MARNI NIXON

California born MARNI NIXON enjoys world renown for her dubbing the voices of such movie stars as Deborah Kerr in "The King and I" and "An Affair to Remember," Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady," and Natalie Wood in "West Side Story." Such efforts are only a minor segment of her amazing and multi-faceted continuing career. Miss Nixon appears as a musical comedy and cabaret performer, opera diva, stage actress, symphony guest artist in both classical and "pops" repertoire, recitalist, recording artist, television raconteuse (and chanteuse), and also teaches voice and gives Master Classes.Marni Nixon is a distinguished alumnus of the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. January 1999 found her in the role of Mrs. Wilson in the world premiere of Richard Wargo's opera "Ballymore," at Skylight Opera (Milwaukee Wisconsin)…also taped for PBS-TV. Other recent highlights of her musical activity include performances at Lincoln Center's "Serious Fun" series as the wife in Michael Nyman's opera "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," and the American Music Festival and Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia, U.S.A. and Canada. 1997/98 found her in the role of Fraulein Schneider in a 6-month tour of the Kander and Ebb musical "Cabaret." She served as Dialect Director (Appalachian) for the 1995 Grammy Award album of "Susannah" by Carlisle Floyd (recorded at the Opera de Lyons, France). Her recent appearances with symphony orchestras, in repertoire that runs the musical gamut from songs by Sondheim and Cole Porter to Peter Maxwell Davies' "Miss Donnithorpe's Maggot," include the Denver, Toronto, Seattle, Syracuse, Dallas, San Diego, Atlanta, and Guadalajara (Mexico) Symphony Orchestras, and the Philharmonics of New York, Los Angeles, Buffalo and Brooklyn, as well as with the Vienna Volksoper. Some of the distinguished conductors with whom she has appeared are Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Leopold Stokowski and Igor Stravinsky.

Miss Nixon's recordings include "Songs by Ives, Goehr, and Schumann" on the Nonesuch label, "The Complete Works of Anton Webern," the "Bach Cantata No. 198," "Igor Stravinsky's Chamber Works (1911-1954)" for Columbia Records as conducted by the composer for whom she was a favorite singer. Her "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" by Villa-Lobos originally recorded on Capital Records is now re-issued part of the Time-Life Series on 20th Century Music. Recent record releases include an album of Debussy/Faure songs on the Musical Heritage Society label; "Cabaret Songs of Arnold Schoenberg" on the RCA-Red Seal label---a first recording which received a Grammy nomination (BMG CD re-release 1999); three albums for Reference Recordings: "Marni Nixon Sings Gershwin," Aaron Copland's "Emily Dickinson Songs" (another Grammy nomination), and a newer release "Marni Nixon Sings Classic Kern," and "Songs of Love and Parting" by Ernest Gold and "Coplas" by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco recorded with the Vienna Volksoper Orchestra on the Crystal label.

Marni Nixon began studying violin at the age of 4 and as a child appeared in dramatic stock companies. At 14 years she appeared in her first musical at the famed Pasadena Playhouse. She made her debut as an oratorio/orchestral vocal soloist in Mozart's "Requiem," Alfred Wallenstein conducting, when she was 17 years old. She is generally acknowledged to be a musician of great acuity and insight. Indeed, the critics call her a "musician's musician." She designed and directed the Vocal Department of the California Institute of the Arts until she became Artist-in-Residence at the Cornish Institute of t he Arts in Seattle (1975-1978). The 1977 Northwest Goldovsky Opera Workshop was under her personal direction. She has received 4 personal Emmy Awards in the category of "Best Actress" for ABC-TV's multi-awarded children's series "Boomerang." In addition to performing as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" in the first New York revival of the Broadway show, she has originated the roles of Sadie McKibben in "Opal" at the Lambs Theater, Edna in the highly acclaimed Off-B'way musical "Taking My Turn" which was also taped for PBS-TV, and has been frequently seen on the "Great Performances" series and as Aunt Kate in the recent Broadway production of the play with music entitled "James Joyce's The Dead." Her 2nd Gold Record was received for the singing voice of Grandma Pa in Disney's animated film "Mulan." Operagoers have heard her as a lyric-coloratura in leading roles with major opera companies, which include the San Francisco Spring Opera, New England Opera, Seattle Opera, and the earlier Ford Foundation and Cameo Opera TV series. In coloratura roles, major newspaper reviewers have not only called her "the most adroit comedienne on the operatic stage today," but also "The thinking man's coloratura!"

Marni Nixon is a frequent judge for artistic organizations including the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and the internationally famous American Traditions Competition (Savannah Onstage) with emphasis on all American music-blues, pop, gospel, musical theater and opera. Her one-woman show "Marni Nixon: The Voice of Hollywood" has been touring throughout the USA.

CLICK HERE to print this page.

CLICK HERE to request publicity materials or to engage the artist.