It seems you began your musical career almost as a child prodigy. How quickly did you transition from performing to working commercially, and do both appeal to you for different reasons?

My very early musical training was preparing me to be a concert pianist. But concertizing was not something I really enjoyed. I loved learning new pieces but wanted to move on before memorizing them! Practicing hours a day was a lonely business! That is until I began performing with the Young International Trio. The collaborative experience of chamber music with an amazing violinist and equally amazing cellist was something I truly enjoyed – even though we had to memorize our trios! 

In high school, I started singing in vocal groups and quickly fell in love with pop and gospel music. I wrote a gospel song that Kathie Lee Epstein (Gifford) recorded, and sang back up on her session. I was hooked!

One session led to another, and so on, and so on. I was fully ensconced in the recording industry by the time I was 19 and never looked back. My career as a classical pianist may not have continued, but the tools and chops from my early training are totally responsible for my musical accomplishments to this day.

Career-wise, who do you think impacted you most, or are there several people?

My dad was my first and biggest musical influence. He was an immigrant whose dreams in music were cut short by WW2. Whether it was perfect pitch parlor games, a contest of who could write America The Beautiful in four-part harmony the fastest, or just sleeping on the couch while I practiced endless hours a day, the man who could play any instrument without training poured his musical dreams into me.  

Without a doubt my piano teacher Lillian Steuber was my greatest classical influence. She taught me valuable technique, incredible repertoire, coaxed me into performing chamber music, and exemplified grace and poise as a person. Finding out that I loved singing more than concertizing, she empathized with my new passion . . . “Let music enrich your life.” Total permission to pursue my dreams . . . 

In the singing world, Paul Johnson, an amazing composer and arranger in choral Gospel music, gave me my start and recorded my early songs. Many ladies paved the way for me including Vangie Carmichael and Sally Stevens. Shirley Walker gave me my first conducting and contracting for film early on. (I still have a cherished photo of her at the piano while I conducted the women from the podium.) John Powell and his then associate composer Germaine Franco filled the last 23 years with multiple film projects that included singing, contracting and conducting his (& her) amazing film scores. Due to his recommendations, my career extended to Hans Zimmer and others. 

Given that you have worked with so many towering figures like Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and so many others… have you become a resource for composers through the musicians you have encountered and the collaborations you have had?

I have been so blessed to work with the giants. Aretha needed a trio for her comeback album United Together, so that would’ve been one of my earliest contracting/singing jobs. Marti McCall, Myrna Matthews and I went on to perform in the UK with her.

The fact is I am an unabashed fan of so many singers that I work with or have discovered that I do all I can to keep them employed. That means having a huge roster of singers ready to go, all categorized (in my brain) according to their vocal type and multiple abilities. I get calls on a regular basis from composers, songwriters and studios to recommend voices – which I am honored to do. That may involve me contracting as well, but not always.

Prior to doing work on recording sessions,  I’m asked to do budgets, SAG-AFTRA paperwork (it helps having been on SAG-AFTRA boards for over 25 years), gathering voices for up to 80 voice choirs, and everything else a vocal contractor does. As I already mentioned, composer Shirley Walker was one of the first film composers to utilize my abilities, but the list goes on and on … AWFC composers who have used me include Germaine Franco, Kathryn Bostic, Ariel Marx, Starr Parody, Lolita Ritmanis, Nan Schwartz, the composers on the Women Who Score concert, and more.

Over your career, have the elements of music you are interested in changed? Have your musical roles expanded?

I started my singing career in small groups on radio ID’s, TV and Variety shows, singing with artists, working heavily in commercials, doing a few films … humming right along doing whatever singing work there was at the time, and then bam! A soap opera came around! Who knew! They were looking for a concert pianist who could act, and I could do the former! So for two years, over 800 scenes, a few deaths, and a bonafide classical concert live – I portrayed Katherine Delafield on General Hospital. They called me the Accidental Actress. I did NOT see that coming. Secretly I was hoping that it would enhance my resumé in my jingle career! Hah.

Have you become a vocal contractor for a variety of projects with collaborators, beyond film work?

There is a great variety of singers and styles in this town to choose from. Not all singers are called for film work. Several film composers have done other types of work utilizing our talent pool in live performances: John Powell in choral works like Hubris, Hans Zimmer Live Performances at Coachella and large concert venues, Danny Elfman at Coachella, large concert venues and SNW Festivals, Germaine Franco concert pieces honored by the LAMC and more.

Singing with Quincy and others led me into contracting more Global and Gospel singers and choirs of all ages…collaborating with Bill Ross, Jeff Bhasker, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Michael Abels, Netflix (Char, Angelo, Sunny on various projects), Hudson Mohawke, Angélique Kidjo, Matthew Wilder, the artists on the Jimmy Kimmel show, The James Corden Late Late show, and more.

I love helping find the right voice(s) for composers, songwriters, producers and studios. The singers I use are SAG-AFTRA (or pre-union) so if a composer is new to the contracts and paperwork, I gladly and gently step us both through!

Do you believe you may continue any composing work? What areas of composing are you most interested in?

On Madonna’s True Blue album I composed counter lines for the BV’s. That’s when I realized that being on a session for me usually includes creating or composing vocal parts including but beyond just harmonizing. Composing and creating what I call “elements” before a recording session ensures that the composer/songwriter has plenty of ideas to choose from, and we can record them all! That kind of prep work has been welcomed by the artists I work with – helping them to build the song and giving the BV’s an even greater contribution on the final product.

What advice would you give a younger Edie?

Don’t stress, Edielein. Your career trajectory could never be planned. Stay present, grateful, open, keep learning, expand your listening of multiple musical genres, celebrate your fellow singers, pray for everyone on every session you do (still do to this day), spend time with your family – they’ll still be there if the phone stops ringing. 

Interview by Valerie Manahan

Check out Edie’s Directory Page here!