“Jackie – Celebrating Marilyn Horne” – Metropolitan Opera Luncheon 2011

The Metropolitan Opera Guild pays tribute to Marilyn Horne, on Monday, October 31. Stars and fans of opera will come together in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria for the Guild's 77th Annual Luncheon.

“Jackie – Celebrating Marilyn Horne” will honour the incomparable achievements of one of the greatest singers of our time with tributes from her colleagues; live and video-taped performances, including a musical tribute by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. Dozens of special guests from the world of opera will be among the 800 guests expected to attend the luncheon. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Guild's education programs in New York City and throughout the country.

The Guild's President, Richard J Miller Jr., said,

It's an enormous pleasure for the Metropolitan Opera Guild to honor Marilyn Horne at our Annual Luncheon. I'd be hard pressed to name anyone who has done more for opera and song over the past 50 years. She has been both an amazing artist, and a good friend to the Guild.”

In recent seasons, the Guild's luncheon has paid tribute to artists such as Frederica vonStade, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Plácido Domingo, as well as director Franco Zeffirelli and former General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Joseph Volpe.

Expected to attend on October 31 are June Anderson, Lucine Amara, Martina Arroyo, Harolyn Blackwell, Judith Blegen, Richard Bonynge, Nedda Casei, DWayne Croft, Raymond Gniewek, Jean Kraft, Shirley Love, John Macurdy, Spiro Malas, Betsy Norden, Roberta Peters, Samuel Ramey, Regina Resnik, Renata Scotto, Rita Shane, Bryn Terfel, Benita Valente, Deborah Voigt, and Frederica von Stade.

Other friends and colleagues will include Broadway legend Barbara Cook, theatre and opera director Frank Corsaro (who made his Met debut in 1984 with Handel's Rinaldo, starring Marilyn Horne), John Corigliano (who composed a role in his opera, The Ghosts of Versailles, specifically for Horne), actress Tyne Daly (currently starring to great acclaim in a revival of Master Class), actress Florence Henderson, pianist Martin Katz (Horne's long-time recital partner), playwright Terrence McNally (author of Master Class), singer Marni Nixon (who provided the film singing voices for Audrey Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, and Natalie Wood), conductor Eve Queler, and singer Robert White.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.