"An Evening of Song" biographies

Mezzo-Soprano, Candice Burrows

Known for her versatility as a vocal performer and music professor, Dr. Candi Burrows continues to entertain and educate audiences after decades in the music business. Her first vocal quest was in Jazz but once she began her Bachelor of Music degree, she discovered the classical world of song and never looked back.

She received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Oregon, then attended the Guildhall School of Music in London for post-graduate studies in French Melodie and German Lieder. Upon her return, she attended the University of Southern California for her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance and eventually received her DMA in Vocal Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her voice teachers include Giorgio Tozzi, Arleen Auger and Phyllis Curtin. She also worked extensively with collaborative pianist and coach, Madame Gwendolyn Koldofsky who provided her with a full scholarship to USC and acted as a mentor until her passing. Burrows’ education was further enhanced by attending the Music Academy of the West (California) and the Tanglewood Music Festival (Massachusetts) where she spent two summers as a Vocal Fellow.

Burrows has had an illustrious career in opera, oratorio, orchestral works and the art song recital taking her through Japan, Russia, Great Britain, Canada, Europe and Mexico. Under the batons of Seiji Ozawa, Gunther Schuller, Helmuth Rilling, John Williams, Andre Previn, and Leonard Bernstein, Burrows has had the privilege of performing with some exceptional orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Orchestra of Santa Fe, Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra and the Schleswig-Holstein Orchestra to name a few. Some of her notable opera roles include Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Carmen, Rosina (Barber of Seville) and Cenerentola (Rossini’s Cinderella). Referring to Burrows’ performance of Cenerentola, the New York Times claimed, “the role is hers forever.”

Dr. Burrows, in her sixties now, has been teaching in higher education for over twenty years and presently teaches at High point University (High Point, NC) and at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA). Teaching is officially her other passion. She created a general education course, The History of American Music and recently published a textbook for that course, as editor (Cognella Publishing -San Diego).

In the summer of 1988, Burrows went on tour through Russia, Europe and London with Leonard Bernstein as his mezzo-soprano soloist. Bernstein’s compassionate friendship and mentorship forever changed her as a musician and performer She will always remember Bernstein saying, “You never know who might be listening to you.” 

Elden Little joined the faculty of Michigan State University College of Music in the fall of 2014 as a vocal coach. Previously, he worked as a pianist/coach in more than 70 operatic productions that range from baroque operas to contemporary works by composers such as Jonathan Dove, Carlise Floyd, Philip Glass, Jake Heggie, and Andre Previn. While working at Austin Opera, he worked as a pianist/coach, music administrator, orchestra manager and orchestra librarian. Additional collaborations include Des Moines Metro Opera, where he has been a member of the music staff since 2006, Opera Birmingham, Kentucky Opera and San Antonio Opera. Since 2012 he has been a faculty member of Opera NEO, a San Diego-based summer festival/training program. For eight summers he was a festival artist as well as chamber music coach for the Austin Chamber Music Summer Festival and Workshop.

He has accompanied numerous singers, most notably internationally acclaimed soprano Gilda Cruz-Romo, in recitals in Texas and Mexico. He went on several tours with the Austin-based choral ensemble Conspirare, and can be heard as a featured soloist on their recording "Through the Green Fuse," available on the Clarion label. He has accompanied the master classes of Jane Bunnell, Denyce Graves, Brenda Harris, Marilyn Horne, Martin Katz, Catherine Malfitano, Elizabeth Mannion, Suzanne Mentzer, Samuel Ramey, Martial Singher, David Small, Pamela South and Gerard Souzay.

His educational training includes a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in piano performance, and Master's and Doctorate degrees in applied piano from the University of Texas at Austin. His collaborative piano studies were with noted collaborative pianists Eugene Bossart, David Garvey and Gwendolyn Koldofsky. 

Richard Sherman is professor of flute at the Michigan State University College of Music.

Active as a soloist, orchestral musician, and recitalist, Sherman is a dynamic performer of outstanding dramatic power. He is principal flute with the Chautauqua (New York) Symphony Orchestra, the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and former principal flute with the Rochester (New York) Philharmonic Orchestra. He has given performances with the Chicago Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony. His work as a soloist includes the Columbus Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony, Lansing Symphony, and Chautauqua Symphony, among many others.

Sherman was the recipient of an ITT International Fellowship for study at the Royal College of Music in London and received the Henri Cohn Memorial Prize at Tanglewood for most outstanding fellowship student. As an educator, he oversees a vibrant flute studio at Michigan State University while also giving master classes throughout the country, including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, and University of Michigan, among others. In 2020, he was presented with the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award, honored for a comprehensive and sustained record of excellence in creative activities, instruction and outreach. The award was highlighted in an article in The Chautauqua Daily. He previously received, as voted by his peers, the Excellence in Teaching Award, funded by the Dortha J. and John D. Withrow Endowed Fund for Excellence in Teaching.

Internationally, Sherman has given master classes and recitals in Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Ireland, and Puerto Rico. He also leads a Michigan State University study abroad course in Ireland at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin which has proven a transformative experience not only for flute students but other student musicians as well. In summers he serves as Head of Winds, Brass, and Percussion at the Chautauqua School of Music. In the Lansing area, Sherman is the founding artistic director of the Absolute Music Chamber Series in Old Town, a nonprofit organization which presents eclectic interactive outreach concerts. He is also the artistic director of the Lansing Symphony Chamber Series under the auspices of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Sherman’s recordings with pianist Ralph Votapek, Flute Sonatas and American Landscape, are released on Summit Records. He has released three recordings on the Blue Griffin label with a fourth on the way. The French Album, with pianist Kimberly Schmidt, was released in 2006 to critical acclaim. Fanfare’s Jerry Dubin writes: “I cannot imagine any of this music being more beautifully or lovingly played than it is here…” Sherman’s French Album II: Homage to Pedagogy, with Votapek, was released in 2012, and French Album III: Bucoliques, with pianist Minsoo Sohn, was released in 2015. Music of the British Isles, with pianist Genadi Zagor, was released in summer 2019. Of Sherman, Fanfare’s Jim Svejda writes: “On the evidence of this album of British flute music, he is both a subtle, imaginative, technically flawless flutist and—even more to the point—a first-rate musician.”