Teaches at 92nd Street Y
Marilyn Maye
Marilyn Maye is a highly praised singer, actress, director, arranger, educator, a Grammy-nominated recording artist — and a national treasure. One of our greatest living Songbook singers, as well as a celebrated jazz-cabaret star, she is the recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards, including the Legend Award from the Society for the Preservation of the American Songbook.
Ms. Maye holds the record for the most appearances by a singer on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson— 76 in all. Her theatrical roles include Can Can, Follies, Mame and many productions of Hello, Dolly!. She has performed symphonic concerts with the Florida Symphony, the Philly Pops, the Phoenix Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, and the Pasadena Symphony, conducted by Michael Feinstein. Her appearances with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall for tributes to Stephen Sondheim and Frank Loesser received show-stopping applause and rave reviews.
Ms. Maye has recorded seven albums, 34 singles and eight CDs on the RCA label. In the past 11 years she has performed more than 200 engagements in New York, including sold-out appearances at the Metropolitan Room, Birdland, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency Hotel, Dizzy’s Coca Cola at Lincoln Center, Town Hall, as well as 92Y.
“She has more voice and stamina than most singers half her age. Her voice is full and rich and perfectly in tune, and she displays a voluptuous enjoyment of singing. She is a symbol of resilience and entertainment,” wrote Steven Holden in The New York Times.
Will Friedwald
Will Friedwald writes about jazz and nightlife for The Wall Street Journal. He also is the author of eight books on music and popular culture, including the award-winning A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, Sinatra: The Song Is You, Stardust Melodies, Tony Bennett: The Good Life and Jazz Singing. He has written over 600 liner notes for compact discs, received ten Grammy nominations and appears frequently on television and other documentaries. He is also the co-producer & writer of Michael Feinstein’s Jazz & American Songbook series at Jazz at Lincoln Center & The American Songbook at NJPAC TV series for WNET & PBS.