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Born: September 3, 1922 - London, Ontario, Canada
Died: May 5, 1996 - Long Beach, California, USA |
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The Canadian-born American mezzo-soprano, Salli C. Terri, had a Master's degree in music from University of South California.
Salli Terri worked in Japan from 1950 to 1952 as a teacher of English and music. In 1952, she joined the famed Roger Wagner Chorale for its first tour, a series of concerts on the West Coast. In 1953, she went to Europe with the Chorale, which had been invited to particpate in the Coronation Festivities for Queen Elizabeth II in London. She concertized in Europe and Canada as well as the USA as a member of the Roger Wagner Chorale, in which she has been soloist and also arranger. She sang with the Chorale for the decade of the 1950's and met her former husband, composer and director John Biggs, while both performed for Roger Wagner.
Salli Terri's interest in foilk music has taken her twice around the world and given her a remarkable ability to sing in several languages. Her eclectic repertoire included religious music, love songs, folk tunes and ballads, with her popularity peaking in the 1960's. In addition to the Chorale, records and her solo concerts, Terri was a featured soloist with her husband's John Biggs Consort, which concentrated on medieval and Renaissance music.
Salli Terri was a professor of music and directed a women's choir at UCLA. She taught there classes in choral arranging, singing for actors, and music fundamentals, and she formed the madrigal singers. On campus, and also privately, she taught sight-singing. She later taught music theory at Fullerton Junior College in Fullerton, California. |
