INFEMNITY™ Arts and Culture News

  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...

Nina Gamble Kennedy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nina Kennedy Nina Gamble Kennedy  (born 1960) is an American classical pianist, orchestral conductor, filmmaker, and writer. She is the daughter of  Matthew Washington Kennedy , concert pianist and director of the  Fisk Jubilee Singers  from 1957 to 1986; and  Anne Gamble Kennedy , also a concert pianist and piano accompanist for the  Fisk Jubilee Singers . Both of her parents served as members of the piano faculty at  Fisk University . Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Critical reception 4 Recordings 5 Writings 6 Films 7 References Early life Born in  Nashville, Tennessee , Kennedy received her first musical instruction from her parents. She was enrolled in formal piano classes at the  Blair Academy of Music  in 1968, first with William Higgs, and later with Enid Katahn who would be her primary piano teacher until 1978. She was presente...