Brico, Antonia (1902–1989)

Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, and musical pioneer who was the first woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, as well as many major European and American orchestras, and founded the New York Women's Symphony. Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on June 26, 1902; died in Denver, Colorado, on August 3, 1989; attended University of California, at Berkeley; studied with Karl Muck and Sigismund Stojowski.

For centuries, prejudice against women musicians, particularly in European society, reflected the notion that music was a male domain. Women were allowed to perform or write "feminine" pieces in the privacy of their homes, but public careers were denied them. Only in the 20th century were women admitted to symphony orchestras, and this occurred after they demanded to be auditioned behind curtains so that judges could not tell the sex of the performer. Given these barriers, it is not surprising that relatively few women have succeeded in this discipline until the late 20th century. It is rather amazing that women made substantial contributions to music despite the gross prejudice against them.

Antonia Brico was a pioneer in music, venturing where few women had gone before. Her career illustrates the frustrations and triumphs women endured for centuries. She decided to become a conductor at a time when this idea was unthinkable for a woman. "Back then there were no women in symphony orchestras," said Brico. "I founded the New York Women's Symphony in 1934, at a time when the New York Philharmonic wouldn't employ a woman harpist, much less a woman conductor. I started the trend. I simply wanted to conduct and I wanted to prove that women could play every single instrument." Struggling to survive in an entirely male-dominated arena, Brico remained optimistic: "I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try. I'd rather die trying."

Antonia Brico was born in the Netherlands and came to the United States at the age of six. She began taking piano at age ten because a doctor felt it would help her to stop biting her nails. Brico often attended concerts in San Francisco parks directed by Paul Steindorff, and her encounters with orchestras made her decide to become a conductor. The obstacles she would face began early, when as a student at a high school in Oakland she had had to petition authorities to be allowed to take a music appreciation course; music, it was assumed, could also only be appreciated by men. Her innate abilities were quickly apparent to the teacher, and Brico began a lifelong struggle to prove that women were as musically gifted as men.

Brico started studying at Berkeley and had the opportunity to become the assistant to Paul Steindorff, who conducted the San Francisco Opera as well as a choral group. To support herself as a student she gave recitals. In 1923, Brico graduated with honors, then studied with Sigismund Stojowski for two years. In 1927, she entered the master class of conducting at Germany's Berlin State Academy of Music, which was taught by Julius Prüwer, conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. During the five years she spent in Europe, Brico also studied with Siegfried Ochs, the choral conductor, and Karl Muck, conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Muck did not accept pupils, and Brico was the sole exception to this general rule. In 1928, she coached at the Bayreuth Wagner Festival. Two years later, in February 1930, she was the first woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, a guest appearance that received rave reviews.

During the 1930s, previously closed doors began to open for women as they began to fly planes, conduct orchestras, and win Nobel prizes. The public was infatuated with these pioneers who often appeared in newspapers, magazines, on radio, and in movie news clips. In 1931, Brico conducted the Hamburg Philharmonic. On January 10, 1933, she was the first woman to conduct the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. "With only three rehearsals Miss Brico made that orchestra play as it had never played before," wrote critic Lloyd Morris. Invitations to conduct in Detroit, Buffalo, Washington D.C., and California followed. In 1938, she conducted the New York Philharmonic. Brico's career was clearly on the upswing, as America loved its "symphonic suffragette."

The road ahead, however, would be far from clear. In 1934, Brico founded the New York Women's Symphony Orchestra, which made its first appearance in Town Hall on February 18, 1935. Wrote a Newsweek staffer in 1938, "As conductor and as women's orchestra founder Miss Brico has a unity of purpose—to overcome the prejudice against women as orchestral players and conductors. To conduct male orchestras, she feels, is to challenge male conductors on their own grounds. To conduct a female orchestra, as she has been doing, is not only to challenge male orchestral players but to dramatize the competence of women players." Although some grasped Brico's purpose, many did not, and invitations did not continue. "I was a novelty at first," Brico explained. "A woman who wanted to conduct a symphony orchestra. Imagine. But the big New York managers shied away from me like a plague. Nobody wanted to manage a woman." Arthur Judson, who managed most of the leading American conductors, told her that women subscribers would not stand for a woman conductor, and there was some truth to this allegation. Minnie Guggenheimer , a leading musical figure in New York, was outraged that Brico was conducting and told her, "It's a disgrace for the New York Philharmonic and the only reason you're going to conduct this concert is that we got this petition." Four thousand music devotees had petitioned, asking that Brico be engaged to conduct the Philharmonic in 1938. This appearance, however, proved to be her swan song in the conducting world.

The end of the 1930s and the outbreak of World War II stalled the momentum of the feminist movement as Americans focused their attention elsewhere. In 1942, Brico went to Denver to conduct a semi-professional orchestra and to teach. Enamored with the city and its climate, for the next 27 years she led the Denver Businessman's Orchestra, which was renamed the Brico Symphony in her honor in the late 1960s. Her international conducting career, however, was at an end. "I was buried in an ash heap," she said; though she had never given up her desire to conduct, the male musical world had effectively shut her out. Talent, Brico discovered, was not part of the recipe for success.

The singer Judy Collins took piano with Brico from the time she was ten until she reached 16. The two kept in contact even after Collins became a popular singer. In 1974, Collins produced a film about her former teacher that was called Antonia: Portrait of the Woman. A complex work, this documentary was a balanced portrayal of Brico's life—of her optimism and despair. The film revived Brico's career. Now in her 70s, Brico was rediscovered and so many offers flooded in that it required two managers to schedule concerts. Brico also recorded for Columbia Records during this period.

When Antonia Brico died in 1989, her career had come full circle. The public was more accepting of a woman on the conductor's podium. The musical world, however, was still dominated by men, and at the time of Brico's death no woman had been made the permanent conductor of a major symphony orchestra. As the 20th century drew to a close, women still had to fight for equality in music.

sources:

"Antonia Brico's Triumph: First of Sex to Wield Baton Over N.Y. Philharmonic," in Newsweek. Vol. 12, no. 5. August 1, 1938, p. 21.

Henahan, Donal. "Antonia Brico, at 72, Finds Her Baton in High Demand," in The New York Times Biographical Service. May 1975, pp. 568–569.

Kozinn, Allan. "Antonia Brico, 87, a Conductor; Fought Barriers to Women in the 30's," in The New York Times Biographical Service. August 1989, p. 742.

Rosen, Majorie. "Antonia Brico: The Orchestra is Her Instrument," in Ms. Vol. 3, no. 6. December 1974, pp. 81–84.

John Haag , Athens, Georgia