Cora Youngblood Corson was born  January 19, 1886, in Missouri and moved with her family to Anadarko, Oklahoma Territory, at the age of ten. At 16 years she formed a band with her sister called the Ladies Cornet Band of Anadarko, where she performed on cornet. Cora became a member of the Ladies Oklahoma Press Association Band established to perform at the 1904 World’s Fair in Saint Louis. Afterward, she joined Helen May Butler and her Ladies Military Band in 1905, which at the time was the only girl’s professional band in the country. As a member of this band, Cora learned the euphonium and became a featured vocal and euphonium soloist. During her career, she also was a featured performer in Vaudeville, where in 1907, she added the tuba to her performances and was heralded as a virtuoso on that instrument. Cora was the first woman to play the euphonium and tuba professionally. During her time in Vaudeville, she formed the Cora Youngblood Corson Sextette. The Sextette toured across the country and Canada and was sponsored and promoted by the C.G. Conn corporation. In 1917, the Cora Youngblood Corson Instrumentalists crossed the Atlantic and entertained the soldiers at the end of World War I. Cora was invited to perform at the funeral of President William McKinley. She was a soloist at the inaugurations of Presidents Harding Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1933 she concluded her career as a member of the United States Indian Reservation Band. Cora died on July 24, 1943. More Information about Cora Youngblood can be found in a documentary by James P.Gregory.

Edna White was born in Stamford, Connecticut. Her father, an amateur Cornetist, gave Edna her first cornet and lesson at age 7. Recognizing her unusual talent, he moved the family to Brooklyn, where Edna had more opportunities to perform. She earned her first fee ($25) at age 9 as soloist for a band concert in Carnegie Hall. In 1904, she began studies with Adolphe Dubois, principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic, at the newly founded Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard). Edna was the only graduate to play a solo at the commencement concert in 1907, but she did not receive a diploma because she was too young. Juilliard rectified this 77 years later, awarding her an Artist’s Diploma. Edna White formed several quartets, 2 of the most active groups were the Edna White Trumpeters (1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco) and the Edna White Brass Quartette (toured vacation resorts and the Keith-Albee vaudeville circuit throughout the 1920’s). Between 1920 and 1926, Edna recorded for Edison and Columbia records, Herbert L. Clarke’s “The Debutante” was her first recording. The Depression years were difficult, but Edna managed by playing in several women’s symphonies and soloing with other groups. In 1949 at age 57, Edna’s son encouraged her to play a recital at Carnegie Hall to spark her career. The raving reviews led to a tour, TV performances, and soloing with the Goldman Band in New York. At age 65 In 1957, she played her “farewell recital” at Carnegie Hall. Edna White was not only an outstanding trumpeter, but she also composed a “Suite for Solo Trumpet and Orchestra”, which has been performed and recorded several times. Edna’s book about her life in vaudeville, “The Night the Camel Sang” was published in 1990, when she was 98. Her life and career are truly inspiring for all women brass musicians.

Joan Thelma Watson (1953-2015) was one of Canada’s foremost horn soloists, principal horn, lecturer, and educator. She has been highly regarded as a consummate musician and skilled virtuoso. Her contributions across the country include serving as principal horn of the Canadian Opera Orchestra, founding member of the True North Brass quintet, associate principal horn of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for 14 seasons (having won the job while 8 months pregnant), and principal horn of the Esprit Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Opera, and Vancouver Opera orchestras. Joan lived in Owen Sound, Ontario and passed away in March of 2015 at the age of 61.

Gail Williams is an internationally recognized hornist and brass pedagogue. She has presented concerts, masterclasses, recitals, and lectures throughout North America, as well as in Europe and Asia. After 20 years with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Williams is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist. She is currently Principal Horn of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra and has recently performed on a number of prestigious chamber music series. Gail is one of the founding members of CCME as well as the Summit Brass. In addition to her eight recordings with Summit Brass, Ms. Williams can be heard on her seven cd recordings, also available on Summit Records. Ms. Williams has commissioned many works for horn by composers Dana Wilson, Anthony Plog, Douglas Hill, James Stephenson, and Augusta Reed Thomas. Ms. Williams is the horn professor at Northwestern University, where she has been on the faculty since 1989. Her awards included Ithaca College’s Young Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary Doctorate of Music, also from Ithaca College. In May of 2005, Ms. Williams was awarded the Charles Deering McCormick Teaching of Excellence Professor from Northwestern University.

