The Marilyn Horne Song Competition is an annual competition for participants of the voice and piano programs at the

Music Academy of The West The Music Academy of the West is a summer classical music training program in Montecito, California, and festival with performances in the County of Santa Barbara. Overview The academy annually enrolls 136 pre-professional musicians in their ...

Name

The Competition was launched in 1997 as the ''Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition'' and held by the

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Berneice Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient ...

Foundation. In 2010 the foundation’s programs became part of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. The Competition is since being held by the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy of the West is a summer classical music training program in Montecito, California, and festival with performances in the County of Santa Barbara. Overview The academy annually enrolls 136 pre-professional musicians in their ...

under its current name.

Overview

The competition is held in front of a jury and a public audience. Singers perform three songs, one of which has to be in English. The pianists accompany at least one of the singers. Winning singers and pianists can, but don't have to have performed together. The winners receive a monetary prize and the opportunity to perform in a prestigious venue, among other things. The competition commemorates

Gwendolyn Koldofsky Gwendolyn Koldofsky (née Williams; November 1, 1906 – November 12, 1998) was a Canadian piano accompanist and music educator who became renowned in her field, a Professor Emerita at USC . Born Gwendolyn Williams in Bowmanville, Ontario, sh ...

, who established the first Department of Accompanying at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1947. Marilyn Horne recalls Kodofsky as “Teacher, mentor, accompanist, and my dear friend.” Together they had toured for 10 years.

List of winners

References

{{music-event-stub Song contests Opera competitions Music competitions in the United States