Irene Harrower

Long-time Atlanta resident Irene Callaway Harrower died peacefully on February 14, 2016 at the age of 87 from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease with her daughter Julie and family by her side in Dallas, Texas. Recognized throughout the world as a musician of the highest caliber, Irene Harrower was a leader in the opera world. Renowned as a charismatic lyric soprano, Irene was a performer of opera and oratorio, who graced the stages and opera houses of Europe and the United States. A widely admired and dedicated vocal teacher, Irene Harrower trained many of the finest young professional singers today. In addition to her private studio, Irene and her late husband bass-baritone Peter Harrower founded the Harrower Opera Workshop that is still a hallmark program at the School of Music at George State University.

Born in Murfreesboro, Arkansas on January 10, 1929 to Cora Ada and Wallis Callaway, Irene was one of four siblings, brother Wallis, beloved sister Betty Jean, and brother Jimmy all of whom have now preceded her in death. Always a quick learner and advanced student, Irene entered college at the age of sixteen where she attended Lon Morris Jr. College and Henderson State University. Both institutions awarded her “Distinguished Alumna.” Irene’s passion for singing grew out of her commitment to the Methodist church and her supporters ultimately raised enough money to send her to summers at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA and subsequently on to New York City so she could pursue her singing career.

Irene won the distinguished Fulbright Scholar award in 1954 that took her to Rome, Italy where she performed with the Teatro dell'Opera, the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia of Rome, the Orchestras of Radio-Television Italy, the Vienna Volksoper, Aix-en-Provence, France, and many other companies across Europe. There she met the love of her life, bass-baritone Peter Harrower. They married in 1957 in Rome, Italy and returned several years later to Peter’s hometown of Atlanta to care for his mother.

Soprano Irene Callaway (right) with Senator and Mrs. Fulbright on the Spanish Steps in Rome in 1959. Miss Callaway, formerly from Arkansas, had a Fulbright scholarship to study voice in Italy.

Time Magazine

As Irene and Peter settled in Atlanta, they made it their home base as they pursued their singing careers in the US. Both Peter and Irene sang with the Atlanta Symphony many times, first under the baton of Henry Sopkin and later under Robert Shaw. At that time, there was not a strong opera company in Atlanta, so they spent months away with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and on duo-concert tours. Irene grew weary of the travel and arrangements while raising their children, son Richard Stillwell and daughter Julie Ramsey, and dedicated her career to teaching and creating a vibrant vocal studio for professional singers in the Atlanta area.

Irene was not only a devotee of music, but also a lover of languages. Fluent in Italian and French, she also studied German and Spanish voraciously. Known for her incredible musicality and use of language, she went on to create a master class on diction and music program, Distinctly Diction, which she toured with nationally and internationally. Her interactions with students on the national and international levels brought high regard from all who crossed her musical path. She was a well-known adjudicator for local and national auditions for such organizations as the Metropolitan Opera.

Irene was deeply committed to her church, first at St. Mark’s Methodist in Atlanta where she and Peter were soloists in the choir and then at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church where she and Peter were also soloists and then later served on the Vestry.

Irene leaves behind her son Richard Stillwell Harrower of August, Georgia, and her beloved daughter Julie and her family including husband world-renowned cellist Andres Diaz, her two favorite grandsons Peter Manuel (17) and Gabriel Andres (13) and Andres’ parents and fellow musicians Betty Anne and Manuel Diaz of Columbus GA, and her adoring nieces and nephews Gretchen Irene Peacock of Sharpsburg, Georgia; Carol Jean Isom of Little Rock Arkansas; Billy Hargis of Houston, Texas; Richard Callaway, and Reba Jane Callaway Driver of Little Rock, Arkansas and all their families.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in her memory to the Harrower Summer Opera Workshop Endowment Fund at Georgia State University or St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta.