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Ms. Ferrante, soprano (www.mariaferrante.com)  (press photos: http://mariaferrante.com/press/index.html )   maintains a full schedule of performances on both the local and international stage while keeping strong connections to her native Worcester. Her name has become familiar to audiences all over the world. A winner of the Mario Lanza Voice Competition, she has been acclaimed by the Washington Post and the Boston Phoenix. Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe has called her “a true singing actress. Her eyes and hands and body know how to sing, and with her voice she can act." Maria's performances have delighted audiences from New York to the Virgin Islands, Prague and China as well as in local venues like Jordan Hall and Sanders Theater. Her many operatic roles include Cio-Cio-San ('Madama Butterfly'), Desdemona ('Otello'), Liu ('Turandot'), Violetta ('La Traviata'), Despina ('Cosi Fan Tutte'), Barbarina ('Marriage of Figaro'), Serpina ('La Serva Padrona'), and Gretel ('Hänsel und Gretel'). She is also known as a recitalist, working locally with The Mohawk Trial Concerts, The Andover, Chamber Music Society, The Worcester Chamber Music Society,  The Charleston Orchestra, The Delaware Orchestra, The Enid Symphony Orchestra (Oklahoma) the Boston Civic Orchestra and the New England String Ensemble.
As a student at Worcester's Notre Dame Academy, Ferrante dreamed of becoming a classical guitarist. It wasn't until she sang in a voice class, taken on a whim while a student at Temple University in Philadelphia, that her extraordinary voice was unveiled. "The professor asked if anyone in the class knew how to sing Schumann's 'Dichterliebe,' " she says. "No one would sing it. I said I knew it and then I sang 'Ich Grolle Nicht'. When I finished, the room was quiet. And then everyone just said 'You should sing!' "She took the suggestion seriously and began studying with "great teachers at Temple." And, after hearing a singer she admired and asking for the name of her teacher, she began commuting three times a week to study with one of the great tenors of the century - Franco Corelli - and his wife, Loretta Corelli. Subsequently, she has studied with such noted teachers in Boston as Phyllis Curtin, Sharon Daniels. And by special invitation, she received lessons from the renowned soprano, Elly Ameling.

Mr. Sherwood has been Director of Music at First Unitarian Church (www.FirstUMusic.com) for 25 years and has appeared in concert at Mechanics Hall, as well as guest artist with the Boston Pops, and on concert tour in Europe and the U.S.  His musical styles embrace a wide range of genres from Classical to jazz and new age.  His creative and refreshing approach for compositions and arrangements are well received. 
For thirty years, he was a Sr. Engineering Manager at Intel (formerly Digital(DEC), then Compaq) where he managed the Microprocessor Validation Group.  Since corporate retirement, he has operated his own internet consulting, web & graphic design, and commercial photography businesses, detailed at www.SherwoodWeb.com.    He is also a freelance jazz and classical pianist, and enjoys volunteering for non-profits, running, organic gardening, and preparing gourmet vegetarian cuisine.