35. She was taught by an inspirational piano teacher, who raised funds for Nina to attend a private boarding school for black girls
Aged just five, Nina’s ability so impressed Mrs. Miller, whose house Kate Waymon cleaned for extra cash, that she paid for a year’s piano lessons with an Englishwoman called Muriel Mazzanovich, affectionately known as Miss Mazzy. Nina flourished and developed a lifelong love of composers such as Bach, and she did so well that Miller and another kindly local, Esther Moore, continued to pay for the lessons for years. Miss Mazzy, in turn, helped to secure donations to the ‘Eunice Waymon Fund’ to pay for Nina to go to a good, private school where her talent could be further nurtured.
