Look up mura in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Mura may refer to:

Places[link]

• Mura River (or Mur), affluent of Drava, a river in Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia
• Mura river, affluent of Angara, in Russia
• Mura river, affluent of Shegarka, in turn affluent of Ob River, in Russia
• Mura, Lombardy, a comune in the Province of Brescia, Italy
• Mura, Spain, a municipality in the Province of Barcelona, Catalonia
• Mura or Pomurska statistical region, in Slovenia
• Mura Republica or Republic of Prekmurje, an unrecognized European state in 1919

People[link]

• Mura people, an indigenous people in Brazil
• Saint Mura, first abbot and patron saint of Fahan, an early Christian monastery in County Donegal, Ireland
• David Mura (born 1952), Japanese-American author, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist
• Éric Mura (born 1963), French retired footballer
• Frank Mura (1861-?), French-born American painter and water colourist
• Steve Mura (born 1955), retired Major League Baseball pitcher
• Takahito Mura (born 1991), Japanese figure skater
• Takashi Mura (born 1960), Japanese figure skater
• Toshio Mura (1925-2009), professor of engineering

Other uses[link]

• MurA or UDP-N-acetylglucosamine enolpyruvyl transferase, an enzyme
• Mura, administrative units of modern villages of Japan and Edo period villages
• NK Mura, a defunct Slovenian football club
• ND Mura 05, a Slovenian football club, successor to NK Mura
• Mura, an extinct member of the family of Muran languages
• Mura (Japanese term), meaning unevenness or inconsistency in physical matter or human spiritual condition
• MURA, the Midwestern Universities Research Association, from 1953 to 1967

See also[link]

• Mur (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Takahito Mura
Mura in 2008.
Personal information
Full name	Takahito Mura
Country represented	Japan
Born	(1991-02-11) February 11, 1991 (age 21) Matsudo City
Home town	Nagoya
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Coach	Hiroshi Nagakubo Yoriko Naruse
Former coach	Takashi Mura Naoki Shigematsu
Choreographer	Nanami Yoshida Eiji Iwamoto
Skating club	Chukyo University
Began skating	1994
World standing	44 (As of 16 June 2011 (2011 -06-16)[update])[1]
Season's bests	40 (2010–2011)[2] 26 (2008–2009)[3]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	217.16 2012 Four Continents Championships
Short program	83.44 2012 Four Continents Championships
Free skate	133.72 2012 Four Continents Championships
Medal record Competitor for  Japan Men's Figure skating Asian Winter Games Silver 2011 Astana-Almaty Singles

Takahito Mura (無良 崇人, Mura Takahito^?, born February 11, 1991 in Matsudo City) is a Japanese figure skater. He is a two-time Finlandia Trophy champion, 2010 Triglav Trophy champion, the 2009 Japanese bronze medalist, and ^[4] and 2008 junior national champion.

Personal life[link]

Mura's father, Takashi, is a former figure skater who competed internationally in both singles and pairs.^[5] His mother also competed in figure skating.^[5]

Career[link]

Mura placed fifth at the 2006 World Junior Championships. He won two medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit in 2006 and qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final, where he placed just off the podium. He made his senior international debut at the 2008 Finlandia Trophy, which he won.

Programs[link]

Competitive highlights[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Takahito Mura at the International Skating Union
• Photos of Takahito Mura

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Takahito Mura

This article about a Japanese figure skater is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Marilyn Horne and Henry Lewis in 1961, photo by Carl Van Vechten

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

Biography[link]

Horne was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, but moved with her parents to Long Beach, California, when she was 11. At the age of 13, she became part of the newly formed Los Angeles Concert Youth Chorus. She attended the University of Southern California where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She is an alumna of Long Beach Polytechnic High School and returned in 1989 in a performance to benefit its music program. As a high school student, Marilyn was part of the St. Luke's Choir of Long Beach under the direction of William Ripley Dorr. This prestigious choir often worked for the movie studios and recorded on Capitol Records. Marilyn and her sister Gloria were part of St. Luke's Quartet along with tenor, Bob James and baritone, Philip D. Haynes.