Pioneer Award Winner, Performance artist and Juilliard trained trombonist Abbie Conant is somewhat of a legend in the orchestral brass world. The story of her epic fight against egregious gender discrimination in the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra where she won the position at a screened audition in 1993, inspired author Malcolm Gladwell to write the NY Times Bestseller, Blink where Abbie’s story is detailed in the last chapter.  The 11 year long court battle was documented by composer/musicologist/activist, William Osborne in an article entitled, “You Sound Like a Ladies Orchestra.” After winning her lengthy court case, Abbie won a full-tenured Professorship at the University of Music in Trossingen, Germany and left the orchestra in 1993. As part of the severance agreement, the Munich Philhamonic had to allow her to attend the first International Women’s Brass Conference in St. Louis where she was a guest artist.  Abbie has performed instrumental music theater works with surround sound electronics in over 150 different cities around the world. She has given masterclasses in as many esteemed music institution such as The Juilliard School, The Eastman School, New England Conservatory, Yale School of Music, Indiana University, Royal Northern College of Music, Gotheberg, Sweden, DePaul, CalArts, McGill, Oberlin and many others. While attending National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan in 1970, she won a scholarship to the Interlochen Arts Academy. She received her B.M. cum laude at Temple University with Dee Stewart of the Philadelphia Orchestra then her M.M. at Juilliard with Metropolitan Orchestra Principal, Per Brevig. In addition, she holds an Artist Diploma from the Cologne University of Music with Branimir Slokar. At the suggestion of her teacher Dr. Karl Hinterbichler, she attend Tanglewood through the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (where she studied with bass trombonist of the BSO, Gordon Hallberg). She won the audition for the  Colorado Philhamonic (an intensive training orchestra), Yale Summer Chamber Music Institute at Norfolk where she studied with John Swallow, and New College Music Festival as Brass Trio in Residence). The Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi took her to Italy where she studied contemporary music with Vinko Globokar at the L’Accademia Chigiana in Siena. From there, she won her first position as principal trombone of the Royal Opera of Turin, Italy. Her next position was for principal trombone of the Munich Philharmonic for 13 years where she was awarded the official honorable title of Kammersolistin der Stadt Muenchen after 10 years of exemplary musical service to the city of Munich, Germany. She has had film roles in the feature film, The Devil’s Triangle, directed by Vadim Glowna and in the epic 13 film story of a German composer’s life and times, Die Zweite Heimat, (The Second Homeland) by dir. Edgar Reitz. Abbie has students in many different orchestras and teaching positions including, two former students in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Stuttgart State Opera, the Southwest German Radio Orchestra, The Hamburg Symphony, the Regensburg Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to name a few.  Her critically acclaimed CD Trombone and Organ is on the Audite label and the DVD Music for the End of Time, an hour long tone poem for trombone, video and electronics inspired by six visions of the Revelation of St. John the Divine, and composed by William Osborne, is available through Polymnia Press. The co-composed solo works, Pond, and As it Were of a Trumpet Talking are available per download from http://www.osborne-conanr.org

