Soprano Marni Nixon
to receive Distinguished Artist Award,
July 22, 2008, New York City: Jackie
Presti, Artistic Director of the Singer Symposium, announced that the well known
American soprano, Marni Nixon, will be the recipient of the Distinguished Artist
Award at this fall's New York City conference.
Often referred to as the
"Voice of Hollywood," Marni Nixon was the singing voice for many film
stars including, Debora Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story,
and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Previous awards received include four Emmys
for best actress in the TV's children show Bommerang, which has been in rerun
for 25 year. She also has received both classical and non-classical Grammy nominations.
In addition to scores of film and TV credits, Marni Nixon's career includes opera
and symphony engagements, Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre. She is
responsible for many records and soundtracks, and has two Gold Records.
In
discussing the upcoming award, Singer Symposium's Jackie Presti related, "when
I was a girl, living in Florida, my parents took me to see the movie version of
West Side Story. In the family car on the way home, I commented that "I didn't
know Natalie Wood had such a beautiful voice?" I remember how surprised I
was when my father explained that it was not really Natalie Wood singing."
A musician friend later explained that the wonderful voice in many of my favorite
movies was Marni Nixon's. In those days, (and sadly, still today) dubbed voices
and singers on soundtracks in the movies often went "unaccredited."
It was then I first realized that there was a "career to be had singing"
that didn't involve standing in front of an actual audience
Jackie Presti
went on to say; "the Singer Symposium is about every aspect of singing."
Marni Nixon epitomizes what it means to be a "working singer." She may
not be a household name, but to those of us in the know, she's an inspiration.
She has covered just about every musical genre possible, worked with most of the
musical legends of our time, and maintains an active career today. I can assure
you, it will be a moving moment when we honor her." Many of my colleagues
have stated that they "just want to shake her hand,
and make sure that
the young singers starting out know about her contributions."
Concerning
the award, Marni Nixon said "when Ms. Presti informed me, I thought to myself,
'how nice.' It is so meaningful to be recognized by your own"
The
Singer Symposium, Saturday, October 25, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Midtown, New York
City, is a one day conference organized by singers for singers. For further information
refer to www.singersymposium.com. Marni Nixon's autobiography is entitled I Could
have Sung All Night.
