Philip Seward

Composer, pianist, and tenor, PHILIP SEWARD performs in and writes music for many different kinds of venues. Productions of his works include:

Les Dames á trios…et piano at the Kaye Playhouse in New York City and at the Stages Festival in Chicago

High Fidelity at Merkin Hall in New York City and at the Chicago Humanities Festival

Hans Brinker, commissioned and produced by New Tuners Theatre of Chicago, and in Canada

Stone Soup, commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago, and produced in various locations around the Chicago metropolitan area and at Toledo Opera

A Noteworthy Tale, also commissioned by Lyric Opera and produced in various Chicago locations and at Opera Memphis and Pensacola Opera in Florida.

…And Piano Make Three was produced at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival in 2007, where it was named a Critics' Choice. The show is currently touring the USA and Canada.

Mr. Seward received an After Dark award and Jeff Citation nomination in recognition of his score for Hans Brinker (lyrics by John Sparks).In 2008, ...And Piano Make Three was selected as a finalist for the USA's Richard Rodgers.

Mr. Seward's piano music has been performed in the United States as well as in Holland, Germany and Poland. Edition Music Contact publishes his choral music. His composition honoring John Paul II's twenty-fifth papal anniversary was commissioned by the Lira Ensemble of Chicago and premiered on WFMT radio. Other Lira Ensemble commissions include Sonnet, for orchestra and chorus, on the occasion of their fortieth anniversary which premiered at Symphony Center in Chicago.

Singing. Mr. Seward has sung Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus for Intimate Opera and counts this among his favorite roles. Also John Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Lt. Cable in South Pacific, The Prince in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and many other shows such as The Beggar's Opera, A Chorus Of Disapproval, The American Clock, Happy End, The Phantom of the Opera at theatres in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. He has performed Art Song recitals in Rzeszów and Wroclaw in Poland as well as in Chicago.

Mr. Seward conducts the choir at St. James Presbyterian Church and serves as a co-conductor for the Lira Ensemble of Chicago. He holds a B.A. from Wabash College and completed his Masters at Northwestern University with further study at the University of Vienna in Austria and the Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

Patrice Boyd

Coloratura soprano PATRICE BOYD has performed in opera, concert, and musical theatre throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Miss Boyd's diverse credits include the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the New York City Opera, Opera Camerata of Washington, DC, the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of Beijing, the Empire State Opera, the Light Opera of Manhattan, and the New York Repertory Orchestra.

Her roles include Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Marie in La fille du régiment (under the baton of Richard Bonynge), Christine in Phantom of the Opera, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, the title roles of Lakmé and Lucia di Lammermoor, Madame Herz in The Impresario, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute (a role she has sung many times to great acclaim), and Gilda in Rigoletto, for which the New York Times praised her "shining soprano tone and effortless upper register" and added, "She is a singer who bears watching."

Miss Boyd recently returned to the Piccolo Spoleto Festival for her third consecutive season, appearing as Constanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Metropolitan Opera conductor Gregory Buchalter. The Charleston Post and Courier praised her "control and lyric phrasing [of this] beautiful and difficult music" and the Charleston City Paper called her "the real deal."

Very much at home in contemporary music, Miss Boyd created the role of a feminine March Hare in Giampaolo Testoni's Alice in Palermo, Italy and has sung the New York premieres of Philip Seward's comic operas High Fidelity (Merkin Hall) and Les dames à trois ... et piano (Kaye Playhouse) of which …And Piano Make Three, featuring the role of Sarah, was written for her (she created the role for its Chicago premiere). Miss Boyd reprised her performance as Sarah in 2007 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

A native of South Carolina, Miss Boyd has developed several classical music programmes for the Historic Charleston Foundation; her original recital, An Evening at Pemberley: The Music of Jane Austen's Heroines was featured in New York Magazine and has performed to sold-out audiences in the United States and internationally. In August 2008 -- just days ago -- Miss Boyd returned from Scotland where she performed An Evening at Pemberley at the Edinburgh Festival, receiving rave notices. Reviews and audio samples may be accessed directly here. An Evening at Pemberley will be produced in London in 2009.

As cantor at St. James Cathedral, Miss Boyd appears frequently on television in New York City. She is currently completing her dissertation for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance at the City University of New York.

Elsie Steinway

Elsie was born on Long Island New York at the Steinway factory.

Globally famous for being the "instrument of the immortals" Elsie has had a long and stupendously glamourous career performing with the greatest musicians of all time.

Because she is arguably the brightest star in the universe of fine music, Elsie's credits are far too lengthy to list here; therefore, ever the lady, she instead encourages her millions of adoring fans to be charitable and read the darling little credits of her far lesser-known co-stars.

Despite her grandeur and fame, Elsie wishes everyone to know that she is personally rather modest and enjoys her privacy. When not performing, she prefers quiet nights at home playing with the guy she loves.