A classmate from New England Conservatory of the Music in Boston, Mass, was scheduled to perform a Cole Porter Evening with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, when she received an opera contract on the West Coast to start immediately, so the orchestra management asked her who she’d recommend as a replacement and she said, Gail Nelson.

NYC City Opera Conductor, Julius Rudel, the conductor for the concert, asked to hear me sing at his home and so my accompanist and I met with him and I sang. Then he said that he and the management would like to hire me for the Cole Porter concert. Happily, I accepted and the next thing I knew, I was memorizing all the music. It was a Fundraiser and Tony Randall, the legendary actor, was the host, whom I met.

The concert was a huge success with the after party of food and drink and greeting the special guests. What a night! Meeting Tony Randall in person was a thrill, and performing with the fabulous orchestra was such a joy, plus, the reviews from the concert were “raves.” Everyone was delighted, especially me!

After that evening, the management asked if I would return to sing a George Gershwin Medley, arranged by the well-known Glen Osser and orchestrated for a gala event with the renowned opera singer, jazz lover, Eileen Farrell, along with the young guest conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas. She ended up not doing the event and so the music lay in the Buffalo Orchestra Music Library for quite some time. They had asked me because of the Cole Porter success and knowing my flexibility with classical and popular music. So, they had me return for the Gershwin Concert to perform with their resident conductor, Peter Perrett. However, due to a snowstorm the audience attendance was low, so they asked me to come once again, this time, in the spring and they promised me a full house.

When I did return, to my surprise, the famed Mitch Miller of TV’s “Sing Along With Mitch” and former President of Columbia Records was the guest conductor. I was so excited!

The morning of the rehearsal, we were to take a taxi together and then I saw him with a cigar in his fingers, so I spoke up and said I’d take another taxi if he was going to smoke it. (I cannot handle cigar smoke at all). He looked surprised and then said, “No, No, I won’t smoke it,” and so off we went together in the taxi to rehearsal. After that, we just hit it off so well and I guess he enjoyed my singing and my honesty, for as the years came, the Medleys thrived and were mine to perform whenever he booked the Gershwin package including a guest pianist to play the concert in F with the orchestra. I would sing operatic areas in the first half and the medleys in the second half. Mitch would end the program with his famous Sing-A-Long for the audiences, to great success.

We became great friends and he never would let anyone else sing the medleys except one time for his longtime friend, Rosemary Clooney, to perform. He was always at our social gatherings and most importantly, at my wedding to pianist-arranger, Danny Holgate, in 1987.

Sometimes he would call us and say, “Let’s go Chinese!” and we’d pick him up and drive to his favorite Chinese restaurant on the Lower East Side. We would laugh and eat ourselves into oblivion. He would order so much food that we’d all have packages to take home for the next day.

I loved working with him and he enjoyed spending time with us. He was in seventh heaven conducting (and to note – Mitch Miller was the original Oboe Soloist in the George Gershwin Orchestra when they recorded the famous “Rhapsody in Blue,” back in the days, smile.)

To me, Mitch Miller added a whole dimension to my musical career and introduced me to other conductors that I also worked with through the years. We traveled all over the USA, Canada, England and Italy during our long collaboration together and working with him and having him as a friend, was one of the highlights in my varied career as a professional singer and as a human being. Thank you, Mitch, for always…

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, Scott Mervis (Pittsburgh Symphony), 1986
“… singer Gail Nelson.  Nelson has one of those cherished instruments that can brighten a Broadway as well as an operatic stage.  Last night it was Gershwin, and her poise was instantly endearing.”

Miller Lite Pops Series with Conductor Mitch Miller — The Syracuse Symphony, N.Y. ,1990
“Popular return guest singer, Gail Nelson lights-up the audience with the Gershwin medleys, ‘Girl Crazy,’ ‘Funny Face’ and ‘Strike-up The Band’.”

Mitch Miller conducting the symphony “On The Prairie,”  — Indianapolis Star, IN., Sally Falk and Nan Crede, 1993
“Returning soprano Gail Nelson and debut baritone Donnie Ray Albert joined formidable forces in selections from America’s grand folk opera Porgy and Bess … An excellent pair and selections highlighted their voices well.”

The Hartford News, CT., 1998
“ ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ with the Hartford Pops was an exciting evening and the tour de force was Gail Nelson-Holgate’s magnificent treatment of ‘How Deep Is The Ocean.’ Minnesota Orchestra Night At The Pops, Mitch Miller conducting an all Gershwin program with the dazzling singer Gail Nelson …“