Sylvia Meyer (November 23, 1907 – March 26, 2005) was an American harpist who became the first female member of the
National Symphony Orchestra. She was a founding member of the
World Harp Congress.
Early life
Sylvia Meyer was born in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, the child of
Balthasar H. Meyer, an interstate commerce commissioner. She started playing the harp at age seven, choosing the instrument because her mother had bought a harp at an estate sale. She studied music at the
Academy of the Holy Cross
The Academy of the Holy Cross is a Catholic college preparatory school sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross and founded in 1868. The academy is located on a campus in North Bethesda, Maryland (Kensington postal address), near
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and graduated from the
Western High School in 1924. She attended the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
from where she graduated
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
in geology.
She also was a graduate of the
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...
, a conservatory associated with the
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, from where she received a teacher's certificate and the Artist's Diploma, the first harpist to do so.
Career
Meyer trained at the harp with Carlos Salzedo
Carlos Salzedo (6 April 1885 – 17 August 1961) was a French harpist, pianist, composer and conductor. His compositions made the harp into a virtuoso instrument. He influenced many composers with his new ideas for the harp's sounds through his ...
in Camden, Maine, who taught her a style of aggressive playing.[ She played with the Baltimore Symphony for three seasons.] Salzedo recommended her to Hans Kindler
Johannes Hendrikus Philip Kindler (January 8, 1892 – August 30, 1949) was a Dutch American cellist and conductor who founded the National Symphony Orchestra. He was married to painter Alice Kindler and Persis Chase Myers.
Kindler as ...
, the then conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), which she joined in 1933.[ Meyer also performed concerts for the National Concert Association. She received praise for her performance of ]Giovanni Battista Pescetti
Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pes ...
's ''Sonata in C Minor'', a technically challenging piece, as well as compositions by Salzedo designed to exploit the full potential of the harp. In 1939, she joined the Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia as a part-time instructor in harp.
In 1966, Meyer needed plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
to restore a fingertip after a gardening accident. She recovered, but was forced to leave the NSO following her long medical absence.[ Meyer was acclaimed for her rendition of Alberto Ginastera's ''Harp Concerto, op. 25'' in 1968.][ Meyer received the Orah Ashley Lamke Distinguished Alumna Award in 1970 from Mu Phi Epsilon. In 1998, she was given the Elizabeth Mathias Award by the same fraternity for her achievements in music. Meyer was part of the founding committee of the World Harp Congress in 1981.
A caricature of Meyer by Aline Fruhauf dating to the years of her performing career is owned by ]Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
.
Later life
Sylvia Meyer retired from her musical career at age 61. She was married to Oliver Gasch
Oliver Gasch (May 4, 1906 – July 8, 1999) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Education and career
Born in Washington, D.C., Gasch received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from ...
, a former judge, for 56 years until his death in 1999.[ The couple had a son together.][ Meyer died at the ]Suburban Hospital
Suburban Hospital is a community-based, not-for-profit hospital serving Montgomery County, Maryland, and the surrounding area since 1943. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, Suburban is the designated trauma center for Montgomery County. Suburban Hos ...
in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
on March 26, 2005, from pneumonia.[ Her papers are held in the International Harp Archives.]
References
External links
Sylvia Meyer papers
MSS 7764, International Harp Archives, Harold B. Lee Library
The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gr ...
, Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Sylvia
American classical harpists
20th-century American musicians
1907 births
2005 deaths
Musicians from Madison, Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
Peabody Institute alumni
20th-century classical musicians
20th-century women musicians
University of Mary Washington faculty
Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland
Classical musicians from Wisconsin