Merriman, Nan (actually, Katherine-Ann)

views updated

Merriman, Nan (actually, Katherine-Ann)

Merriman, Nan (actually, Katherine-Ann), American mezzo-soprano; b. Pittsburgh, April 28, 1920. She studied with Alexia Bassian in Los Angeles. She made her operatic debut as La Cieca in La Gioconda with the Cincinnati Summer Opera in 1942. From 1943 she sang with Toscanini and the NBC Sym. Orch. She also appeared in opera at Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, and Glyndebourne. She retired in 1965. Her best operatic roles were Gluck’s Orfeo, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Emilia in Otello, Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress, and Meg in Falstaff.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

About this article

Merriman, Nan (actually, Katherine-Ann)

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article