Pioneer Award Winner Sharon Moe is a renowned French horn virtuoso. Sharon started playing piano at age 5 and French horn at age 10.  She became entranced at the “amazing, beautiful sound of the instrument, “ and went on to St. Olaf College and Manhattan School of Music.  She has played Principal Horn with New York Chamber Soloists, Long Island Philharmonic, New Philharmonic of New Jersey, Colonial Symphony, The Bronx Arts Ensemble, New York City Opera, American Symphony, St. Cecelia’s Orchestra (Carnegie Hall), Teatro Grattacielo (Lincoln Center) and Mozart Orchestra of New York. She has performed in festivals and in major halls throughout the United States, in France, Spain, Puerto Rico, and South America. At the age of 17, she won the prestigious WAMSO Competition and made her solo debut with the Minnesota Orchestra.  She was given the Distinguished Alumni Award from St. Olaf College and the Most Valuable Performer Award from NARAS (National Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences). She was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to be Solo Horn for the World Premier and recording of his composition “Mass” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  She was critically acclaimed for her solo performance in the World Premier of Oliver Messiaen’s From the Canyons to the Stars in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Sharon Moe has been featured in many TV Specials for PBS, CBS, ABC, and Cable TV. She records for CDs, films, and television ranging from classical to jazz. She has recorded and worked with numerous stars, maestros, and artists to name a few: Leonard Bernstein, Julius Rudel James Levine, Jose Serebrier, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Tony Bennett, Philip Glass, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bernadette Peters, Frank Sinatra, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra , Wynton Marsalis, Patti Labelle, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Beverly Sills, Danny Kaye, Kathy Lee Gifford,  Michael Tilson Thomas, Placido Domingo, Marin Alsop, Marvin Hamlich, Clark Terry, Stephen Schwartz, Ray Charles, Stephen Sondheim,,Gerard Schwartz, Barbara Cook, John Corligiano and Philipe Entremont.  She recorded for the Broadway Tony TV Awards and for Wonder Pets – the number one children’s TV show that won several Emmys for its outstanding music and musicians.  She has also recorded for New World Records, Koch, Nonesuch, CBS Records, Newport Classics, Musical Heritage and Deutsche Grammaphon.  She is an acclaimed composer and composes under the name of Sharon Moe Miranda. She has the distinction of being nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her composition Windows for orchestra World Premiered by the Long Island Philharmonic (Chris Keene, conductor).  She is currently working on a CD for French horn and piano, a commissioned chamber work for the NY Chamber Soloists, and a composition for the St. Olaf College Band. She is on the faculty at Long Island University, Post, New Jersey City University and Manhattan School of Music PreCollege where she teaches French horn and chamber music. The New Yorker wrote, “Sharon Moe played the prominent solos with unfaltering lip and lung.  She was really something.” She was married to the late, great French Hornist Anthony Miranda. They have a beautiful daughter, Antonia.  Sharon writes, “Many people want to know the difference between a good musician and a great one, I think it is devoting every day to practicing, studying and listening to music. It is a part of you. It is as important as breathing.  I believe that music chooses us.  It wraps around us and never lets us go… Being connected to the arts makes us different human beings. If we were all tuned in to our God given creativity, we would be able to accomplish incredible things in this world.”

Pioneer Award Winner Julia Studebaker began cornet lessons in public school at age 9, playing her mother’s cornet, and switched to the horn when she was 11. Growing up in Illinois, she started private lessons at age 13 with Nancy Fako, a former student of Philip Farkas, and later studied with Frank Brouk, Dale Clevenger and Ed Kleinhammer, all members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She was a member of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Chicago and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. She attended Northwestern University from 1969 to 1972, and in 1973, left to seek work in Germany. In March of 1973 she was appointed Solo Horn to the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, becoming the first woman Principal Horn in a major German orchestra, during a time when there were still all-male orchestras in Europe.  Her appointment caused major reverberations throughout the symphonic music community, especially in Germany.  In September 1974, Julia became Solo Horn of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. This position was again groundbreaking, as she became the first woman Principal Horn in a major European orchestra, as well as the youngest player, and the only woman playing in a principal chair in the entire orchestra. European orchestras have not been the same since, and her legend lives on today.  Her impact on others was best summed up by another woman brass player who said in a magazine interview, “Julia Studebaker paved the way for the rest of us.”  The San Francisco Chronicleobserved of her work, “Far and away, the star was the Principal Horn, a leading voice in the work (Mahler’s Seventh), Julia Studebaker.”  Her courage and perseverance in pursuit of her career were significant – a group of horn players in other orchestras even attempted to get the Dutch government to deny her a work permit.  Her career, performing with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (as an extra with these groups), the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin (as Principal Horn), and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (as Principal Horn), spanned 30 years from 1972 to 2002. She has also performed with various orchestras and ensembles including the World Orchestra for Peace. Fellow brass soloist and IWBC Pioneer Carole Dawn Reinhardt recalls “Julia Studebaker was still in Berlin when I moved there, but left for Amsterdam in the next season.  It was a sensation for Europe at that time.”

