Marilyn Horne Visits Bradford
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
Marilyn Horne has won Grammy Awards, has been honored by The Kennedy Center and has sung at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. But one of the greatest thrills of her life came about a month ago.
During a visit to her daughter’s home her 8-year-old grandson Henry was playing the piano so she sat down next to him and he played while she sang.
“That’s really good for the grandmother’s heart, I can tell you that.,” she said prior to Sunday’s commencement exercises at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Horne was the keynote speaker, addressing Pitt-Bradford’s largest graduating class ever.
She said Henry, along with his 7-year-old brother Alex and 12-year-old sister Daisy are musically inclined, and she is excited about that.
Horne also talked about her own grandmother, when discussing the state of personal communication. That part of the conversation started when she was discussing keeping in touch with her daughter Angela while she traveled all over the world.
E-mail, texting and cell phones were not an option. Even the cost of long distance phone calls made that prohibitive until direct dialing came into play, she said.
“You wrote letters, or nothing … I wrote a lot of letters and post cards. … With e-mail letter-writing is out the window,” Horne said.
It’s the personal touch that comes from letter-writing, which some people are now missing out on, that disturbs her.
“It bothers me that people are constantly checking their e-mail and texting and all of that,” she continued. “I have letters that my grandmother wrote to me …incredible, beautifully written letters that mean so much to me.”
She also talked about Bradford’s weather nemesis, Fargo, North Dakota -- and leeks.
“I remember Fargo for a couple of things that happened there,” she said, recounting the end of a grueling tour and the terrible weather they were encountering on the way to Fargo. Lightning even struck the plane while she was on it.
“We were sick of motels, and singing and the whole thing,” she said. “What the hell are we doing going to Fargo?”
Then when the show started she saw four rows of children in school uniforms, which she found unnerving because you never know what kind of distraction children will cause.
But, she said, “They were total angels. I don’t even know if they were breathing.”
It turns out that their music teacher taught them everything she would be singing in her program. Afterward, they came back stage and asked very intelligent questions.
“I’ve never forgotten that,” she said. “It was absolutely extraordinary.”
She also met a young man in a wheelchair, who had some kind of palsy. As it was his turn to meet her, his hand was all over the place so she grabbed it and held onto it.
She said the young man could barely speak but he managed to get out the words, “I love you.”
“Whoa,” Horne said. “That was truly unbelievable.”
In a way, she said, the visit to Fargo was a spiritual experience.
As for the leeks, Horne said although she’s not much of a leek eater, she did pick them -- and wildflowers -- when she was child growing up in Bradford
The teenage boys, she said, would “eat tons of (leeks), go to the movies” and breathe on people.
Tomorrow: Miss Horne beats pancreatic cancer
WESB/WBRR News Director
Marilyn Horne has won Grammy Awards, has been honored by The Kennedy Center and has sung at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. But one of the greatest thrills of her life came about a month ago.
During a visit to her daughter’s home her 8-year-old grandson Henry was playing the piano so she sat down next to him and he played while she sang.
“That’s really good for the grandmother’s heart, I can tell you that.,” she said prior to Sunday’s commencement exercises at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Horne was the keynote speaker, addressing Pitt-Bradford’s largest graduating class ever.She said Henry, along with his 7-year-old brother Alex and 12-year-old sister Daisy are musically inclined, and she is excited about that.
Horne also talked about her own grandmother, when discussing the state of personal communication. That part of the conversation started when she was discussing keeping in touch with her daughter Angela while she traveled all over the world.
E-mail, texting and cell phones were not an option. Even the cost of long distance phone calls made that prohibitive until direct dialing came into play, she said.
“You wrote letters, or nothing … I wrote a lot of letters and post cards. … With e-mail letter-writing is out the window,” Horne said.
It’s the personal touch that comes from letter-writing, which some people are now missing out on, that disturbs her.
“It bothers me that people are constantly checking their e-mail and texting and all of that,” she continued. “I have letters that my grandmother wrote to me …incredible, beautifully written letters that mean so much to me.”
She also talked about Bradford’s weather nemesis, Fargo, North Dakota -- and leeks.
“I remember Fargo for a couple of things that happened there,” she said, recounting the end of a grueling tour and the terrible weather they were encountering on the way to Fargo. Lightning even struck the plane while she was on it.
“We were sick of motels, and singing and the whole thing,” she said. “What the hell are we doing going to Fargo?”
Then when the show started she saw four rows of children in school uniforms, which she found unnerving because you never know what kind of distraction children will cause.
But, she said, “They were total angels. I don’t even know if they were breathing.”
It turns out that their music teacher taught them everything she would be singing in her program. Afterward, they came back stage and asked very intelligent questions.
“I’ve never forgotten that,” she said. “It was absolutely extraordinary.”
She also met a young man in a wheelchair, who had some kind of palsy. As it was his turn to meet her, his hand was all over the place so she grabbed it and held onto it.
She said the young man could barely speak but he managed to get out the words, “I love you.”
“Whoa,” Horne said. “That was truly unbelievable.”
In a way, she said, the visit to Fargo was a spiritual experience.
As for the leeks, Horne said although she’s not much of a leek eater, she did pick them -- and wildflowers -- when she was child growing up in Bradford
The teenage boys, she said, would “eat tons of (leeks), go to the movies” and breathe on people.
Tomorrow: Miss Horne beats pancreatic cancer
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