She entered in to a long period of silence until her voice healed. Because Near was trained in a lower range she got nodules on her vocal cords and had to leave the show. She would also meet and work with the female singer in The Weavers, Ronnie Gilbert.Īfter high school, Near enrolled in the Theatre Arts program at UCLA her freshman year she got the lead in the UCLA production of Guys and Dolls playing soprano Sarah Brown. Bernice Johnson Reagon, an artist who would be a great influence for the next 40-plus years. Unbeknownst to her, Near would soon meet one of the founding members of that group, Dr. Near learned later of the original Freedom Singers who sang as part of the Civil Rights Movement. When Near joined, they began to sound more like The Weavers, with three male voices and one female. In the summer Near attended performing arts camps such as Perry-Mansfield in Colorado and Ramblerny Performing Arts where she studied with jazz musicians Phil Woods and his wife, Chan Parker (Parker was married to Woods but retained the name Parker from her earlier marriage to Charlie Parker), and modern dancer/choreographer Joyce Trisler.Īfter starting high school in 1963, Near began singing with three boys who called themselves the Freedom Singers, a folk group modeled after The Kingston Trio. Her senior year she played Eliza Doolittle in the Ukiah High School production of My Fair Lady. She sang in all the high school musicals, talent shows and often was invited to sing at gatherings of local service groups, such as the Soroptimist Club, Lions Club, and Garden Club. She was eight years old when she first performed publicly, and she auditioned for Columbia Records when she was ten. Raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California. Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was
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