Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
(January 10, 1961 - living) Italy - U.S.A.
Musician
Born in Rome, Italy, Nadja was a child prodigy. She emigrated to the Unites States at the age of eight to study at The Curtis Institute of Music and later studied with Dorothy DeLay at The Julliard School in New York City. In 1989, she wrote Nadja: On My Way, an autobiography written for children, in which she shares her experiences as a young musician building a career.
She is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize (1999) awarded to the instrumentalists who have demonstrated "outstanding achievement and excellence in music." She has been honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant (1983), and in 1988 was Ovations Debut Recording Artist of the Year. She is in Who's Who of American Women and is also the recipient of an honorary Masters of Musical Arts from the New Mexico State University (May 1999), the first honorary degree the University has ever awarded.
She has been profiled on "60 Minutes" and many other TV programs and there is also a fantastic documentary about her called, Speaking in Strings. She tried to kill herself with a gun several years ago over the breakup of a lesbian relationship. Although she is not "out" to her public, she is definitely a lesbian and has a huge gay and lesbian following.
Website: http://nadjasalernosonnenberg.com
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