From Martha Lopez, soprano: I wear many hats as a musician. For the last two years, I have worn the hat of Director of Music for a large Roman Catholic church in southwest Florida. Week after week, we tend to the spiritual needs of those who are celebrating, those who are searching for understanding, those who are mourning. The pieces on this recording, such as the Ave Maria, are often heard at both weddings or funerals. Music such as this brings comfort to people regardless of the circumstances. May the music on this recording do the same for you. May it serve as a reminder of your indelible connection to the Divine. About the Artists: Martha Lopez-Leschke is a lyric-coloratura soprano, performer, educator and versatile musician. A native of New Jersey, she began her musical training at the age of 6. First trained as a classical pianist, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music from Stetson University in 1997. After commencing her career in music education, she shifted her focus to classical singing and earned her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance in 2006 at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Upon graduating from USF, she studied with renowned teacher and author, Shirlee Emmons in New York, New York. Martha has been heard in recitals, concerts and opera throughout Florida, Illinois and Texas. Martha is an avid art song enthusiast and loves to promote the art form with interesting, varied recitals in both traditional and non-traditional formats. While she feels at home on the stage, she enjoys taking the classical art form into new venues, most recently performing art song recitals live, broadcast over the Internet. Through this new performance vehicle, Martha has attracted a worldwide audience, reaching viewers across the United States and in countries such as Argentina, Thailand and Slovenia. Martha has performed the role of the Queen of the Night from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute and Olympia in The Doll Song from the opera Tales of Hoffman by Jacques Offenbach in outreach concerts with the Saint Petersburg Opera. She has also recently been a guest artist with the Sarasota Pops Orchestra and the North Port Symphony. In 2013, Martha released her debut album, Encanto: Art Songs of Spain and Latin America. The recording is a collection of twenty-three art songs from Spain, Argentina and Cuba featuring the works of Joaquín Turina, Xavier Montsalvatge, Carlos Guastavino, Manuel de Falla, Alberto Ginastera, Fernando Obradors and Ernesto Lecuona. Martha will release her second album, centered around sacred works, in 2014. Martha is passionate about using her musical gifts to serve others. Since 2011, Martha has served as the Director of “Ben & I Play for Peace- Florida.” Martha, along with musicians across the nation, teamed up with 14 year old guitarist and philanthropist Ben Werdegar, from San Francisco, California. A nationwide benefit concert was born to raise money for disabled children who need wheelchairs, particularly in impoverished countries with little to no social services available. Martha serves on the music faculty at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, where she teaches Applied Voice lessons to both music majors and non-majors, Class Voice and Music Appreciation. Martha is also the Director of Music at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Community in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, where she conducts two ensembles and serves as organist. Lurray Myers, piano, holds a Master of Music in Accompanying from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. For several years she served as Staff Accompanist for the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and spent various summers playing for the Blossom Festival sponsored by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra at Kent State University, Kent, OH, the Phyllis Curtin Seminars at Tanglewood, MA, Lyric Opera and Starlight Theater in Kansas City, MO, and Community Concerts touring the Midwest. In Sarasota, she served as a Music Director for an apprentice production for the Sarasota Opera, as Associate Director and Director of the Sarasota Girls’ Choir, as accompanist for Gloria Musicae, Florida Voices, the Gulf Coast Men’s Chorus, the Fellowship of Methodists in Music and Other Worship Arts workshops, and Master Classes with Roberta Peters and Anna Moffo sponsored by the Sarasota Opera Guild. Since 1991 she has been Staff Accompanist for the music department at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and since 1987 has served as church organist in the area, currently at Saints Peter and Paul, The Apostles, Catholic Church in Bradenton.