Opera Legend Marilyn Horne Leads Master Classes at Oberlin April 20, 22

Marilyn Horne, the celebrated mezzo-soprano who has been called perhaps “the most influential singer in American history” by Opera News, returns to Oberlin this month to work with voice students and lead a pair of public master classes in conjunction with the Artist Recital Series.

Horne’s visit will be highlighted by public master classes at 8 p.m. Friday, April 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 22 in Finney Chapel.

Friday’s program will include sopranos Cara Bender ’18 and Diana Schwam ’19, mezzo-soprano Olivia Cosio ’18, and bass-baritone Cory McGee ’18. They will perform music by Puccini, Schubert, Brahms, Mozart, and others.

Sunday will feature sopranos Katherine Lerner Lee ’18 and Lexi Reed ’19, mezzo-soprano Jesse Mashburn ’18, and baritone Daewon Seo ’19 performing music by Menotti, Liszt, Wagner, and Strauss, among others.

Tickets to each master class are $5; admission is free with an Oberlin College ID and for subscribers to the Artist Recital Series. Both master classes will be streamed live at oberlin.edu.

Horne’s annual residency at Oberlin is made possible by philanthropist Stephen Rubin, president and publisher of Henry Holt & Co. and a longtime friend of Horne’s. In 2013 Rubin established the Marilyn Horne Professorship and Residency Fund. In addition to bringing Horne to campus, the fund provides financial assistance for career-advancement opportunities to the most promising voice students in the conservatory. Those students earn the designation "Rubin Scholars." Past recipients of the award include Meryl Dominguez ’14, Emily Hopkins ’15, Joshua Blue ’16, Siena Miller ’16, Juliana Zara ’16, Amber Monroe ’17, and Mashburn, who earned the distinction after performing for Horne in 2017.

For more information on Marilyn Horne and other arts at Oberlin, visit the online Arts Guide.