She studied voice under William Vennard at the University of Southern California School of Music and participated in Lotte Lehmann's vocal master classes.^[1]

Career[link]

Horne's first major professional engagement was in 1954, when she dubbed the singing voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the film Carmen Jones. Until that point, she had worked as a background singer for several TV sitcoms, as well as recorded covers of popular songs of the early 1950s, which were sold in dimestores around the country for $1.98. She made an appearance on The Odd Couple as a character named "Jackie," her own nickname, a meek and nervous would-be singer who develops into a full-blown diva and essays the role of Carmen with brilliant results; she also sang on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She made her Los Angeles debut the same year when she performed the role of Hata in The Bartered Bride with the Los Angeles Guild Opera.

Her first major breakthrough came when her singing ability was recognized by Igor Stravinsky; her operatic career began when he invited her to perform in the 1956 Venice festival. She remained in Europe for three seasons singing for the Gelsenkirchen Opera.

She was highly acclaimed for her performance as Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the inauguration of Gelsenkirchen's new opera house on May 22, 1960. In 1964, she returned to the United States to appear in Wozzeck at the San Francisco Opera.

For many years, Horne was associated with the Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland in their performances of the bel canto repertoire. They first performed together in a concert version of Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda at The Town Hall in Manhattan in February 1961. This performance was so successful, it was repeated twice at Carnegie Hall. In 1965, they were paired again in a performance of Rossini's Semiramide with the Opera Company of Boston, and sang in a joint concert on October 15, 1979, which was telecasted as "Live from Lincoln Center".

Horne made her debut at the Royal Opera House in October 1964 as Marie in Wozzeck. Her La Scala debut was as Jocasta in Stravinsky's opéra-oratorio Œdipus rex on March 13, 1969. Another of Horne's breakthroughs occurred that same year during a performance of Rossini's Le siège de Corinthe at La Scala, when Horne received a remarkable mid-act seven-minute ovation. Horne made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma with Sutherland in the title role. She thereafter appeared regularly at the Met, opening the 1972/1973 season as Carmen. A great success there was in Meyerbeer's Le prophète, in John Dexter's production. In 1984, she sang the title role of Handel's opera seria Rinaldo (directed by Frank Corsaro), the first Handel opera ever performed at the Met.

Although best known for her bel canto and opera seria roles, Horne also sang much American music, both contemporary music by composers such as William Bolcom, and traditional popular songs. She can be heard on the soundtrack of Flower Drum Song singing "Love, Look Away" and sings the role of Lady Thiang on the Philips recording of The King and I starring Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley. She had previously sung in the women's chorus for the 1956 film version of The King and I.

Horne was married from 1960 to 1979 (separated 1974) to the conductor Henry Lewis, with whom she maintained a home in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles for many years, and with whom she had a daughter, Angela. Horne's mother initially had misgivings that the interracial marriage would have a negative impact on Horne's career, saying, "Be his mistress, for God's sake, not his wife," but soon reconciled with the couple.^[2]

In 1983, she published (with co-writer Jane Scovell) a candid autobiography, My Life, and a continuation volume, Marilyn Horne, The Song Continues, appeared in 2004.

Horne received many honors during her career. A New York Times article by Robert Jacobson, editor of Opera News, in celebration of the Met's 100th anniversary in 1983, listed the hundred greatest singers who had ever performed at the house and included Horne, the only one still actively singing at the time. She was awarded Yale University's Sanford Medal.^[3]

On July 5, 1986, she performed on the New York Philharmonic's tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, which was televised live on ABC Television.^[4]. The orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta, performed in Central Park. She sang an aria from "Carmen" by Georges Bizet.

In 1992 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[5]

In January 1993, Horne sang "Make A Rainbow", by American singer and songwriter Portia Nelson, and the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" at the inauguration of US President Bill Clinton.