Acknowledged as the first woman trumpeter in a major symphony  orchestra, Marie Speziale retired from the Cincinnati Symphony  Orchestra in 1996 after having served as Associate Principal Trumpet for  thirty-two years (1964-1996). A graduate of the College-Conservatory of  Music in Cincinnati (CCM), Ms. Speziale studied with Robert Price, Eugene  Blee and Arnold Jacobs. Her tenure with the Cincinnati Symphony  Orchestra (CSO) included playing with the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati  May Festival, Cincinnati Ballet and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. She  performed under the batons of Igor Stravinsky, George Szell, Leonard  Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Eugene Ormandy, Eric Leinsdorf, Max Rudolf  and so many more. In addition to solo appearances with the Cincinnati  Symphony, Cincinnati Pops and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestras, she was  featured on NBC’s Today Show at age 15, in an impromptu jam session with  Duke Ellington shortly after joining the orchestra, and with Dave Brubeck  on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show, the CSO European tour, and at the  Interlochen Arts Academy. While a student at CCM, she recorded sound  tracks for James Brown, whose career was launched by the historic King  Records in Cincinnati.  

After retiring from the orchestra, she remained active as a performer,  teacher and clinician, serving as Visiting Principal, Associate Principal and  Second Trumpet of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, including their  European tour, Carnegie Hall concerts and recordings. She toured with  DIVA (the women’s jazz band) and the Florida Symphony Orchestra. She  recorded for the TV Series: Voyager and Deep Space Nine at 20th Century  Fox and Paramount Studios in California. 

She served on the CCM faculty, 1964 -1973, on the faculty at Miami  University of Ohio, 1973 – 1979, and returned to CCM as Adjunct Associate  Professor, 1979 – 2002. She was appointed Professor of Music at Indiana  University 1999, serving there until a year after her 2001 appointment as  Professor of Trumpet and Brass Department Chair at the prestigious  Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. While at Rice, she conducted  the Rice Brass Choir, performing regularly with the Houston Grand Opera  Orchestra and frequently with the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet and  Houston Pops Orchestras. During that time, she also performed with the  Colorado Symphony and Louisiana Symphony Orchestras. A clinician in  Europe, Japan, South America and throughout the United States, she has  been a featured guest artist at the International Women’s Brass Conference 

(IWBC) and the International Trumpet Guild Conference (ITG). She has  served as artist faculty at the Summit Brass Mendez Institute, performing  with Summit Brass, coaching ensembles and presenting master classes. In  1999, she was one of six Americans (and the only American woman) to be  invited by the Tokyo International Music Festival to perform in its first  Super World Orchestra. In addition to the National Trumpet Competitions,  she has served as adjudicator for the ITG, IWBC and the prestigious  Fischoff National Chamber Music competitions.  

Ms. Speziale has served on the Board of Directors of the Northern Kentucky  Symphony Orchestra and on the editorial committee of the American Music  Teacher, the official journal of the Music Teachers National Association. A  member of the American Federation of Musicians, she has served as  secretary and on the Board of the Directors of Local #1 in Cincinnati.  Affiliations include IWBC, ITG, Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI), Pi Kappa Lambda  and Cincinnati MacDowell Society. In SAI, she held the offices of Province  President and Director of Instrumental Activities.  

