Bradford native and opera legend Marilyn Horne is undergoing
treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Horne, who turned 72 on Monday, was diagnosed in mid-December
and has an “excellent prognosis for a full recovery,” Denise
Pineau, her manager at Columbia Artists Management said
Thursday.
According to Pineau, Horne, a renown mezzo-soprano, has
“localized pancreatic cancer” and has started treatment in New York
City.
“She’s strong,” Pineau told The Era Thursday afternoon. “She’s
going to do this.”
The news comes on the eve of next week’s Marilyn Horne
Foundation week – part of “The Song Continues,” a weeklong series
of recitals and coaching lessons presented by Carnegie Hall in
partnership with the Horne Foundation. Part of the activities is
Horne holding her master class on Tuesday.
Jim Guelfi, president of the Bradford Creative and Performing
Arts Center, and BCPAC marketing consultant Tim Ziaukas, will be
Horne’s guests next week during the foundation’s annual concert
spotlighting more refined singers at Carnegie Hall.
Guelfi, who was with Horne in October when she received the 2005
Distinguished Arts Award from Gov. Ed Rendell, said Thursday that
he is hopeful he and Ziaukas will see the archives Horne is leaving
to the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
As in Thursday’s press statement, there’s no reason to believe
this diagnosis will slow her down.
“There is no reason to anticipate any changes in her schedule,”
Pineau said.
A Horne representative told Guelfi there’s a tumor on Horne’s
pancreas, which is contained. Doctors plan to shrink and remove the
tumor without a problem.
“Her spirits are excellent,” Guelfi said. “It doesn’t seem to be
holding her back.”
The fact that her cancer is localized allows for “recent
significant breakthroughs in treatment,” Pineau said.
Nationally, about 20 percent of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed
while the tumor is confined entirely within the pancreas, giving
doctors a chance to remove it before it spreads.
“(Horne’s) been an extremely positive person. The people of
Bradford don’t need me to tell them that,” Pineau said, adding
Horne has a “huge network of family and friends who adore her … not
just as a great singer.
“I think she’s going to do really fine.”
Horne spent the first 11 years of her life in Bradford, singing
at Veterans Square with the Citizens Band.
Horne had studied at the University of Southern California and
made her debut in Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” in a 1954 Los
Angeles Guild Opera production. Horne first sang at London’s Covent
Garden in 1964, and at Milan’s La Scala in 1969.
A high point of her career came in 1970 when she made her
Metropolitan Opera debut as Adalgisa in Bellini’s “Norma” alongside
soprano Joan Sutherland.
Horne officially retired from the stage in 1999 with a Chicago
recital, and has devoted much of her time since to working with
young singers. She directs the vocal program at the Music Academy
of the West, a summer school and festival in Santa Barbara, Calif.,
and supports promising artists through the Marilyn Horne
Foundation, established in 1994 to develop both the talent and
audiences for vocal recitals.
This includes recitals at the University of Pittsburgh at
Bradford.
The next Marilyn Horne Foundation Recital is set for 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 27 in the Bromeley Family Theater on campus featuring Joshua
Hopkins.
The foundation, which generally has just one a season per
location, is the second at Pitt-Bradford.
Horne recently released two CDs – O Holy Night with Christmas
songs – and Rockabye Baby, lullabies from around the world.
Pineau said Horne had not been sick, but did go to a doctor when
she felt something was out of the norm.
“She didn’t wait … she checked it out. It’s extremely important.
That’s why it’s localized.”
When Horne turned 70, she told The Era, “It’s been a very, very
full life and very blessed. I am grateful for all of it … I feel
very humble about it.”
Horne sang at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration.
Clinton later named her a Kennedy Center honoree in 1995. In 1992,
she received the National Medal of the Arts from President George
H.W. Bush and the Endowment for the Arts.
In October 2000, Horne returned home to Bradford where Marilyn
Horne Way was named in her honor.
BCPAC has named its annual award – the Jackie Award – after
Horne.
Horne’s international success in the most difficult of
mezzo-soprano roles led to the revival of many of Rossini’s and
Handel’s greatest operas. She first came into the public spotlight
as the dubbed voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the motion picture
Carmen Jones in 1954.
“People adore her … Marilyn Horne represents a lot of things to
people. Not just a magnificence of voice. It’s her personality,
ability to look you in the eye. This is a human being with heart
and soul.”
