite To Wind'' (with Keith Tippett Octet)

References

External links

Mind Your Own Music, the Keith Tippett/Julie Tippetts website.

Julie Driscoll @ The British Beat Boom 1963-66

Julie Driscoll @ pHinnWeb

BBC - Classic Pop/Rock Review - Brian Auger Julie Driscoll & The Trinity, Open, Definitely What!, Streetnoise

Category:English female singers Category:English songwriters Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English jazz singers Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:British rhythm and blues singers Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:Musicians from London

de:Julie Tippetts fa:جولی دریسکال fr:Julie Driscoll fy:Julie Driscoll it:Julie Driscoll nl:Julie Driscoll pl:Julie Driscoll sv:Julie Driscoll

Joyce Arleen Auger (or Augér) (September 13, 1939 – June 10, 1993) was an American soprano singer, admired for her coloratura voice and interpretations of works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Monteverdi, Gluck, and Mozart.

Biography

Auger was born in South Gate, California and lived in Hartsdale, New York. She learned piano and violin as a child. She received a BA in Education from California State University at Long Beach in 1963, and her first job was as a kindergarten and first grade teacher.

Between 1965-67, she studied voice with tenor Ralph Errolle in Evanston, Illinois, and began her professional singing career after winning the I. Viktor Fuchs Vocal Competition in Los Angeles in 1967, which brought her some singing engagements and airfare to Vienna; she also appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at this time. She was signed by the Vienna Staatsoper soon after her arrival there despite her lack of knowledge of the German language, after impressing Josef Krips, remaining with the company for seven years. Her debut was in Mozart's ''Die Zauberflöte'' under Krips. She made her American debut with the same opera in 1969, with the New York City Opera. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was as Marzelline in ''Fidelio'', under Karl Böhm.

Given background in education, Auger was a natural vocal teacher. She taught from 1971-77 at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, where she moved in 1974, and later taught at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Her debut at La Scala was in 1975 in ''L'enfant et les sortilèges''. From this time, she turned to lyrical roles in opera, preferring to focus on her career as a concert singer, in early music as well as lieder, often accompanied in the latter by pianist Irwin Gage. She performed most of the soprano parts in Helmuth Rilling's Bach cantata cycle of the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, appearing several times at Rilling's Oregon Bach Festival. At the other end of the spectrum, she commissioned new song cycles by Libby Larsen (''Sonnets from the Portuguese'') and Judith Zaimont.

She performed Mozart's ''Exsultate, Jubilate'' in Westminster Abbey on July 23, 1986 to over 700 million TV viewers at the wedding of The Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson; she later recorded this work along with the ''Great Mass in C minor'' under Leonard Bernstein, in 1990. On December 5, 1991, the bicentenary of Mozart's death, she sang his ''Requiem'' with Cecilia Bartoli and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Georg Solti in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, by this time already suffering from brain cancer. She made over two hundred recordings, including the complete soprano cantatas of Bach and the works of Schoenberg.

Auger won a Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Performance in 1994 for her performances on the 1993 "The Art of Arlene Auger" (Koch International Classics 3-7248-2H1). The release was also notable for its recording debut of "Sonnets from the Portuguese" by American composer Libby Larsen. Auger also recorded for Delos International. Stereophile's Jason Serinus wrote that her "exquisite album of Love Songs remains one of the finest compendiums of classical song ever issued."

Music critic Tim Page wrote that she was "the sort of artist whose work not only provided pleasure for her audience but also instruction for her colleagues [...] by any standards, hers was an exemplary career [...] She sang beautifully for more than a quarter century, she sang great music, and she never bowed or pandered to public taste. She was an artist, steady and serious to the end."

Death

She retired in February 1992, after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour, a mass in the right parietal lobe of her brain which turned out to be a giant cell glial blastoma. After three brain surgeries, she died at the age of 53 in Leusden, The Netherlands, where she had lived during her illness. A memorial service in her honour was held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel where works by Bach, Mozart, Fauré and others were performed by several well known musicians including Renée Fleming and Karen Holvik. She was married and divorced twice, and was survived by her parents and brother.

Media

Arleen Auger and Cecilia Bartoli sing ''Benedictus'' from Mozart's Requiem. Video.

Arleen sings ''Exultate, Jubilate'' by Mozart at the royal marriage in London. Video.

Arleen sings ''Et incarnatus est'' from Mozart Mass in C minor. Video.

Notes

External links

http://www.arleen-auger-memorial-fund.org/ - information, pictures, music samples

Bach-cantatas.com: Arleen Auger - pictures

http://www.stereophile.com/news/032607haygood/ - opinion

Category:1939 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Operatic sopranos Category:American opera singers Category:Performers of early music Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Deaths from brain cancer

ca:Arleen Augér de:Arleen Augér es:Arleen Augér fr:Arleen Auger nl:Arleen Augér ja:アーリーン・オジェー ru:Ожер, Арлин sv:Arleen Augér