The Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago was an American orchestra based in Chicago. In addition to its regular radio broadcasts which spanned 1925–1948 (or 1952), the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago also toured.

History

The orchestra was founded in 1925 by flutist

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, cellist Lois Bichl, and clarinetist Lillian Poenisch. Like most industries of the era, women were barred from participating in most professional orchestras throughout the mid-20th century. Nonetheless, in 1924, a year before the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of this article was founded, another one with nearly the same name was founded by Elena Moneak, which lasted until 1928. (see Disambiguation section, below) Schmidt, Bichl, and Poenisch felt that Moneak's orchestra lacked professionalism from vocational, performance quality, and business management perspectives and aspired to create one. Initially, their overarching organizational objective was to offer professional performing experiences for women artists, which soon included women composers and conductors. The orchestra premiered notable works of women composers and showcased the artistry of several acclaimed women conductors. Among other things, the orchestra launched a scholarship program aimed at developing more opportunities for female professional orchestral brass and woodwind musicians.

Demise of the orchestra

There is some debate about the end of the orchestra. Some music historians have dated the orchestra's termination to its bankruptcy in 1948. However a photo of the orchestra exists dated 1952. The bankruptcy of the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago is generally known to have been the result of systemic changes following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

rather than a simple lack of demand for all-female orchestras. As men in the U.S. were drafted in great numbers, often not returning, this resulted in a great demand in previously all-male professional orchestras to recruit female musicians from all female orchestras.

Timeline

* 1925: Organized under charter by the

Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...

as the "Woman's Symphony Orchestral Association" * October 1925: First rehearsals began * May 9, 1926: Inaugural concert in the Goodman Theater

Selected personnel

Founding musicians

* Lillian Poenisch ''(née'' Lillian Juanita Poenisch), clarinetist, also founded the Chicago Women's Concert Band *

''(née'' Adeline Elizabeth Moore), flutist, who, on December 27, 1910, in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, married Christian Carl Martin Schmidt. * Lois Bichl ''(née'' Lois Colburn), cellist, who had studied in New York City with (i) Carl A. Brüchkner, a cellist with the

Chicago Symphony The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

for 41 years, and (ii) Bruno Steindel and in Chicago with (iii)

Alfred Wallenstein Alfred Wallenstein (October 7, 1898 – February 8, 1983) was an American cellist and conductor. A successful solo and orchestral cellist in his early life, Wallenstein took up conducting in the 1930s and served as music director of the Los An ...

. She was married twice, both to musicians, first, on March 11, 1920, to Frederick Thomas Langan, xylophonist and second, on August 21, 1925, to Edgar Anthony Bichl. Lois Bichl, under the name Lois Colburn, was a cellist with the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and San Antonio Symphonies, and also was an influential music educator.

Founding non-musicians (patrons)

* Kathryn Funk ''(née'' Kathryn Frances Meeker). Since 1895, she had been married to Clarence Sydney Funk. She was a vocalist. Kathryn had a degree from the

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...

Conductors

: 1924–1927: Richard Czerwonky ''(né'' Richard Rudolph Czerwonky) : 1927–1929:

Ethel Leginska Ethel Liggins (13 April 188626 February 1970) was a British pianist, conductor and composer. A student of Theodor Leschetizky, she became widely known as the ‘Paderewski of woman pianists’ and (from 1923) established herself as one of the fir ...

: : : 1940–1944:

Izler Solomon Izler Solomon (January 11, 1910 – December 6, 1987) was an American orchestra conductor, active mostly in the Midwest. Career Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Izler Solomon's first position as music director was from 1936 to 1941 with the Illinois ...

Notably, Solomon conducted the orchestra for 26 weekly broadcasts for Libby Owen : 1942: Nikolai Malko : 1944–1945: Jerzy Bojanowski

Guest conductors

* 1930: Gena Branscombe * George Enescu *

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

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''(né'' Leo Laszlo Kopp) * Frederick Stock

Guest soloists

* Lillian Waller ''(née'' Lillian Magnuson), pianist, was the first soloist with the orchestra. On August 23, 1924, she married Percy Harold Waller in Indiana. * Leone Kruse, opera singer, notably, beginning 1927, with the

Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financia ...

, then went on to the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, the National Theatre Munich, and the German Opera Theater at Prague. Before launching her career, Kruse had been a scholarship student at the American Conservatory of Music. She later was on the faculty at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. *

Mae Doelling Schmidt Mae Doelling Schmidt ''(née'' Mary Metzke; 22 May 1888 Chicago – 11 March 1965 Chicago) was an American virtuoso pianist, composer, clubwoman, and music educator from Chicago. She was on the faculty of the American Conservatory of Music. Ea ...

, piano * Theodora Troendle, piano

Notable performances

* May 9, 1926: Inaugural concert in the Goodman Theater with violinist Amy Neill as guest soloist. Five men musicians filled chairs not yet filled by women. : Program: :*''

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'' by

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

:*''

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'' by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

:* Violin Concerto No. 1 by Max Bruch :*''Scènes Alsaciennes'' by

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

:*''

Two Elegiac Melodies ''Two Elegiac Melodies'', Op. 34, is a composition in two movements for string orchestra by Edvard Grieg, completed in 1880 and first published in 1881. Background The two movements are instrumental arrangements Grieg made of two of his ''12 Melo ...

'' by Edvard Grieg :*"Danse Bacchanale" by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

(from '' Samson and Delilah)'' * December 4, 1927: Composer Theodora Troendle joined the orchestra as the piano soloist to premiere her own piano concerto. * 1934: Ford Symphony Gardens at the

Century of Progress International Exhibition A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical music, classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Mus ...

(1887–1953), composer;

Margaret Bonds Margaret Allison Bonds ( – ) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher. One of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her popular arrangements of Afric ...

, piano soloist; Ebba Sundstrom, conductor. The program – devoted to women composers – honored Amy Beach and

Carrie Jacobs-Bond Carrie Minetta Jacobs-Bond (August 11, 1862 – December 28, 1946) was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter who composed some 175 pieces of popular music from the 1890s through the early 1940s. She is perhaps best remembered for writing t ...

. Along with other musical events from the exhibition, the performance was broadcast on WBBM

CBS radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

Piano Concerto in D minor by
Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical music, classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Mus ...
(1887–1953);
Margaret Bonds Margaret Allison Bonds ( – ) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher. One of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her popular arrangements of Afric ...
, piano

Disambiguation

* Elena Moneak founded in 1924 an unrelated ensemble which was also named the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago. That orchestra debuted at the Woman's World's Fair in Chicago in 1924 under the direction Moneak, conducting. It performed its final concert at the Woman's World Fair in 1928. * In 1948,

Bohumir Kryl Bohumir Kryl (May 3, 1875 – August 7, 1961) was a Czech-American financial executive and art collector who is most famous as a cornetist, bandleader, and pioneer recording artist, for both his solo work and as a leader of popular and Bohemian ...

led an ensemble named the Kryl's Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, which was unrelated to the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago.

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Woman's Symphony Orchestra Disbanded American orchestras Musical groups established in 1925 Musical groups disestablished in the 1950s Performing arts in Illinois Musical groups from Chicago Women's orchestras 1925 establishments in Illinois 1950s disestablishments in Illinois History of women in Illinois Women in Chicago