Famous vocalist, actress returns to IU for concert, lecture where she 'started' her career

Alumna and vocalist Lorna Dallas will offer her voice and advice to IU students this weekend.\nDallas will speak to a select group of master students today at the Jacobs School of Music. Her talk is titled "It's Not Where You Finish, It's Where You Start." Dallas will perform in a free concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the IU Auditorium. \n"The memory of my spiritual teacher Virginia MacWatters leads me to come back to IU and give a free concert for current students," Dallas said. "Ms. MacWatters nurtured me like a mother-figure. She let me know my gift is not only voice, but acting, entertaining, and the whole picture of the stage." \nHer Sunday performance will feature "The Great American Songbook" and a variety of Stephen Sondheim songs. "It is very theatrical approaches to this material," Dallas explained about the concert. In addition, she will bring renowned pianist Jason Carr from the United Kingdom and is also looking forward to having Michael Schwandt from the opera department handle the lighting. \nDallas has been nick-named an "IU ambassador" because of her alumni status at the University.\n"Hopefully, I represented IU whenever I sang on the stage," she said. "I did many shows for IU to raise money for scholarships and funds all across the U.S."\nDallas added, "I sing with my heart and with my passion." \nFollowing in her older sister Ellen's footsteps, Dallas decided to study at IU. \n"There was never any doubt in my mind that IU was the place for me, too," Dallas said. Her career started at IU and extended to New York and overseas. Dallas starred as Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro" with the Metropolitan Opera National. She also traveled to London's West End to sing. \n"The most impressive stage I've ever been on is Carnegie Hall," Dallas said. "But the most impressive is always the one that I am on at the moment."\nNot only does Dallas sing, but she has acted as well. She starred as Linda Gronlund in the movie "United 93" about the events of Sept. 11. The movie was the opening film at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival. \nDallas said her involvement in the movie led to a dinner invitation with President George W. Bush and his wife. She added that the president asked her if he would cry during the film. Dallas responded, "You certainly will." And he did, she said.\n"Life is challenging. I am never one to say 'no' to any new challenge," Dallas said. \nDallas would also like to teach young people. \n"I can speak from experience and have a great enthusiasm for it all. I am a great motivator, so students would be inspired," she said.\nDallas' desire to inspire others has come from her own learning experience she received from MacWatters. \n"It's a secret. I'll perform wearing a bracelet which I wore on my first London stage." she said. "MacWatters gave me the bracelet. MacWatters wore the bracelet during her first performance on the Covent Garden stage"