Vocalist, composer and instrumentalist Esperanza Spalding fell in love with music as a little girl in Portland, Oregon. She first drew acclaim as a child violinist before discovering the upright bass as a teenager. Within months she was playing in local clubs, exploring pop, rock, hip-hop and especially jazz. By age 20 she was an instructor at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, and was performing with singer Patti Austin and a stellar roster of jazz greats. Her 2008 album...

The most successful and admired female songwriter in the history of pop music, Carole King proves that one woman alone at the piano can be more powerful than a four-piece rock band or a 30-piece orchestra. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where her mother was a teacher and her father a firefighter. She learned to play the piano at age four and formed her first band in high school. At age 18, she scored her first Number One hit record – the first of 118 pop hits on the Billboard charts,...

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both singer and actress. With a record-tying five Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a long list of other accolades to her name, she is among today's most highly regarded performers. Blessed with a luminous soprano voice and an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling, she is equally at home on Broadway and opera stages as in roles on film and television. In addition to her theatrical work, she maintains a...

Colbie Caillat was barely out of her teens when she established herself as one of America's premier singers and songwriters. She released her first album, Coco, in 2007, just weeks before her 22nd birthday. The album debuted at Number 5 on the Billboard magazine charts, driven by the hit single 'Bubbly,' and quickly sold over two million units. Billboard named her the 'Breakthrough Artist of the Year.' Her second album, fittingly titled Breakthrough, debuted at Number 1 and confirmed her...

In a breathtakingly short time, songwriter Christina Perri has earned a reputation for combining infectious, memorable melodies with uncompromising descriptions of difficult emotions. Arriving in Los Angeles on her 21st birthday with one suitcase and a guitar, she struggled to find an audience, then shot to stardom in the summer of 2010, when her song 'Jar of Hearts' was played on an episode of the television show, 'So You Think You Can Dance.' Overnight, the song hit the Top 10 on iTunes and...

Aretha Franklin is known the world over as the Queen of Soul Music. In the 1960s, her hit recording "Respect" became an anthem of the civil rights struggle and a theme song for the dawning women's movement. He musical career began in the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin was the pastor. Young Aretha sang and played piano, and the passion of Gospel music has remained with her through her subsequent triumphs in secular blues, rock and...

One of the most distinguished musical artists of our time, the singer Jessye Norman was born in Augusta, Georgia. As a ten-year-old child, she was spellbound by a recording of the great contralto Marian Anderson. Inspired by Anderson's recordings and autobiography, she resolved to become a classical singer herself. At age 16, she won a full scholarship to study voice at Howard University. After graduate music studies at Peabody Conservatory, she went to Europe, where she was soon discovered...

Kiri Te Kanawa created a sensation in 1971, when she made her debut as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Audiences were captivated by the lyric splendor of her voice and the exquisite tenderness of her interpretation. Soon she was a leading star of the operatic stage. Today, she is one of the most famous sopranos in the world. Born in New Zealand of Maori and European ancestry, she enjoyed a career as a popular singer and recording...

Singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester burst onto the music scene in the 1970s with the albums Home to Myself, Bright Eyes and Melissa, with its hit single Midnight Blue. Manchester's success as a writer and recording artist was preceded by thorough preparation. She published her first poems at 15, studied acting at New York's High School of the Performing Arts and songwriting at New York University, in a class taught by Paul Simon. She honed her craft playing piano and signing in the...

Since she first hit the charts with "Don't Make Me Over" in 1962, the unmistakable voice and flawless musicianship of Dionne Warwick have made her an international musical legend. Her soulful blend of pop, gospel and soul styles has transcended musical and cultural boundaries. She began singing in church in her home town of East Orange, New Jersey. While attending Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, she began working as a back-up singer on recording sessions in New York City....

Amy Grant made her recording debut while still in her teens and soon released the first record of contemporary Christian music to sell over a million copies. She later achieved unprecedented crossover success with her albums "Lead Me On" and "Heart in Motion." With six Grammy awards and over 30 million records sold worldwide, she is the best-selling Christian music artist of all time. Grant is married to fellow musician and Academy member Vince Gill.

Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album -- recorded when she was still in high school -- sold more than three million copies. A prodigiously talented singer and songwriter, she wrote every song on the album, including the year’s number one country single, "Our Song." Her dedication to music began in childhood. By age ten she was performing at karaoke contests, festivals and county fairs around her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. At age 12, she persuaded her parents to move to Nashville...

Naomi Judd won renown as half of the mother-daughter singing team, The Judds, the most popular female singing duo in country music history. But her rise in the world was not an easy one. Before graduating from high school, the unmarried Naomi was already pregnant with the first of her two daughters. When her first marriage ended in divorce, she found herself struggling to support two daughters on her own. A decade of struggle followed, but Naomi and her daughter Wynonna developed their...

