HANSEN, Norma

Norma Siran Hansen, 74, died August 15, 2002. Devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, Norma was born in Cairo, Egypt on December 23, 1927 of Armenian parents. At the age of three, Norma moved to New York City with her parents and younger brother. At the age of 16 she won the Metropolitan Opera scholarship for four consecutive years to the Julliard School of Music in New York City. She was featured soloist at the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf Astoria, toured the country as the soloist with Phil Spitalny and his All-Girl Orchestra, and headlined at top clubs in Las Vegas billed as "Norma with the Velvet Voice". Norma continued to perform concerts throughout the U.S., including ones with Leonard Bernstein at Carnegie Hall, the New York Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Wilshire Ebbell in Los Angeles, and Town Hall in New York City. Norma performed leading roles in more than fifteen operas. She sang on numerous radio shows, in movies such as Dreams That Money Can Buy, television appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Tropical Holiday and others. She sang leading roles in such Broadway musicals as Finian's Rainbow, Guys and Dolls, Where's Charley, Kismet, Oklahoma, and Carousel. She was soloist in many religious institutions, including St. James Methodist Church in Lynbrook and the synagogue in Plainview/Old Bethpage, Long Island. Norma sang for more than two decades of "opera at your table" at Enrico's Greentree in Westbury. She taught voice for 35 years, both privately and as head of the vocal department at the Stecher and Horowitz Conservatory of Music. In 1996, Norma and her husband retired to Sun City West, Arizona. Memorial Service will be held at Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church on Wednesday, August 21, 2002, 13658 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West, AZ 85375. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to help the children of Native Americans, Mexicans or Africans through the Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church, 13658 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West, Arizona 85375. The Arizona Republic August 18, 2002