While Shirley Jones did none of the scooping some performers rely on late in their careers, her hit-and-miss approach to many phrases was the aural equivalent of watching a pilot try to land a plane in strong crosswinds. No skid marks, but many moments of alarm and uncertainty.

Today, many singers who are a fraction of Barbara Cook's age wish they could sing with the wisdom, phrasing, and musical intuition of an artist whose voice has maintained its sweetness and purity for so many years

Many professional musicians who give of their time to conduct master classes for young opera singers have a vested interest in passing on the knowledge they have acquired in the course of their own performing careers.

For most people, the holiday season is over and done with. Christmas decorations have been put back into storage and the tree has been disposed of. But for arts entrepreneurs the situation is quite different.