Again We Have Bernstein to Thank for "The Only Girl in the Orchestra"
Yesterday I treated myself to a screening of the Oscar-nominated film The Only Girl in the Orchestra , on the life of double bassist Orin O'Brien. Orin's niece, Molly O'Brien, produced and directed the film. At 30 years old, Orin auditioned for Leonard Bernstein to join the New York Philharmonic in 1966, thus becoming the first woman to perform with the ensemble. In the film we saw several newspaper articles on her appointment. Zubin Mehta was even quoted as saying that women should not be in the orchestra. André Watts Again we have Leonard Bernstein to thank for appointing the first woman instrumentalist to a post in the New York Philharmonic. He also appointed the first African-American player, Jerome Ashby, in 1979. And of course we all know about what Bernstein did to launch the career of pianist André Watts in 1963. My question is: Where are the films that document the progress of African Americans in classical music? I produced the documentary on my father's lif...