Diane McNaron, Voice Teacher, Vocal Coach, Producer/Director, Cabaret Artist

Cabaret, CDs, Bio and McNaron Performance Calendar

MASTERS' CABARET
Masters' Cabaret, the classic cabaret duo featuring soprano Diane McNaron and singer/pianist Michael King appears throughout the South to longstanding audience and critical acclaim. From the haunting Cabarets of Berlin to the glittering lights of Broadway, Masters' Cabaret showcases the two veteran entertainers in authentic Cabaret music from Germany, France and the US.

McNaron covers the songs and stories of the glamorous and often controversial divas Marlene Dietrich, Lotte Lenya and Edith Piaf, and the legendary music of Kurt Weill while King renders Broadway hits and standards in his own original piano/vocal arrangements. A delicious blend of Pop and Classical, the duo sometimes adds music for cabaret by classical composers Britten, Schoenberg and Satie. With top hats, tails and sophisticated humor, their performances sparkle with the mystique and romance of the classic cabarets. McNaron and King appear on galas, benefits, chamber music series and in upscale night clubs. Contact us at one of the addresses below.

THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT CABARET
The P.I.C. is a new troupe of roughly a dozen singer/actors, dancers and instrumentalists who appear in satirical Berlin-style variety cabaret. Featuring improvised dialogue, stand-up comedy, dance, authentic Berlin Cabaret songs and Broadway hits updated with original lyrics by it's own writers, the P.I. Cabaret confronts today's political climate head on. Decidely risqué, progressive and outrageously costumed, the group rocks with deliciously dark energy and a wittily delivered, devastatingly accurate bashing of fascists, past and present. The group, which appears wherever they are engaged and needed, also includes writer/actors Andrew Duxbury and Ellise Mayor, singer/dancer Kimberly Kirklin and pianist John King Carter. Booking info below.

CD MUSIC IN FLIGHT
My CD "Music in Flight" can be ordered from the email address below. Featuring songs written while the composers were "in flight" from war and political oppression, the CD was endorsed by DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS/MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES in 2000 while that organization held the Nobel Peace Prize. The organization still receives 50% of the CD's proceeds.

Contents include German Theatre and Art Songs by Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill and Paul Dessau with new American compositions by LaDonna Smith, a guest appearance by Paul Mosteller; Shari Boruvka, piano and Judith Donaldson, clarinet; introduction by Howard Burkett. $20.00 covers CD and worldwide postage.

CONTINUE FOR SINGER/DIRECTOR'S BIO:

Soprano Diane McNaron has appeared in the media of opera, recital, oratorio and cabaret throughout the US and in Germany, Austria, Italy and Australia. Her classic cabaret duo, “Masters’ Cabaret” with singer/pianist Michael King has appeared throughout the South for fifteen years featuring the songs and stories of Kurt Weill, Marlene Dietrich, and Edith Piaf plus the works of Britten, Schoenberg and Satie. Her new “Politically Incorrect Cabaret,” an ensemble of a dozen singer/actors, dancers and instrumentalists created in 2004, has recently attracted attention among the press and public. Presenting Berlin-style Cabaret based on the political cabarets in the late Weimar Republic, the group‘s edgy style, fearless political satire and originally scripted lyrics by Ellise Mayor and Andrew Duxbury and choreography by Deborah Mauldin combine with outrageous costumes and sophisticated musical choices.

Having sung a number of operatic roles such as Musetta in LA BOHEME, Sophie in DER ROSENKAVALIER and Adele in DIE FLEDERMAUS, McNaron is also a frequent oratorio soloist in such works as the Mozart, Brahms and Fauré requiems, Händel’s MESSIAH and the Haydn’s LORD NELSON MASS. She has been particularly successful in interpreting Twentieth-Century song literature such as Lili Boulanger’s "Clarière dans le Ciel" which she has presented with pianist Heather Coltman at many events including the Schmidt College Music Series in Boca Raton, the International Conference of Women in Music, Buffalo, NY and at its Alabama premiere for the Birmingham Festival of Arts. McNaron was a First Place winner of the Florida Operatic Voice Scholarship Competition and a Metropolitan Opera Competition semi-finalist.

In 2000, McNaron released the CD “Music in Flight" which was endorsed by DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS/MEDICINS SANS FRONTIERES then holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. The CD contains songs written while the composers were “in flight” from war and political oppression, including works by Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau and Alabama composer LaDonna Smith. DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS receives fifty percent of the CD's proceeds.