In 1996, Ms. Speziale performed with the Monarch Brass on its inaugural  tour. She conducted the Monarch Brass at the 1997 and 2014 conferences,  played, toured and recorded with Monarch Brass Quintet and Monarch  Brass Ensemble until retiring from playing. President of IWBC, 1997 –  2001, she hosted the 2000 conference at CCM and served on the Board of  Directors. Her work as a brass coach at the New World Symphony  included serving on the audition adversity training panel and conducting  their brass ensemble in concert. She served on the faculty of CCM’s Opera  Theatre and Music Festival both in Lucca and Spoleto, Italy, where she  conducted the brass choir, taught brass orchestral repertoire classes and  served as brass chamber music coach. She has coached and conducted the  brass sections of Washington, DC’s premiere bands …. the US Air Force  Band, US Air Force Ceremonial Brass and the US Army Field Band. A  member of the faculty at the Round Top Festival Institute in Texas since  2011, she teaches trumpet, coaches chamber music and conducts their  Brass Ensemble every summer. 

From 2014 -2016, Ms. Speziale supervised the graduate brass chamber  music program at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. In 2016,  she was invited by the Midwest Board of Directors to present a master class 

at their 70th Anniversary Conference. In 2017, she travelled to Uruguay to  conduct the Banda Sinfonica de Montevideo in concerts commemorating  Women’s History Month. In 2017, she served as Visiting Professor of  Trumpet at IU and in 2018, at the Butler School of Music at The University  of Texas at Austin.  

Ms. Speziale has won many awards and honors, including Leading Women  in the Arts Award from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition of Women’s  Organizations, the Outstanding Woman of the Year in Music Award from  the Tampa Tribune, the SAI Chapter, Province and National Leadership  Awards, the Pioneer Award from the International Women’s Brass  Conference, the Golden Rose Award from the Women Band Directors  International, the Woman of Excellence Award from the Italian Club of  Tampa, the Distinguished Alumna Award from CCM and the Outstanding  Alumni Award from the University of Cincinnati. In 2018, she was  inducted into the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame as part of their recognition  of the Symphony Jazz Quintet, of which she was a founding member. She  was presented with the prestigious Honorary Award from the International  Trumpet Guild at their 2018 conference. In 2019, Ms. Speziale was one of  100 women recognized by Cincinnati Arts Wave in their Celebration of  Women in the Arts: Power of Her.  

Ms. Speziale retired as Professor Emerita from Rice University in 2013.  She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Classical  Music Hall of Fame and the Emeritus Board of the IWBC.

Formerly principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 25 years, Julie Landsman is a distinguished performing artist and educator who has served as faculty at The Juilliard School since 1989. She received a bachelor’s degree from Juilliard in 1975 under the tutelage of James Chambers and Ranier De Intinnis.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Landsman achieved her dream of becoming principal of the MET in 1985 and held that position until 2010. She has also spread her talent to many other ensembles within the city as a current member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and having performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic. Additionally she has performed with numerous groups, including her co-principal position with the Houston Symphony, substitute principal position with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

She has recorded for RCA, Deutsche Gramophone, CRI, Nonesuch and Vanguard labels, and is most famous for her performance of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle as solo horn with the MET Opera under the direction of James Levine. Landsman has performed as a chamber musician at many festivals and concert series, including the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she appeared as a guest artist with the Guarneri Quartet. This coming summer she will perform and teach at the Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen Music Festival.

World renowned as a master teacher, Julie Landsman holds teaching positions at the Juilliard School, Bard Conservatory, and teaches frequently as a guest at the Curtis Institute. She has given master classes at such distinguished institutions as Colburn School, Curtis Institute, Eastman School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, University of Oklahoma, and University of Southern Mississippi. She is a visiting master teacher at the New World Symphony in Miami.

Her international presence includes master classes in Norway, Sweden, and Israel.

Her students hold positions in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Washington National Opera Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and the American Brass Quintet. She recently received the “Pioneer Award” from the International Women’s Brass Conference and was a featured artist at the International Horn Society Conference in 2012 and 2015.

Her recent series of Carmine Caruso lessons on Youtube have lent to further fame and renown among the current generation of horn players. Landsman currently resides in Nyack, New York.

Laurie Frink has been a freelance trumpet player in New York City since the 1970’s.

