Salli Terri

Salli C. Terri (September 3, 1922 in London, Ontario, Canada – May 5, 1996 in Long Beach, California) was a singer, arranger, recording artist, and composer. Record audiences still cite Terri’s “haunting” vocals, with Hi-Fi Review originally describing her as “a mezzo soprano whose velvet voice and astonishing flexibility has hardly an equal at present.”

Salli Terri was born Stella Tirri in London, Ontario. Her father, Sicilian-born Joseph Tirri, was a violinist and conductor. When Salli was a small child, the Tirri family moved to Detroit, Michigan.

Terri obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Wayne State University in Detroit and earned a master's degree in music from the University of Southern California. From 1950 to 1952, she taught music and drama at the American School in Japan (Chōfu, Tokyo).

Terri joined the Roger Wagner Chorale in 1952 for its first tour of the western United States. In 1953, she performed with the group at the coronation celebration for Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Terri first became known to the record-buying public through her featured solos, musical arrangements and as the author of liner notes for best selling albums by the Roger Wagner Chorale released by Capitol Records. Her notable solos include: I Wonder as I Wander and Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child (Folk Songs of the New World US Capitol – P8324), Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head on the gold record 1956 Christmas recording Joy To the World (US Capitol – P8353/SP8353), and Were You There from the 1957 House of the Lord (US Capitol – P8365/SP8365).

In 1958, Salli Terri joined guitarist Laurindo Almeida and flautist Martin Ruderman on the Grammy winning Duets with the Spanish Guitar, an album widely considered to be the first classical crossover album. In this recording, Almeida arranges standard classical and folk repertoire through the prism of several Latin musical forms, including the modenha, charo, maracatu and boi bumba. The result, according to Hi-Fi and Music Review was "...a prize winner in my collection. Laurindo Almeida’s guitar playing captures the keen poignancy and rhythmic élan of Brazilian music with superb assurance and taste...Salli Terri sings Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with a sinuousness and ecstasy which makes this the finest modern version. It has also been reported that composer Heitor Villa-Lobos considered the Almeida/Terri Bachianas Brasileiras “...the best recorded performance of this work.”

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