A veteran STAGE DIRECTOR and producer with an advanced degree in Stage Direction for Opera and additional post graduate work in design and technical production, McNaron has directed over fifty operas, musical revues, musicals, cabaret productions and galas including DIE FLEDERMAUS with the Centro Escuela de Opera in Caracas, Venezuela; THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, THE MERRY WIDOW and SLOW DUSK for Northern Arizona University; LA FORZA DEL DESTINO and THE BEGGARS' OPERA for Jacksonville Opera; L'ELISIR D'AMORE for Opera Birmingham in 1995; L'OCCASIONE FA IL LADRO for Florida State Opera; AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS and THE ELIXIR OF LOVE for The Opera de Lafayette, Lafayette, IN; AMAHL for Miles College, Birmingham, AL; THE CONSUL for Millikin University, Milliken, IL; YEHU for Belmont University, Nashville,TN; DON PASQUALE for Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia; and "Women in Opera ... and Pants!" for Birmingham-Southern College,1999, Birmingham, AL, among many others. She was an Assistant Director at the International Festival of Opera in Barga, Italy, and studied stage direction under Roger Brunyate at Florida State University and Opera Production at Indiana University, the world's largest School of Music, under Hans Busch, Max Roethlessberger and Ross Allen. In the mid-eighties, McNaron was Artistic Director of The Opera De Lafayette in Indiana. Having served as Asistant Stage Manager/Assistant Director for Opera Mississippi under Metropolitan Opera Director Bodo Igetz and Assistant Director/Stage Manager for Birmingham Opera, she was also the latter company's Production Manager, 1995 - 1997. McNaron wrote and directed cabaret-style fund-raisers for several companies including THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE, VIENNESE, PLEASE! and A FRENCH REVUE. In 1998, she founded and produced the First Light Gala, a highly visible, continuing annual fund-raiser for the First Light Women’s Shelter in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2001 McNaron created the BAA Cabaret Series for the Birmingham Art Association which presents legitimate cabaret performances in an intimate gallery atmosphere. She regularly produces events for the Birmingham Peace Project including "War and Poverty Through the Eye of Katrina,"January, 2006; Amy Goodman, Independant Journalist, Democracy Now!, Sept. 2005, "What Would Martin Luther King Do?" in 2004 and "The Patriot Act: Protection or Invasion," Sept. 2002.

McNaron earned an M.M. in Opera Production, with a minor in Theatre, from Florida State University where her coincidental voice studies with Wagnerian baritone and Kurt Weill interpreter Randolph Symonette and coach Lys Symonette, the latter being Vice President of the Kurt Weill Foundation, lead to her abiding interest in that composer’s works. Other voice teachers have included Gianna d'Angelo at Indiana University, Eleanor Steber, New York and at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, from which McNaron earned a Performer's Certificate, and Gino Bechi at the International Festival of Opera in Barga, Italy.

Formerly Head of the Vocal School and Director of Opera at the University of Adelaide in Australia, McNaron also served as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Opera at Northern Arizona University, and in those same capacities at Northwestern State University in Louisiana and at Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee. Born in Texas, McNaron has lived in Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, New York, So. Australia and Germany and now resides in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2002, she was a recipient of a grant from the Alabama State Arts Council and in 2001 received a grant from The Lowder Foundation.

As a teacher and vocal coach, McNaron has worked with a variety of singing students from around the US and abroad. She is member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and her students have won a number of NATS awards. The National Arts Recognition and Talent Search has selected three McNaron students for its first and second place awards. Her students perform widely across the US and compete successfully for admission to top colleges, graduate programs and summer music programs.

MCNARON PERFORMANCE CALENDAR

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:
CD Release Party
"Rosas de Pulpa, Rosas de Cal"
December 7, 7:30 PM
Artburst Concert Series
4300 Hampton Heights Drive
Live mini-performance by two CD performers
visit dianemcnaron.com for full details

IMMEDIATELY PAST PERFORMANCES

> "Kurt Weill, Thomas Bagwell & Diane McNaron"
Sunday, May 18, 2008, 7:30 PM
Artburst at the Unitarian Church
$15.00 Adults, Limited Seating
Tickets & Directions at 205.838.1391 or
dm@dianemcnaron.com

"ROSAS DE PULPA; ROSAS DE CAL -- The Music of Valdo Sciammarella"
A live performance on Oct. 28

Argentine love songs for voice and piano by the legendary, living composer. Based on works by major poets Bernadez, Neruda and featuring Bécquer's RIMAS.

Diane McNaron, soprano
Heather Coltman, piano
Sunday Oct. 28, 3:00 PM
University Theatre, Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Information at: 561.297.3820
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FOR MORE PERFORMANCE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT MY SINGER/DIRECTOR WEBSITE AT:
http://www.dianemcnaron.com
for a calendar of my upcoming performances

Diane McNaron, Voice Teacher, Vocal Coach, Producer/Director, Cabaret Artist

Voice Lessons and Vocal Coaching in Birmingham, AL

Cabaret, CDs, Bio and McNaron Performance Calendar

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