ASU Foundation makes available historic Mary Lewis cd/book set

April 6, 2007 -- The ASU Foundation, Inc. will offer a book-and-compact disc package featuring Arkansas native Mary Lewis, known during the 1920s as "the golden-haired beauty with the golden voice." Born in Hot Springs in 1897, Mary Lewis rose above her humble beginnings to become a world-renowned operatic performer, touring extensively in France and performing with the Ziegfield Follies in 1921-1922.

"Mary Lewis, the Golden-Haired Soprano," a two-disc set produced by retired ASU professor Michael B. Dougan, and "Mary Lewis: The Golden-Haired Soprano with the Golden Voice," a biography by Alice Fitch Zeman, are now available for purchase through the ASU Foundation.

The cd set contains the first recording of "Toi, le Coeur de la Rose" from Maurice Ravel's "L'Enfant et les Sortileges: Fantaisie Lyrique en Deux Parties" (The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts), with a libretto written by Colette. The set contains arias from nine operas as well as American songs, French chansons, and German lieder.

The cd/book set is $60, including shipping and handling, and personal checks or money orders may be made payable to the ASU Foundation, P.O. Box 1990, State University, AR 72467-1990. Please specify "Mary Lewis set" in the memo section of checks or money orders.