. -♪ tzena, tzena ♪ ♪ tzena, tzena, tzena ♪ ♪ tzena, tzena ♪ -there was a hugeness about her presences in new york and opera. -my mother grew up with privilege, so she went to every musical and every museum and -- that could possibly do. her mother was an artist. so she was very encouraging in the house when we were growing up, of creativity. and when we didn't have television, we became our own form of entertainment. i was asked to sing in our town all the time -- at garden clubs, soroptimist clubs, the lions club -- any club that there possibly was. and i took it very seriously. -from the beginning, she kind of acted like she already was a kind of celebrity. i mean that in a really nice way. her vocal coach in ukiah was a woman named connie cox. she, back in the early '50s, gave johnny mathis pre-lessons. [ "unforgettable" plays ] -♪ unforgettable ♪ [ applause ] ♪ that's what you are ♪ -she just taught me a repertoire, and she taught me how to interpret and to think about the lyric and what -- and then performing -- what to do with my hands. and it was a wonderful training ground. w