Alyssa Arrigo and Leila Bowie-McLenehan
Alyssa Arrigo is a freelance pianist in the Chicagoland area and former collaborator with such companies as Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Fringe Opera and Civic Orchestra. As an adjunct faculty member at Moraine Valley Community College she teaches private piano instruction, Music Appreciation and the Music History sequence for music majors. She is also on faculty at Concordia College in Oak Park, IL, where she teaches private piano instruction and Music History.
Alyssa is a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. While completing her Master’s Degree, Alyssa worked as an opera coach and rehearsal pianist for the IU Opera Theater. Alyssa received her Bachelor’s Degree in piano performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts with a minor in music theory. Ms. Arrigo is an avid collaborator. In 2011 she was seen with tenor Andrew Lunsford at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She continues to collaborate with Chicago area vocal and string studios. Alyssa lives in Lockport with her husband, two kids and their pet turtle. If she didn't play piano, Alyssa would be a mandolin player in a bluegrass band (she has a mandolin and will learn to play it "one day").
Calling Chicago home, Leila Bowie McClenahan has made her mark as a soloist throughout the region and abroad performing both in concert and on the operatic stage. Local highlights include making her Orchestra Hall debut as a soloist in “Beyond the Score: Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, appearing as First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with Chicago Opera Theater and as a recipient of the Lynne Harvey Music Scholarship from the Musicians Club of Women. Other exciting local projects include several World Premieres and CD recordings with composer, George Flynn, performing the works of composer Kyong Mee Choi, as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra, singing Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, and as a guest soloist with both the Elgin and Waukegan Symphony Orchestras. She is an advocate for contemporary composers and has appeared in recital presenting wide-ranging repertoire. Leila is an adjunct voice faculty member at Moraine Valley Community College. Outside of making music with her friends, she serves as a full-time Realtor, Mom, and partner, who loves to garden, thrift, and dabble in stained glass art.
