Carl-Victor Posted December 31, 2002 Report Share Posted December 31, 2002 First of all, Happy New Year's to all, and may music be part of your celebrations. I have been investigating biographies of some early 20th century violinists and came across a reference which has piqued my curiosity. In researching the life of Irma Seydel, an outstanding American virtuoso from Boston, I came across a reference to the "Boston Women's Symphony", of which she was concertmaster(mistress?) in the late 1920s. Now, this brings up several questions: 1) could she not have been a member of the Boston Symphony of that era (all-male?); 2) were there many other "alternative" women's symphonies at the time in other cities for oustanding female players, and were they well-regarded?; 3) did these orchestras make any recordings, and who conducted them? 4) what was the nature of these orchestras' finances (subscription, public, amateur voluntary ???) Just a few questions, probably many more could be asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie Brown Posted January 1, 2003 Report Share Posted January 1, 2003 Interesting topic. One of my early teachers played trumpet in Phil Spitalny's group. Even though she was exactly the same age as my mother, her life as a musician seems as far away from me as the Middle Ages. Sometimes I wonder. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MANFIO Posted January 2, 2003 Report Share Posted January 2, 2003 Vivaldi`s orcherstra in the Ospedale della Pietà was constituted exclusevely by girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alemap Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 Sure it was. Most of the copious pieces he wrote were student pieces for the girls of the music school he directed and was composer in residence for..... They never travelled outside the school -- you had to come to them to hear them. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MANFIO Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 If I`m not wrong, Vivaldi`s church does not exist any longer, but the building of the Ospedale is still there. It was an orphanage that received also illegitime children. I remember reading a plaque in front of it warning that people that were living legitimate children there were commiting a sin and would be excomunicated (or something like this). The lovely small church and basin in wich Vivaldi was baptized is still there. Venice is a unique city, and the music it produced (and their instruments) are unique too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierGirl Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 You always have such interesting questions. I think the Boston Symphony was all-male up until the 1950's. If I remember the story right, it was a female flute player who finally broke the ice -- but don't quote me on that, I might be wrong! There were a number of women's orchestras in other cities as well, but I don't know any specifics about them. Actually, I think there are still a couple of women's orchestras left -- I think there's one somewhere in Ohio and another out in maybe San Francisco. (Once again, don't quote me on that!) Even now most major orchestras hold preliminary auditions behind a screen with a carpet runner on the stage so that the committee can't tell whether the player is male or female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thom Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 The National Symphony Orchestra here in DC just got a female concertmistress, Nurit Bar-Josef, who is excellent. Are there (or have there been) any other concertmistresses of major orchestras? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy jane Posted January 3, 2003 Report Share Posted January 3, 2003 Well, if you consider it a "major orchestra," the Boston Pops has been led by Tamara Smirnova for several years. She's also the associate principal/concertmaster of the BSO (& their assistant principal is also female). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierGirl Posted January 4, 2003 Report Share Posted January 4, 2003 Detroit and Atlanta also have female concertmasters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kabal Posted January 4, 2003 Report Share Posted January 4, 2003 In reply to: I think there's one somewhere in Ohio Yup, we still have the Cleveland Women's Symphony. Never heard them. I am taken, but that might be a good place to meet some honies, although I would guess the average age is 90, from the pix I saw in the paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierGirl Posted January 4, 2003 Report Share Posted January 4, 2003 The only reason I knew that is because, believe it or not, I once read it in a conductor's bio. (Yes, I read conductor bios. Please don't tell.) It struck me as very strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.