In her greatest roles, Sally Field has personified the strong-willed, independent woman of the American heartland, earning Oscars for her performances as a courageous union organizer in Norma Rae and as a Depression-era widow struggling to keep the family farm in Places in the Heart. Although she has earned lasting fame as a serious actress, she first won the hearts of the American public in the 1960s as the teenage star of situation comedies. At the time, many dismissed her as a cute kid...

Today, television audiences are used to seeing Hilary Swank resplendently gowned, gliding over a red carpet at glittering Hollywood soirees, but her early years were anything but glamorous. She spent much of her childhood living in a trailer park near Lake Samish in Bellingham, Washington. Hilary Swank began acting professionally in her teens, appearing in television shows such as Growing Pains. Movie audiences got their first look at Hilary Swank in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Next...

Heralded as the most imaginative director and designer working in the performing arts today, Julie Taymor is the creative mastermind behind the spectacular Broadway production of The Lion King. She directed the play, designed the brilliantly colored costumes, wrote additional lyrics and co-designed the show’s ingenious masks and puppets. Active in theater from an early age, she studied folklore and mythology at Oberlin College while pursuing her interests in ritual performance, masks...

Sheryl Crow's warm voice, vibrant stage presence and rock-solid musicianship have made her one of the most enduring stars of our era. Her songwriting craft is firmly rooted in rock tradition, but her allusive, free-associative lyrics are all her own. Her songs, "All I Wanna Do," "If It Makes You Happy," "Every Day Is a Winding Road," and "Soak Up the Sun" have become pop classics. A former music teacher from Kennett, Missouri, she worked in near-anonymity for almost a decade as a backup...

Trisha Yearwood has been hailed as the premier pop-country interpreter of her generation. From the small town of Monticello, Georgia, she moved to Nashville at age 20 and took a job as a receptionist in a record company while recording songwriters' demo tapes for $10 a song. After six years of demo tapes, her 1991 debut album went to number two in the country charts and was certified double platinum, an unprecedented performance for a debut record by a female country artist. Her subsequent...

One of the most acclaimed singers of our time, Kathleen Battle's glorious voice and unique artistry have captivated audiences in concert halls and opera houses around the world. This radiant soprano has earned many honors for her performances and recordings, including Grammy Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a classical program and Best Performance by a Classical Vocal Soloist. In this podcast, recorded during the Academy of Achievement's 2005 Summit in New York City, Kathleen...

The career of Emmylou Harris has spanned the wide open range of American music. Whether singing traditional ballads, country classics, or her own highly personal compositions, her achingly pure voice and emotional commitment to her music have remained constant. She first won national attention in the early 1970s, recording and performing with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Her major label solo debut Pieces of Sky in 1975 gave her a Top Ten hit, "If I Could Only Win Your Love." The 1976...

One of the most beloved performers in the world, Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut at age 18 in The Boy Friend. Historic successes followed in the original productions of My Fair Lady and Camelot. She won the Oscar for Best Actress in her first film, playing the title role in Mary Poppins. Perhaps the greatest triumph of her career came with the leading role in The Sound of Music, one of the most popular motion pictures of all time. Her crystalline singing voice, wholesome appeal, natural...

Aretha Franklin is known the world over as the Queen of Soul Music. In the 1960s, her hit recording "Respect" became an anthem of the civil rights struggle and a theme song for the dawning women's movement. He musical career began in the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin was the pastor. Young Aretha sang and played piano, and the passion of Gospel music has remained with her through her subsequent triumphs in secular blues, rock and...

An illustrious star of Hollywood's Golden Age, Olivia de Havilland made her screen debut at 19 and soon became the screen's favorite romantic heroine, starring in a popular series of adventure films with leading man Errol Flynn, including such favorites as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Charge of the Light Brigade. She made movie history with her unforgettable performance as the selfless Melanie in Gone With the Wind, often voted the greatest movie ever made. Her long...

Lauryn Hill is an internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, she was only 13 when she joined the innovative hip-hop group the Fugees. Academically accomplished as well as musically gifted, she took time off from her musical career to attend Columbia University. The worldwide success of the Fugees’ album "The Score" thrust Lauryn Hill into the international spotlight. She exceeded her admirers' most ambitious...

Lauryn Hill is an internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, she was only 13 when she joined the innovative hip-hop group the Fugees. Academically accomplished as well as musically gifted, she took time off from her musical career to attend Columbia University. The worldwide success of the Fugees’ album "The Score" thrust Lauryn Hill into the international spotlight. She exceeded her admirers' most ambitious...