Vocalists

Dodworth Saxhorn Band is fortunate to have two fine vocalists, Leah Dexter and Ted Badgerow, to help it bring the musical past to life. The two participate in band performances, singing, dancing, and narrating throughout. See below for more information about these two remarkable and talented individuals.

Leah Dexter

American mezzo-soprano Leah Dexter is a performer of broad musical experience.  Having spent years studying violin and ballet, she went on to earn a Bachelor and Master of Music from the University of Michigan, from which she received the Willis Patterson Diversity Award.  Leah has performed opera roles with companies including the Brevard Music Center, Toledo Opera, Motor City Lyric Opera, New Opera Festival of Rome, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis among others.  She performed the role of Annie in Porgy and Bess with New York Harlem Productions tour of Italy, Germany and Spain this past summer and will rejoin the company for further European performances in the spring.  Concert and oratorio engagements this season include Handel’s Messiah with First Presbyterian Church of Northville and Let My People Go with Rackham Symphony Choir.  An avid recitalist, Leah has performed at Christ Church Cranbrook, and several recitals, including “Songs and Sonnets of Americas,” a recital of American, Latin and South American music.  This program she performed at both Stanford University and Eastern Michigan University this past fall with her collaborator Kathryn Goodson.  Next, she will travel to Chicago in January to perform at the Cultural Arts Center’s Fazioli Salon Recital Series with a radio broadcast on WFMT.  Leah continues to perform often with Michigan Opera Theatre and has recently performed the roles of Handmaiden in Turandot and a Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro.  In the spring of 2008, Leah will sing the roles of Suzy & Lolette in La Rondine and Annina in La Traviata.

Ted Badgerow

As vocalist for the DSB, Ted Badgerow has enjoyed a decade with the band -- especially the many unique experiences encountered in traveling to and from hundreds of concerts.  He performs frequently as the Stroller Extraordinaire, and with the popular duo Strolling Serenade.  Ted also sings with the River Raisin Ragtime Revue, and is vocal soloist on the ensemble’s acclaimed Ragtime Detroit CD as well as the DSB’s Home Sweet Home.  He considers himself blessed to sing with two of America’s finest period ensembles.  A trained classical guitarist, Ted directs a church choir and has acted in or directed countless theatrical productions.  He sings and plays the guitar, fife, harmonica, flute, banjo and pennywhistle for educational programs, workshops on 19th-century music, parties of all kinds, farmers’ markets, weddings, funerals, birthday parties, hayrides, and holiday celebrations.  A member of the Ann Arbor Federation of Musicians, Ted began singing in restaurants professionally in 1971.  You may hear him as the Caroler Extraordinaire in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti each December, or with his soprano partner Nancy J. Daly caroling in Greenfield Village.

After many years as a prizewinning designer and installer of ceramic tile and marble, Ted now works as a personal chef in Ann Arbor.  In 1981 he established Michigan’s first modern microbrewery, serving as president, CEO, brewmaster, and assistant bottlewasher.  Ted enjoys spending time with his wife Kathy and their children, pedaling to the end of the pavement wherever the DSB is touring, barbequing and baking pizzas for the band, and jumping into the Great Lakes every chance he gets.