PATRICIA C. SYAK | Symphony notes Monica Mancini will salute dad, Henry

Combining the rare ability to sing a great song well with the understanding of what makes it great, Monica Mancini joins the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra in a salute to her legendary songwriting father, Henry Mancini, at 8 p.m. Saturday at Powers Auditorium.
With a mix of sophistication and schmaltz, Henry Mancini produced a bevy of hit songs for movies, television and Broadway. Among his standards to be performed by Monica Mancini are "Days of Wine and Roses," "Moon River" and "Charade." From Victor/Victoria, she presents the paean to New Orleans music "Le Jazz Hot" and the heartwarming love song "Two for the Road" from the movie of the same title.
Popular, proficient: Henry Mancini is regarded by peers and public as the most popular and proficient composer of film scores. He received more than 70 Grammy Award nominations and was awarded nearly 30. He took home four Oscars out of numerous nominations. His office shelf was full of other awards, including Golden Globes, an ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award and numerous honorary doctorates from the nation's most prestigious institutions.
Monica Mancini began her professional career at 14 as a member of the Henry Mancini Chorus, when her famous father needed vocalists to enhance his recordings and concerts.
She began at Colorado Women's College in Denver to be near the ski slopes, but then she got hired for a touring Las Vegas-style show. It was led by Peter Marshall, better known as the avuncular host of "The Hollywood Squares" game show. She never looked back.
After more than two decades as a studio and backup singer for such diverse musicians as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton and Vicki Carr, Monica Mancini embarked on a solo career with a PBS special, solo albums and a busy touring schedule, appearing with symphony orchestras in the United States and Canada.
Her upbringing: Monica Mancini remembers her LA-area upbringing as a normal one, famous father and all. Born in Burbank, Monica, her twin sister, Felice, and brother, Chris, grew up in Northridge with their mother, singer Ginny Mancini, and dad. She attended Rexford Junior-Senior High School, where she counted among her classmates Dino Martin and Desi Arnaz Jr. Monica Mancini recalls that after watching her father pick up a string of Oscars in the '60s, she thought: "Hey, this guy who comes home every night might be OK. Maybe now we can meet the Beatles!"
Isaiah Jackson and the YSO continue the Henry Mancini tribute with such chestnuts as "Baby Elephant Walk" from the movie "Hatari" and "Speedy Gonzalez." From television the orchestra performs Mancini's theme from "Peter Gunn."
Film scores: Henry Mancini was an arranger extraordinaire. Many films boast scores he arranged, as do many popular singers and bandleaders. The Youngstown Symphony will showcase Mancini's talents as an arranger of others' materials with a suite of movie tunes from such disaster movies as The Towering Inferno. "A Portrait of Simon and Garfunkel" and "The Music of David Rose" illustrate the Mancini association with the singing duo and front man David Rose.
Tickets for the Mancini Sings Mancini concert, underwritten in part by Metropolitan National Bank, are available by calling the Symphony Center box office at (330) 744-0264.
XPatricia C. Syak is executive director of the Youngstown Symphony Society.