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Maud Hixson

Hailed as “gently virtuosic” (All About Jazz), Maud Hixson is a devoted exponent of great songs, ranging from the classic Great American Songbook to the often unsung or forgotten compositions awaiting rediscovery. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Maud made her Guthrie Theater debut in the Noel Coward revue Coward’s Women, also appearing in Park Square Theater’s The Soul of Gershwin. She teamed with Sir Richard Rodney Bennett in 2012 for the long-running Midtown Jazz at Midday concert series at Saint Peter’s and debuted her show Skyscraper Wits in London and New York in 2015. She has made three appearances at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall for the New York Cabaret Convention, presented by the Mabel Mercer Foundation. Maud received a Next Step Grant from the McKnight Foundation in 2015 and is the recipient of four Artist Initiative grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, one of which supported the research for her album comprised of compositions by Broadway composer Michael (Mickey) Leonard. Her newest recording is devoted to the music of her mentor, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, which earned a 2024 Bistro Award.

Awards

Bistro Award for Excellence in Recording, 2024; Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants: 2006, 2008, 2017, 2020 Next Step Grant, McKnight Foundation: 2015

Permanent Moonlight—Songs of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett

by David Bittinger
June 15, 2024

Still famed for her “silents" and early retirement from sound movies, lonely star Greta Garbo once conjured a dreamy fantasy of “permanent moonlight" in a letter to someone who was about as enigmatic a creative icon as she was, Noël Coward. In 2012 singer Maud Hixson came across that Garbo letter while reviewing personal effects of Coward's at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. She attended that exhibit with Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, a legendary composer ...

Interview

Maud Hixson: Studying Scores and Moving Forward

by David Bittinger
June 5, 2014

Maud Hixson has built an accomplished career as a performer and recording artist out of unlikely circumstances. She grew up far from the capitals of jazz and vocal music, in the Twin Cities area. Doris Day's performance in the Ruth Etting biopic “Love Me Or Leave Me" served as a primary inspiration for a young Maud to become a performer. In her twenties, waiting tables at a diner, she met another future jazz singer, Nichola Miller. With no glamour and ...

Album Review

Maud Hixson: Don't Let A Good Thing Get Away

Read "Don't Let A Good Thing Get Away" reviewed by David Bittinger

by David Bittinger
July 6, 2013

This collection of songs by veteran composer Michael Leonard has deep roots but contemporary character. It was laid down in New York's legendary Nola Recording Studio, whose clients have included Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie. The outstanding instrumentalists--cornetist Warren Vache, bassist Steve LaSpina, guitarist Gene Bertoncini, and pianist/arranger Tex Arnold--have worked with such luminaries as Benny Goodman and Stan Getz.In 2008, Twin Cities-based vocalist and music researcher Maud Hixson, working with Arnold, began reviewing the prolific work of ...

Performance / Tour

The Lead Sheet: Twin Cities Live Jazz, April 3-9

Source: JazzINK by Andrea Canter
April 4, 2015

Seems that the Star Tribune only intermittently recognizes music beyond Pop these days, but rest assured, jazz is alive and well, if mostly in small venues in the Twin Cities. Intimate spaces have considerable merit for this music! Take this weekend for example — Maud Hixson singing at Parma, Dean Magraw and Steven Hobert dueling at Jazz Central, Mancrush at The Nicollet, Steve Kenny Quartet at the Black Dog, Connie Evingson and Jon Weber at The Jungle, and Easter Brunch/Easter ...
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"Her vocal style is so warm, intimate and compelling–it’s clear that she cares about the words and telling the story, with clarity and without artifice– practically a lost art these days." --Michael Feinstein

"A singular cabaret artist." --Chicago Tribune