Lee Dougherty-Ross and Jason Stearns gave an amazing performance for the membership at this July’s luncheon. Jason’s powerful vocals were accompanied by Lee’s skillful piano performance. They opened with “This is My Country,”
followed by the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and the spiritual “Deep River.” They continued their performance with “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and rolled right into a number of classics including “Old man River” and songs from “Man of La Mancha.” Jason also shared interesting stories from his 21 years as a soloist in the U.S. Army Band; and Lee informed the membership about the local Artist Series Concerts she started with her husband in 1996. After closing with “God Bless the USA,” the membership gave them a much deserved standing ovation.
Ms. Dougherty-Ross graduated from Eastman School of Music with Distinction and with a double major in piano and voice. Following a year of studying and performing in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, she returned to the states and performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Broadway stage in New York, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and the Kennedy White house.
Baritone Jason Stearns hails from Washington, D.C. and has enjoyed
a wide-ranging career, singing operatic leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera
and many other U.S. opera houses, such as Chicago Lyric, Washington Opera
and Los Angeles Opera. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
NY, Jason and his beautiful wife, Suzanne, have travelled the world on the Royal Viking Line Cruise ships entertaining travelers all over the world. A Grammy Award winner in 1996, he was baritone soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra in John Corigliano’s First Symphony, “Of Rage and Remembrance”. Together with Lee Dougherty-Ross, Jason sings in many programs of the Artist Series Concerts for various audiences in the Sarasota area. He will return to the Metropolitan Opera next
year as Baron Douphol in Verdi’s opera, “La Traviata.”
MOAS is the Sarasota Chapter of Military Officers Association of America. MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers with 390,000 members. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. For more information visit, www.sarasotamoaa.com Are you a former military officer? Please come and join us at our monthly luncheon.
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