Come out to Norman West to get a bit from the Paisley Cafe and a special Earth Day performance from Nicole Van Every and Mary Sallee!
Soprano Nicole Van Every has recently garnered awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Classical Singer Magazine, The American Prize, and The National Association of Teachers of Singing. Recent professional engagements for Dr. Van Every include performances with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra, the Oklahoma City and Norman Philharmonic, the Classical Music Festival Orchestra in Austria, several orchestras throughout Poland, and the title roles in La Traviata and Tosca with Painted Sky Opera. When she is not singing, Nicole enjoys working in the field of meteorology here in Norman.
Pianist and composer Mary Sallee is owner of Sallee Piano Studio in Norman where she has been a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music since 1986. As a native Oklahoman and the first “Miss Collinsville”, Mary came to OU in 1979 where she later graduated with three degrees in piano and voice. As a composer/arranger, she has over 60 publications of piano and choral music with several international publishers. One can also find her performing as a free-lance dinner/jazz pianist, accompanist and church musician as well as with the Sallee Jazz Quintet which has been performing throughout the metro since 1996.
In 2015, Mary secured a piano at the West Branch Library and created the Lunch and Listen series to provide free musical enrichment for the Norman community. Other volunteer interests include promoting environmental stewardship. Because of this, Mary and Nicole have planned a special musical tribute for the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, including a powerpoint presentation on how we can all be better stewards of our planet.