WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH SPOTLIGHT: ‘Firsts’
‘Firsts’: Shattering the Glass Ceiling by TYLER M. SECOR
Throughout its 127-year history, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has been the home of many historic “firsts.” During the 125th anniversary season, the CSO paid tribute to the first of these: the founding women. In 1894, led by Helen “Nellie” Herron Taft, the “Ladies Musical Club” established the Cincinnati Orchestra Association Company—the first orchestra in the United States to be founded by a group of women. The 15 visionary women who composed the inaugural governing Board of Directors did not simply create an organization, they radically engaged in creation of arts culture in Cincinnati to create a permanent home for orchestral music.
May Festival that Glover secured a permanent spot in the Orchestra. She was called on to be the emergency replacement for bass trombone player Bill Wilkins, who had fallen severely ill. With the intermission stretched to allow time for Glover to arrive, she, without warm-up, sightread the second half of the concert. Shortly afterward, Music Director Thor Johnson appointed Glover the bass trombonist, a position she held for 32 years. *** In 1964, Marie Speziale joined the CSO and became the first female trumpet player in a major U.S. symphony orchestra. But this was not Speziale’s first time to play in the Orchestra. Two years earlier, while studying with then-Principal ``
The founding women of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Current Board Chair-elect Dianne Rosenberg reflected on this history by saying, “I’m happy to say that I am proud to not be the first female Board chair. The CSO would not be where we are today by relying solely on male leadership. It is an important value of this Orchestra to have women in leadership and provide the contributions and talents that they bring to it.” There are other well-known “firsts”: In 1921 the CSO played the first classical concert to be broadcast live over the air waves, and in 1966 the CSO was the first American orchestra to make a State Department-sponsored world tour. But what about some of the lesser-known “firsts”? In celebration of Women’s History month, here are a few of the many stories centered on women of the CSO.
From top: Betty Glover, former CSO bass trombone; Marie Speziale, retired CSO Associate Principal Trumpet.
*** In 1952, Betty Glover joined the CSO, becoming the first female bass trombonist in the U.S. But Glover was no stranger to being a “first.” When she won the audition for Principal Trombone of the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra, she became one of the first female trombone players in the country. Glover was a graduate of CCM and, in 1949, when she found herself back in Cincinnati to teach, the CSO immediately hired Glover as a substitute. It was during the 1952 FANFARE CINCINNATI | 19
