 Deborah Benner is a mezzo-soprano soloist, jazz recording artist, actress (Off-Broadway stage, feature film, national voice-overs and jingles) and vocal educator. She has toured Europe as a classical soloist, singing in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Canterbury Cathedral in England, and in Munich, Austria, and Switzerland, and serves as mezzo soloist at Washington D.C.’s historic "All-Souls’ Church" and special events at the National Cathedral. The Washington Post calls her " …a beguiling soprano voice". She was a Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Finalist in 1982 . Deborah toured Chile as a member of the “Coast to Coast” trio ( with Corey Whitehead and Michael Bard) for the U.S. Department of State and performed in Sanlucar, Spain, studying Flamenco with Gerardo Nunez’ Curso de Flamenco.
As a jazz vocalist, Deborah has performed Bossa Nova with the legendary guitarist, Charlie Byrd, and sang regularly with Ella Fitzgerald’s bassist, the late, great Keeter Betts. She’s shared the stage with jazz greats, McCoy Tyner, Terrence Blanchard, and Scott Ambush (Spyro Gyra), at Blues Alley, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Performing regularly for political dignitaries and Heads of State, she sings with swing orchestras in Washington, D.C. comprised of members of the White House Marine Band Jazz Ensemble and sang at President Clinton’s Inaugural Ball at the Smithsonian Institution. Deborah received national airplay for her original (Pop/Brazilian) release, “Flights of Passion” (produced by Cosby Show’s Arthur Lisi) , and her “Kindred Spirits” (New Age) was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered”. In 1997, she won the Billboard Magazine Songwriter’s Competition for “Best Original Vocal” Composition.
In New York, Ms. Benner has appeared in cabaret and jazz performances at the Waldorf Astoria, the Carlyle Hotel, the Rainbow Room, and Tavern on the Green, and sings with the Peter Duchin Orchestra. A successful actress, as well, Deborah starred in the Off-Broadway production of Noel Coward’s “The Vortex”, and in the musical, “Ruthless” at Washington, D.C.’s Source Theatre. The voice of hundreds of well-known radio and television commercials, jingles, and documentaries,( MCI, McDonald’s, Toyota, Motorola, Landrover/-Jaguar, PBS, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, “Fairly Odd Parents”, to name a few!) and won a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Deborah is a member of Actors’ Equity, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Screen Actors’ Guild, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She maintains an active vocal studio and has served as adjunct vocal faculty at the American University and currently at Georgetown Visitation, both in Washington, D.C. She resides there with her husband, guitarist, accompanist and collaborator, Michael Bard. Her latest C.D., "Baile Me", was released at Blues Alley in June 2007.
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