Trained as an opera singer in the United States and Europe, Michael Maglaras has performed widely as a singer and opera director. He has also formed a well-respected international business consulting firm headquartered in Ashford, Connecticut.
In 2001, he started 217 Records, specializing in alternative rock, jazz, and spoken word recordings. Among other recordings of note, 217 Records released, in 2007, a complete recording of Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha," as part of the bicentennial celebration of Longfellow's birth. He topped off the release of this recording with a six-and-a-half hour reading of this epic poem in Portland, Maine.
In 2003, he founded 217 Films and launched this venture with a film about the American painter Marsden Hartley's epic narrative of love and loss, "Cleophas and His Own: A North Atlantic Tragedy." Maglaras directed and starred in this movie. In 2008, he completed a documentary about Marsden Hartley called "Visible Silence: Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet." "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!", the first-ever full-length documentary on this important American artist, was released in 2009.
An avid gardener and chef, Michael shares his personal and artistic life with his wife, Terri Templeton, who is executive producer of both 217 Records and 217 Films. They divide their time between homes in Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Terri Templeton is executive producer of 217 Films and 217 Records. She has been performing professionally since the age of 16, as musician, singer, songwriter, and actress. Lena Spenser, founder of the renowned Caffe Lena, offered Terri her first solo seat before an intimate concert audience, upstairs at the Caffe, where the likes of Bob Dylan, Patty Larkin, Sonny Matthews, Mississippi John Hurt and Tom Paxton had sat before her. Since that time, she has continued to develop a career characterized by a loyal and dedicated following among both fellow artists and fans who appreciate the poetry of her performances.
From 1997 to 2000, Terri was a regular performer with the Cincinnati-based, Virgin / Back Porch artists Over the Rhine, and can be heard on their Virgin / Back Porch recording "Films for Radio". She toured with Cowboy Junkies throughout their 1998 "Miles from Our Home" tour, and has performed as well with such artists as Atlanta-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Michelle Malone, multi-media artist and composer Jay Bolotin, and NYC experimental composer/bassist Chris Dahlgren. Terri appears on David Greenberger's 2001 Duplex Planet release "Ernie: Songs of Ernest Noyes Brookings" as a contributing songwriter and performer. Her song "Walk with Me" appears in the HBO and Cinemax feature film "Mixing Nia" by Spike Lee Award winner and NYC film director Alison Swan. Since 2001, she has released three solo CDs. More at www.ttempleton.com.
If you'd like to learn more about the spoken word, jazz, and alternative rock recording projects of 217 Records, the sister company of 217 Films, click here.
