Laura Nyro was an M&A Graduate

Laura Nyro was a singer, composer, lyricist and pianist whose career began in the 1960s. Her style was best described as a distinctive hybrid of Brill-style New York pop, mixed with elements of jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, show tunes and rock. Her songs were made famous by a multitude of well-known performers, which included Blood, Sweat & Tears, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Fifth Dimension, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand.

She was born Laura Nigro, in the Bronx on October 18, 1947. Her father, Louis Nigro, who was of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish and Italian ancestry. was a piano tuner and a jazz trumpeter. Her mother, Gilda (Mirsky) Nigro, was a bookkeeper. As a child, Laura taught herself to write poetry, play piano and she listened to records of Leontyne Price, Billie Holiday, Debussy and Ravel. By age 8, she composed her first songs.

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With parents in 1948

Laura at 3 years old

Laura at age 12

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Laura entered the High School of Music and Art in 1961 at 14 years old. Throughout high school, Laura listened to the protest music of Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, early Bob Dylan and the Beatles. She also sang with her friends in subway stations and street corners. By age 17, Laura graduated in 1965.

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A photograph of Laura Nigro's does not appear in the graduates section of the M&A yearbook of 1965 but her name is mentioned with all other graduates on page 142. The entry states that Laura was a voice student and that her address was 1504 Sheridan Avenue 10457.

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A copy of yearbook page 142.

Laura Nigro in high school.

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While still in high school, Laura tried a few different names. When her career took off, Laura Nyro was the one that stuck.

In 1966, through her father, Laura auditioned for record company executives Artie Mogull and Paul Barry who became her first managers. After selling her song "And When I Die" to Peter, Paul & Mary, Laura then made her first extended professional appearance at the Hungry I coffee house in San Francisco. Her voice was described as "a blues soprano," a "rich, charcoal-smudged alto," "a soul singer who soars - she can make you feel it deep down." Laura's debut album "More Than A New Discovery" was under the Verve Folkways label. The album provided material for the Fifth Dimension and Barbra Streisand.

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By age 19 (1967), Laura did a live appearance at the huge Monterey Pop Festival (pre-Woodstock).

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After David Geffen became her manager (in 1967), they established the Tuna Fish Music publishing company and Laura got a recording contract with Columbia Records. After performing two concerts at Carnigie Hall (1969), she and Geffen sold Tuna Fish Music to CBS for $4.5 million making them both millionaires.

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Laura Nyro's songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Carmen McCrae, Suzanne Vega, Phoebe Snow, Roseane Cash, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Jane Siberry, Mongo Santamaria, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Chet Atkins, Frank Sinatra, Linda Ronstadt, George Duke, Maynard Ferguson, Thelma Houston, Patty Larkin, The Roches, and many, many others.

At the end of 1971, Laura married carpenter David Biachini. They split in 1975 and during the same, year Laura was devastated by the death of her mother who died of ovarian cancer. He mother was age 49. After a short-lived relationship with Harindra Singh, Laura gave birth in 1978 to her son, Gil Bianchini (a.k.a. musician Gil-T), whom she gave the surname of her ex-husband.  

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Always the working musician, Laura spent much time during her twenties, thirties and forties on the road, singing in clubs and concert halls throughout America and abroad, including her return to Japan in 1994.

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Sadly, on October 18, 1997, Laura Nyro passed away from ovarian cancer. She was 49 years old. Same age as her mother.

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Taken from Laura's Anthology

When asked about her approach to songwriting, that perhaps she is of the generation who addresses certain issues, and what what her responsibility is to express those issues -

Laura replies:
"I'm not interested in conventional limitations when it comes to my songwriting, because that's how I see life. I'm interested in art, poetry, and music. As that kind of artist, I can do anything. It's all about self-expression. It knows no package - there's no such thing. That's what being an artist is."

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