Mezzo-Soprano Horne To Receive Honorary Degree

9-12-97
University Park, Pa. -- Penn State's Board of Trustees today (Sept. 12) approved awarding an honorary doctorate of music degree to mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, a native of Bradford and one of the greatest opera singers of the century.

Horne has been called "the greatest singer in the world" by Opera News and "the most American of all operatic singers" by The New York Times. Horne, wrote the Times, has "a can-do technical command of the voice, ready intelligence. . . , firm grounding in the popular culture, melting-pot versatility."

Born in 1934 in Bradford, Horne was singing songs at the piano just before her second birthday. By the time she was four, she sang at a rally for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She has sung at the White House for presidents of both parties and at President Bill Clinton's inaugural ceremonies in Washington, D.C.

Horne's family moved to Los Angeles when she was 11, and six years later she began vocal studies at the University of Southern California. She first came into the public spotlight as the dubbed voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the motion picture "Carmen Jones" in 1954, the same year she made her debut in Los Angeles as Hata in "The Bartered Bride."

Horne has been acclaimed in Italy as the supreme interpreter of Rossini operas. Her appearance at La Scala in "The Siege of Corinth" in 1969 marked the beginning of Horne's reign as the undisputed mistress of the bel canto style of singing as well as one of the most versatile singers in history.

Her great roles have included Handel's Rinaldo, Rossini's Isabella and Rosina, Verdi's Amneris and Princess Eboli, Meyerbeer's Fides and Bizet's Carmen. Currently, Horne is devoting more and more time to teaching and to encouraging young operatic singers in their careers.

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Contact: Alan Janesch (814) 865-7517 office or (814) 867-3621 home axj12@psu.edu