Horne retired from the concert stage in 1999 with a recital at the Chicago Symphony Center. She still occasionally performs at pop concerts (most recently with Broadway star Barbara Cook), her voice undimmed by age. Horne has also established the Marilyn Horne Foundation to help preserve the art of vocal recitals. She teaches a series of annual Master Classes at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music; the University of Maryland, College Park; the Manhattan School of Music; and the University of Oklahoma.

In December 2005, shortly before Horne's 72nd birthday, she was diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer.^[6] In January 2007, she appeared at a public function for her Foundation.^[7] Interviewed by Norman Lebrecht on BBC Radio 3 on July 26, 2010, she spoke briefly about her cancer and cheerfully said, "I'm still here!"^[8]

Horne has directed the Voice Program at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, since 1997.

Abridged discography[link]

• Bellini: Norma (Sutherland, J. Alexander, Cross; Bonynge, 1964) Decca
• Bernstein: West Side Story (Te Kanawa, Troyanos, Carreras; Bernstein, 1984) Deutsche Grammophon
• Bizet: Carmen (Maliponte, McCracken, Krause; Bernstein, 1972) Deutsche Grammophon
• Donizetti: Anna Bolena (Souliotis, J. Alexander, Ghiaurov; Varviso, 1968/69) Decca
• Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (Sutherland, Aragall, Wixell; Bonynge, 1977) Decca
• Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Lorengar, Donath; Solti, 1970) Decca
• Handel: Semele (Battle, Ramey; Nelson, 1990) Deutsche Grammophon
• Massenet: La navarraise (Domingo, Milnes, Zaccaria; Lewis, 1975) RCA
• Meyerbeer: Le prophète (Scotto, McCracken, Hines; Lewis, c1976) Sony
• Mozart: Don Giovanni (Sutherland, Lorengar, Krenn, Bacquier, Gramm; Bonynge, 1968) Decca
• Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Tebaldi, Dominguez, Bergonzi, Merrill; Gardelli, 1967) Decca
• Puccini: Suor Angelica (Scotto, Cotrubas; Maazel, 1976) Sony
• Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Barbacini, Nucci, Dara, Ramey; R.Chailly, 1982) Sony
• Rossini: Bianca e Falliero (Ricciarelli, Merritt; Renzetti, 1986) [live] Fonit Cetra
• Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri (Battle, Ramey; Scimone, 1980) Erato
• Rossini: Semiramide (Sutherland, Rouleau; Bonynge, 1965/66) Decca
• Rossini: Tancredi (Cuberli, Zaccaria; Weikert, 1982) Sony
• Roussel: Padmâvatî (Gedda, van Dam; Plasson, 1982/83) EMI
• Thomas: Mignon (Welting, von Stade, Vanzo, Zaccaria; de Almeida, 1977) Sony
• Verdi: Falstaff (Sweet, Lopardo, Panerai, Titus; C.Davis, 1991) RCA
• Verdi: Requiem (Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, Talvela; Solti, 1967) Decca
• Verdi: Il trovatore (Sutherland, Pavarotti, Wixell, Ghiaurov; Bonynge, 1976) Decca
• Vivaldi: Orlando furioso (de los Ángeles, Valentini Terrani; Scimone, 1977) Erato

Abridged videography[link]

• Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles (Stratas, Fleming; Levine, Graham, 1992) [live] Deutsche Grammophon
• Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri (M.Merritt, Ahlstedt; Levine, Ponnelle, 1986) [live] Deutsche Grammophon
• Rossini: Semiramide (Anderson, Ramey; Conlon, Copley, 1990) [live] Kultur
• Verdi: Falstaff (Freni, Bonney, Lopardo, Plishka; Levine, Zeffirelli, 1992) [live] Deutsche Grammophon
• Vivaldi: Orlando furioso (Behr, Pizzi, 1989) [live] Kultur

Works[link]

• Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues by Marilyn Horne and Jane Scovell, Baskerville Publishers; ISBN 1-880909-71-5
• Marilyn Horne: My Life by Marilyn Horne and Jane Scovell, Atheneum Books; ISBN 0-689-11401-X

Sources[link]

External links[link]

• Marilyn Horne at the Internet Movie Database
• The Marilyn Horne Foundation
• Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)