Susan Osborn
About Susan Osborn:
For over 30 years, singer and songwriter Susan Osborn has held the high ground of vocal artistry. Her startlingly remarkable voice -- powerful and rich with emotional expression -- came to world prominence when she was lead singer of the Paul Winter Consort between 1978 and 1985, shining on such albums as "Common Ground", "Missa Gaia." and "Concert For the Earth".
Osborn's voice has such power and soulful presence that she's performed at the United Nations, the Berlin Wall, the Nagano Winter Olympics, the Global Forum in Kyoto and the Hague, and numerous memorial and peace ceremonies at Hiroshima and Post-9/11 New York.
For the past two decades, Osborn and her husband, artist/writer David Densmore, have lived on Orcas Island, WA. Here, the serenity and silence of nature colored the creation of numerous original songs, while the synergy of the island's vital artistic community inspired Osborn to refine her voice to even greater heights.
Osborn has performed all over the US and Europe, but 1991 saw the beginning of a long association with Japan, where her voice has been heard on Toyota commercials and film soundtracks, on a two hour HDTV Special on her life for Asahi Television, at the Winter Olympics, in a stage musical Tanuki Goten directed by Amon Miamoto, and New Year's Eve concerts with both Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, and John Mauceri's Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
Releasing 9 CDs on Japan's prestigious Pony Canyon label, Osborn's recordings express themes ranging from Japanese folk melodies with English lyrics to Disney movie theme classics. "Still Life" and "Tideline," both feature Western classical melodies with English lyrics written by Susan and her husband poet David Densmore. Susan's most recent recording, Wonderful World ( Sakura in Japan), is with Japanese pianist Kentaro Kihara, String arranger and woddwinds, Martin Lund and Gene Nery on bass and features some of Susan's favorite jazz stabndards.(See music page for more information about these and other recordings)
Stylistically, Osborn's approach spans original songs (pianist Paul Halley and songwriter Bill Lauf are favorite collaborators) to classical favorites to the freewheeling scat she records with jazz guitarist Ralf Illenberger. She brings refreshing inspiration to pop and jazz standards -- recently working with Seattle jazz legend Overton Berry and exceptional piano solo artist Kentaro Kihara-- and her annual candlelit Victorian Valley Chapel Christmas concert series is an established 20 year Orcas Island tradition.
The mosaic of artists who have inspired her life includes Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, folk legend Odetta, singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, Miles Davis keyboardist Robert Irving, Broadway star Betty Buckley, New York Pops maestro Skitch Henderson, the guitar/vocal duo Tuck & Patti, pianist/composer Paul Halley, Native American flutist Gary Stroutsos, oboeist Nancy Rumbel, African master drummer Baba Olatunji( and a menagerie of wild animal voices with the Paul Winter Consort, Brazilian maestro Oscar Castro -Neves.
Though Osborn's extraordinary voice is indeed unique, she openly shares her soulful approach through her Silence & Song seminars. For over 30 years, Susan has been exploring the power of the human voice in song with people all over the world. Silence and Song classes have been presented in 10 countries, and Susan has been on the teaching staff at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur California, the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, the Omega Institute, in Rheinbeck NY, the New York Open Center in New York City, Suirin Retreat Center in Nagano, Japan, and the Whidbey Institute in Clinton Washington. "Singing is a gift intricately woven into the human design." shares Osborn. "I am privileged to be there when people remember it." ( Read more about Silence and Song under News and Classes)
Much of her creative life is now involved in close-up photography of flowers inspired by the work of her old friend and mentor, Harold Feinstein. A book just released in Japan by SunMark publishers, entitled in Japanese " SAKURA NO KIGA OSHEE ETTE KURETA", Lessons of the Sakura Tree, includes the story of her special encounter with a Cherry tree blossoming out of season and photographs taken over those 6 months of cherry blossoms. She is now working on the score for a DVD essay about this experience with musician and composer Marilyn Castilaw.