Toad Hall by Cathleen & Chris!

Her image 1957 Lincoln Premiere was the best selling image in Japan for Famous Posters International and her The American Cowboy poster won the New York Art Directors Award and toured the world as a representative work of the finest in American graphics. The poster was distributed world wide by Graphique de France.

As a professional photographer, Ms. McIsaac did still photography in the film industry working for ITC and Castle Rock Entertainment. She photographed the Seinfeld Show and did stage photography for the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, in Ohio. She also did photographic work for NASA and photographed the PRCA rodeo circuit. Her limited edition prints of cowboy life were auctioned at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum Gala. As an independent photographer, Ms. McIsaac continues to publish limited edition photographic prints.

Simultaneous to her art studies and career, Ms. McIsaac began to study voice. Working with Dr. Edith Wagner, a former teacher at Julliard and Phil Harvey a music theater vocal specialist, Ms. McIsaac began to sing professionally as a church soloist. A finalist in the Rotary International Vocal Competition and a position with Creative Sound, Inc. moved Ms. McIsaac back to Los Angeles. She studied studio techniques with Glenni Tai and continued to perform as a professional church soloist. She started WavePoint Productions, formed a singing/songwriting team with composer/conductor Chris Bowman, and moved to Santa Barbara and later to Lompoc Valley where she currently resides.

Ms. McIsaac was soprano soloist with the Santa Ynez Valley Chorale and Orchestra premiering Chris Bowman’s Gloria. She has also performed as soloist for Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Regina Coeli, Handel’s Messiah, Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ, Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, and the concert version of Toad Hall, a new musical.

Cathleen also participated as an actor in the Actor’s Forum in Santa Barbara for three years.

As a lyricist Ms. McIsaac’s song “Circles” was chosen as runner–up in the American Songwriter Magazine’s lyric contest. She provided lyrics for Cock-a-doodle-doo which premiered at the nationally recognized Miniature Theatre of Chester, in Massachusetts. Works in collaboration with composer Chris Bowman also include Celebrate and the new musical Toad Hall based on the classic tale of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahamne. She is currently working on a new musical, Let Them Eat Cake and a new play with music, Clarion Call.

Chris A. Bowman – Composer

Chris A. Bowman is a multifaceted musician with credits as a conductor, award-winning composer, arranger, organist, trumpet player and tenor soloist. He is equally at home with classical, popular or jazz styles of music. Currently, he is the Conductor/Composer-in-Residence of the Santa Ynez Valley Chorale, Orchestra, Chamber Singers, Youth Chorale and Children’s Chorus; and a musician, composer, arranger for WavePoint Productions.

Mr. Bowman has conducted and directed orchestras, choirs, and various ensembles at The Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, the Aspen Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, California Institute of the Arts, College of the Canyons, California State University-Northridge, the Los Angeles Music Center, and throughout Southern California.

His award-winning Sanctus was selected to be recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic & Chorus. It is available on Masterworks of the New Era, Volume VI, by ERM Media with worldwide distribution. He is the recipient of two Artist-in-Residence grants from the Santa Barbara Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation. The results of these two grants are Alleluia and Celebrate, both for chorus and orchestra. Collaborating with lyricist, Cathleen McIsaac, Mr. Bowman has composed a new musical, Toad Hall, based on The Wind in the Willows. O Come Let Us Sing, for choir, piano and orchestra, is the result of a grant from the John Imbach III Foundation. His instrumental piece, Time and Texture, was awarded First Place in a composition competition sponsored by the Los Angeles Valley Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bowman was commissioned by the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in Kansas City, Missouri to compose and orchestrate music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Another commission, by the Chester Miniature Theater of Massachusetts, resulted in the music for Cock-A-Doodle-Doo, and was also a collaboration with lyricist, Cathleen McIsaac. He has composed and arranged music for film and videos. He appeared on the television special, Christmas in Beverly Hills with Jimmy Stewart, Lucile Ball and Bobby McFarrin. Mr. Bowman was awarded a full scholarship to attend the French Organ Music Seminar in Paris, which included sessions on the famous instruments of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Sainte-Clotilde, Saint-Sulpice, the Schola Cantorum, La Trinite and numerous other cathedrals around Paris. At the Cathedral in Chartre, Mr. Bowman played his Rondo in D, to rave reviews by his fellow colleagues. Recently, Mr. Bowman’s Gloria, Rondo in D, and other arrangements received performances in Concord, Massachusetts. At the American Guild of Organists National Convention in Philadelphia, Mr. Bowman played the 112 rank, Curtis Memorial Organ at Christ Church.

As a tenor soloist, Mr. Bowman has performed with the Roger Wagner Chorale, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and many other organizations. As a member of different vocal ensembles he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and the Hollywood Bowl. Mr. Bowman was a back-up vocalist for the Sarah Brightman World Tour at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, and sang in Oklahoma with Jean Stapleton at the Los Angeles Music Center. He collaborated with Giorgio Tozzi in productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors at Pepperdine University, Malibu. As a keyboard player, trumpet player, vocalist and arranger he toured the country with The Open Road. He has done numerous recordings with various labels, including Warner Brothers, Delos and Sony, and participated in the Encore of the Three Tenors, and also the release of The King and I with Julie Andrews.

Mr. Bowman received his formal training at the University of Southern California and California State University-Northridge. He holds a double Master of Music Degree in Conducting and Vocal Performance with additional study in Composition, Organ and Trumpet.

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