Barbara Cook's silvery soprano, purity of tone and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than fifty years.

The recipient of a Tony, a Grammy and a Drama Desk Award, Barbara Cook was considered "Broadway's favorite ingénue" during the heyday of the Broadway musical. Later on, in the mid-Seventies, she launched a second career as a concert and cabaret artist who has gone from one triumph to another.

Throughout the years, Barbara Cook has delighted her many admirers with sublime interpretations of the music of Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and many other prestigious composers. In 1985, Stephen Sondheim's name was added to the list when Cook played the role of Sally in a legendary concert performance of Follies in New York. From then on Sondheim's songs have become staples in Cook's concert repertoire.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Barbara Cook made her Broadway debut in 1951 as the ingénue lead in the musical Flahooley. After roles in Oklahoma! and Carousel Cook later created the role of Cunégonde in the original production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, followed by her portrayal of Marian the librarian in the première production of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, which earned her a Tony Award.

After starring roles in She Loves Me, The Gay Life, The Grass Harp, The King and I, Carousel and Show Boat, in 1974 Barbara Cook began a creative partnership with the musical arranger, accompanist, composer, dance arranger and conductor Wally Harper, a shining model of artistic collaboration and enduring friendship which would last until Harper's death in 2004. In 1975 Cook made her legendary solo concert début at the Carnegie Hall, which resulted in the live performance recording Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall. Her four subsequent solo concerts at the same venue resulted in the recordings It's Better with a Band (1986) and Barbara Cook Sings Mostly Sondheim (2001).
In 1991 Cook's appearance as a featured artist with Harper at the Carnegie Hall Gala Music and Remembrance: A Celebration of Great Musical Partnerships underscored their commitment to two important causes: the advancement of the performing arts and support of AIDS research.

Barbara Cook's many recordings include eight original cast albums and a dozen solo albums - often featuring Special Guest numbers - the most recent of which is No One is Alone, an abridged performance to her latest Concert at Carnegie Hall in November 2006.

(Source: Freely adapted from various Internet and written sources.)