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Alto and
mezzo-soprano who studied piano at Chicago’s American Conservatory of
Music and graduated from DePauw University in 1955. It was during her time in Chicago she
would see her future husband, jazz pianist George Shearing, in concert,
although they would not meet until years later.
Ellie took her
degree and parlayed it into a teaching career in East Grand Rapids, as well
as commercial work and summer-stock theatre in New York. Eventually, she made the great
egress to L.A., where she continued to teach in the ghetto.
In 1971, she
and George met each other at a party and started dating shortly
thereafter. By 1975, they were
married. Ellie temporarily
eschewed her life as a backing vocalist to tour with George, switching
effortlessly from classical to jazz.
They moved back to New York in 1978 and a year later, Ellie returned
to the recording studio to perform on Frank Sinatra’s boxed set, Trilogy.
Other artists
and groups she has worked with include Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, the New York Choral Artists, the New York
Philharmonic, and the Norman Luboff Choir. You can also hear her performing on
the soundtracks of Finian’s Rainbow, Hello, Dolly!,
and Star.
Sources:
- http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/card/0,,539711,00.html
- http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074667,00.html
- http://books.google.com
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