Marilyn was born on April 11, 1932 in Oakland, CA. She had an instant love affair with the violin when she was only five. She begged her grandfather to buy her a small tin violin at the local five-and-dime store. Her first real music lessons were provided by a traveling representative from the National Institute of Music and Art. The music instructor quickly recognized her immense talent and when she was eleven, her parents sent her to an excellent teacher living close-by.
Marilyn auditioned for the Oakland Symphony Orchestra when she was only 14 and was accepted. She played all over California with a California School Assembly program after high school graduation at 17. She is that proud that she was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Pacific and graduated with high honors. After college she taught for a time in the San Carlos School District, where coincidentally, one of her students was Reno Phil bassist Nancy Hoffman.
She fell madly in love with violist Fidel Sevilla which was the beginning of a wonderful 25 year marriage until Fidel passed away. While still able to perform their beloved classical music, the two musicians decided that commercial music provided an opportunity for them to perform as careers. In 1970, the couple moved to South Lake Tahoe where they played in the string section in Harrah’s Showroom. Shortly, they moved to Reno and joined the Harrah’s house band performing in the Headliner Room. This was the heyday of big-time performers – Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dionne Warwick for example. She and Fidel performed with them all. Unfortunately, with the advent of the synthesizer, live background music in the casinos mostly came to a halt in the early 1990’s.
Marilyn has played a central role in the growth of classical music in the Truckee Meadows. In addition to serving as concertmaster for Gregory Stone and Ron Daniels, she was a founding member of the Reno Chamber Orchestra and fulfilled that role there also. Through Young Audiences, with Fran Warden and Daniels, the tradition of young people’s concerts began at the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts. She has also been a private music teacher and seen some of her students go on to play in both those orchestras. It is impossible to guess how many concerts Marilyn has played but the number is well over 1,000 times Reno audiences have been privileged to have her on stage.
Marilyn retired from the Reno Chamber Orchestra two seasons ago, and this past June submitted her resignation with the Reno Phil.

“Without her, and the other founders, we probably wouldn’t be around,” Reno Chamber Orchestra executive director Scott Faulkner said. “She has been a Reno legend and in heyday of showroom performances, she played in the string section.”