Deidra Gorton (formerly Palmour) earned critical and popular acclaim, in the United States and abroad, as one of America's finest interpreters of lyric mezzo-soprano roles before finding her true vocal home in the dramatic soprano repertoire. Deidra quickly rose to prominence by winning the Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Opera and Loren L.Zachary Society competitions, then established herself as one of the pre-eminent young American opera stars with acclaimed debuts at the Washington Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Cleveland Opera, Baltimore Opera, Greater Miami Opera and others. International debuts followed at L'Opéra de Nice, Hong Kong Arts Centre and with the Katholieke Radio Omroep in Utrecht, Neth- erlands, Edo de Waart conducting. She has sung in concert with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, with the Houston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher and Alice Tully halls, and with Robert Page performing Mahler's 8th at Philadephia's Academy of Music. Recently, Deidra has performed leading roles in the dramatic repertory, such as Chrysothe- mis in Elektra with Long Beach Opera (to tremendous critical acclaim) and Salome with Orlando Opera. As this recording goes to press she is performing her Wagnerian debut as Brünnhilde with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. She is also a member of the Guilford Trio, with Noel Lester, piano and Noah Chaves, viola. Deidra has served on the faculty of Baylor University, the AIMS Vocal Institute in Graz, Austria, and was for five years at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. Her discography includes two recordings of the works of Charles Martin Loeffler - Forgotten Songs and A Dream Within A Dream on Koch International, and on Centaur, Purrfectly Classical . William Gorton, Tenor, has performed extensively in venues on the West Coast and sung numerous engagements around the USA and Europe. A solid and versatile singer, he has appeared with Opera Pacific, Festival Opera, Sacramento Opera, Rogue Opera, Pacific Repertory Opera, Orchestra X of Houston, Opera Santa Barbara, the Stockton Symphony in Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings, the Opera Center of the San Francisco Opera, among others, and has recorded with the Russian National Orchestra. William's interpretive artistry has been enjoyed by audiences of the San Francisco Opera Guild and the San Francisco Opera Center in gala concerts, as well as of the Hampton Recital Foundation in Schumann's Dichterliebe and songs of Richard Strauss. Handel's Messiah performances such as the nationally acclaimed festival at Bethany College in Kansas, which included Bach's St.Matthew Passion, were broadcast statewide. Oratorio credits include Verdi and Mozart's Requiems and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. William is the recipient of several awards, including Finalist in the National Opera Association competition and Merola Opera Program auditions, and Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera. He recently sang the role of Don Jose in Carmen with Stockton Opera and the Bear Valley Music Festival, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Bay Shore Lyric Opera, and Riccardo/Gustavo in San Francisco Lyric Opera's production of Un Ballo in Maschera. William is also a skilled conductor and composer. He directs music at St. Michael & All Angels Church in Concord, California, serving as accompanist and choirmaster. His compositions include numerous art songs for voice and piano as well as choral and church service music numbers. Watch for the release of Brimfull, a collection of his art songs on life, beauty and the spiritual quest.