Hall of Fame
Her professional career actually began while she was a student at the Oklahoma College for Women. She began singing professionally the summer after her junior year, with the St. Louis Municipal Opera. Known at OCW for her “vivacious personality and strong leadership qualities,” Barbara Crouch Lies of Marlow graduated cum laude in 1956 with a degree in Music and Voice. Her father, the Rev. S.A. Crouch, performed the baccalaureate. The summer after graduation, she toured with a major New York theater company. She then went to New York City to continue her music training at the Juilliard School of Music, where she received a Diploma in Music. While at Juilliard, she sang lead mezzo-soprano roles in several opera productions. Her later stage career embraced many styles and types of music. Barbara sang as soloist with the New York Philharmonic and Andre Kostelanetz, and guest-soloed at Carnegie Hall, and other major New York concert halls. She sang alto with the Riverside Singers and the Camerata Chamber Singers, and with the Schola Cantorum in Europe. She was voted Miss OCW 1955, Outstanding Senior 1956, and was named to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.