Michele Menard and Taylor Pedersen have been working partners since a fated encounter in the year 2000. Taylor is classically trained on piano, performing since the age of five. He is the composer for all of Noble Voice Productions and an accordionist. His sensitivity and stage presence compliment his versatility in playing the blues, boogie, classical, and ethnic music. He has played with western ensembles as well as with the Gu-Zheng Music Society accompanying traditional Chinese orchestra. He is currently teaching privately, and studying at the Community Music Center.
Michele Menard has a extensive background in theater arts and voice. She enriched her technique through her work in Handmaiden America, a Bulgarian women's choir, and by studying Ragas abroad in North India, adding other cultures' vocal traditions to a style uniquely hers.
Within a few months of knowing each other, the original operetta, "Birdsong", was developed. This was a collaboration written and directed by Michele, scored by Taylor. This piece included the magnificent Fletcher of the Yard Dog's Road Show on trumpet , Miss Ivy Ross as the narrator, Michele as the White Bird, and Taylor on piano and percussion. The sold out show was performed for one night only at the Community Music Center's concert hall in October 2000.
This was followed by, "Ghost". Ghost was an Operetta with shadow puppets depicting the scenes and an off set choral accompaniment. Three shadow screens were used on stage to present the characters, the star of which was the lone women walking up the mountain to take the leap of faith off the precarious edge.
In the year 2003, "The Tower of Tongues", was developed. This opera has not yet been produced, because in an effort to raise funds for its production, Michele and Taylor created a sensational musical act, Eugenia and Blaze in "The Myth of the Lightning Tower". (Based on the same libretto)
The Myth made its debut in an old Victorian speak-easy supper club in San Francisco on 14 th Street in the Mission. The ghostly style of Eugenia and Blaze revives relics of a time past when the Barbary Coast was the lawless and decadent Babylon. The Victorian salon married with a black box theater format made the whole act seem like an intimate window that the audience was lucky enough to see into and discover a time lost.
Eugenia and Blaze are the dynamic characters telling their bittersweet, romantic tale whose adventures to come will no doubt include many fundraisers for their larger projects, an ensuing recording project, and touring.
They are available for hire for events large or small. Booking inquiries can be made through the contact information on the contact page. There is a form including all the necessary information to provide.
In the midst of Taylor and Michele's creative advancement, they are always in the process of perpetual study and training. They are both dedicated to the exploration of music and expression to its deepest core.
Check out the artist's website:
http://www.eugeniablaze.comTrack List:
1. Summertime
2. Don't Explain
3. The Myth of the Lightning Tower
4. Strange Fruit
5. The Death Waltz
Other Genres:
