Nelson Riddle estate makes donation to UA
From: Rich Amada, [email protected]
Contact(s): Thomas D'Anna, (520) 621-9061
Related link(s): http://www.arts.arizona.edu/music
The University of Arizona Foundation will receive a gift from the estate of Naomi Riddle, the wife of the late arranger and composer Nelson Riddle, to benefit the College of Fine Art's School of Music and Dance. A presentation of the gift to the College of Fine Arts by UA President Peter Likins and Foundation President Richard F. Imwalle is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9, at 3 p.m. during the College's Honors Convocation in Crowder Hall.
Attorney A. Edward Ezor, executor of Naomi Riddle's will, said the school will receive funding to establish the Nelson Riddle endowed chair. Naomi Riddle's bequest also includes more than 500 musical scores arranged and composed by Riddle, royalties from his works, musical instruments, his Oscar and Grammy awards and valuable letters and photographs. The gift is worth an estimated $2 million.
Gary Cook, director of the School of Music and Dance, said, "If you measure the amount of prestige this brings to the entire University, it is on the same level as the Mars camera and the space telescopes. People all over the world know Nelson Riddle." Cook said that after Riddle died in 1985, Ezor was instrumental in helping Naomi Riddle conduct a search among the nation's top music schools to receive the estate. "The fact that we received this endowment speaks for itself as to the quality of our faculty and programs," said Cook. Ezor noted that the fact that the legendary Artie Shaw placed his musical library at the School also helped influence Naomi Riddle's decision.
Nelson Riddle, who died at age 64, was famous for his lush arrangements for singers such as Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra. He started his career playing trombone in a number of big bands, including those led by Charlie Spivak and Tommy Dorsey. His music score to the movie, "The Great Gatsby," won him an Oscar in 1975. He won two Grammy awards and was posthumously recognized as the arranger of the Grammy award-winning "Unforgettable," a version released as a duet featuring Nat and daughter Natalie Cole. Among a long list of television show scores, two of his most-memorable themes were for the "Untouchables" and "Route 66."
With the success in 1983 of Linda Rondstadt's "What's New" album, a collection of standards arranged by Riddle, he showed the world once again his talent for producing consistently high quality works. He won a Grammy for the album and worked on her sequel album, "Lush Life."
The news media is welcome to attend the Honors Convocation where a formal announcement will be made. Riddle's Oscar from "The Great Gatsby" and his platinum record for "What's New" will also be on display. The following sources are available for interviews:
UA President Peter Likins
Maurice Sevigny, dean of the College of Fine Arts
Foundation President Richard Imwalle
Gary Cook, director of the School of Music and Dance
A. Edward Ezor, executor of the Riddle Estate
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