Ann Hampton Callaway at Center Theatre at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

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“I’m always surprised whenever a song pops into my head,” says Ann Hampton Callaway. It’s a funny and revealing thing for any successful songwriter to say, especially one whose compositions have been recorded and performed by some of the biggest names in the business – among them, Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Karrin Allyson, and Michael Feinstein, to name a few. As for how the muse appears, Callaway says, “Sometimes it can be a musical idea first, or other times it’s a line I hear or even a title. It’s always an ‘a-ha’ moment. One second, there’s nothing, and the next it’s all right there. If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that I have to be open to receiving that gift whenever it happens.” She laughs and adds, “I think the French poet Andre Gid said it best: ‘Art is the collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better.’” Were songwriting Callaway’s only talent, she would bear the distinction of being one of the best in the business, as evidenced by her recent induction to the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. But she’s also a mesmerizing all-around performer – singer, pianist, actress – whose mastery of jazz, pop, and cabaret has thrilled audiences across the globe, whether she appears on concert stages, theaters, or on film and TV. Broadway World voted her Entertainer of the Year, and Best Jazz Vocalist two years in a row, and she received a Tony Award nomination as Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her knockout performance in Swing! As an interpreter of the Great American Songbook, Callaway is without peer. With her richly expressive voice, exuberant wit, and heartfelt delivery, she doesn’t so much sing a song as she lets you in on a feeling. Just recently, she released her most personal album – her first to feature all-original songs – with Finding Beauty, Originals Volume 1, on which she combed through her own vast catalog of material and delivered bravura performances both solo and with a glittering array of guests such as Melissa Manchester, Tierney Sutton, Kurt Elling, Niki Haris, Jarrett Johnson, and Callaway’s frequent musical partner (and real-life sister), the Tony-nominated and Emmy-winning Liz Callaway. Produced and arranged by Trey Henry and Paul Viapiano for the Chemistry, Finding Beauty is brimming with standout moments, among them a haunting and intimate take on “At the Same Time,” already beloved for Barbra Streisand’s recording from her No. 1 platinum smash Higher Ground. “On Finding Beauty, I wanted to tell my story and share the deepest part of me,” Callaway says. “What better way than by singing songs I’ve written? I wanted a cohesive statement that would share my stories of love, from my first to my last. It was a thrill to explore these songs with the great artists who appeared with me. Everybody helped to make this album a truly beautiful experience.” Finding Beauty comes hot on the heels of another luminous album, Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration, a heartfelt and stunning tribute to one of Callaway’s biggest influences who has been called the “Queen of American pop music.” With both deep reverence and her unique flair for phrasing and theatricality, Callaway performs many of Lee’s hallmark songs – everything from “Johnny Guitar” to “I Don’t Know Enough About You” – but she also premieres Lee’s never-before-recorded “The Other Part of Me” as well as “Clair de Lune,” a poem Lee had written for which Callaway composed the music.