She has played with Benny Goodman, Gerry Mulligan, Mel Lewis, Bob Mintzer, John Hollenbeck, Dave Liebman, Andrew Hill, Kenny Wheeler, and Maria Schneider.

In addition to her active private studio, she is a member of the faculties of New York University, New School University, Manhattan School of Music, and New England Conservatory.

She and John McNeil co-authored “FLEXUS” –Trumpet Calisthenics for the Modern Improvisor.

Since the publishing of her biography here, Laurie Frink passed away in 2013.

Ernestine “Tiny” Davis (1907-1994) grew up in Memphis, TN. At 13, after hearing the trumpets in the school band, she asked her mother for one. She got her only instruction in school and practiced “two or three hours a day.” Later, Louis Armstrong became her biggest influence; she would listen to his records and play along with them.

She moved to Kansas City, then a hotspot of jazz, played in nightclubs for “two dollars a night” and listened to other musicians around town. During the mid-1930s, she toured with the Harlem Playgirls. In 1941 Jesse Stone recruited her for the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, then the best-known and most touted all-female big band.

Nicknamed “Tiny” because of her large size, she became a feature attraction, singing and playing trumpet with them for almost 10 years. In 1947 she left the band to form her own group, Tiny Davis and her Hell Divers. They played the Apollo and other New York clubs. After touring Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Trinidad, she settled in Chicago and kept on playing. “Never done nothin’ else but blow the trumpet,” she said.

She and her partner Ruby Lucas owned Tiny and Ruby’s Gay Spot in Chicago during the ’50s. Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin’ Women, a 1988 film about them directed by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss won Best Documentary at the San Francisco Film & Video Festival.  She died in 1994.

See this website for more information: http://archives.susanfleet.com/documents/international_sweethearts_of_rhythm.html

This award was presented posthumously.

Helen Kotas Hirsch (1916-2000) was Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1941-1947.

Born in Chicago, she became Principal Horn of the Women’s Symphony of Chicago while still a senior in high school (1932-33).

She attended the University of Chicago, where she majored in psychology and studied horn with Louis Dufresne, Principal Horn of the NBC Radio Symphony in Chicago.  When Rodzinski took over as music director in 1947, he re-hired Philip Farkas as Principal Horn, which demoted Hirsch to section playing. She left the CSO at the end of that season.

From 1950-58 she played Principal Horn in the Grant Park Symphony and was the original Principal Horn of the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1954-59.  From 1960-65 she played third horn in the Lyric Opera section.

She was a passionate teacher, serving on the faculty at the American Conservatory of Music, Wheaton College, and the Sherwood Conservatory of Music.

This award was given posthumously.

Dorothy Miriam Ziegler (1922-1972) distinguished herself in her career as a trombonist, pianist, opera coach, and conductor.  She was born in Muscatine, Iowa and her father was a musician, bandmaster, and music store owner.  Her mother taught music and played piano, clarinet, and oboe and her younger brother, Frederic, played tuba and drums while serving in the United States Navy.

In 1943 she earned a bachelor of music degree with distinction, with a double major in trombone and piano, from the Eastman School of Music.  Her performances on trombone in the All-America Youth Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski during 1940 and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky from 1941 to 1942 paved the way for her first professional job as trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra for the 1943-1944 season.

In 1944, she won the Principal Trombone position with the St. Louis Symphony.  At the same time, she continued to study with pianist Earl Wild, and in 1946 she received a master of music degree in piano performance from the University of Southern California.  In 1947, she earned a performance certificate from the American Conservatory in France.

In 1947, she was hired as the St. Louis Grand Opera Guild’s accompanist.  Thereafter her most significant work was as a vocal coach and conductor, primarily of opera.  In 1955, she became the guild’s conductor and artistic director, a post she held until 1964.

During her twenty years with the St. Louis Symphony, Ziegler taught at the St. Louis Institute of Music, Washington University, and the University of Southern Illinois, but in 1964 she left St. Louis to teach at Indiana University, where she directed the Indiana University Opera Theater.  From 1966 to 1971 she taught at the University of Miami, primarily as director of the University of Miami Opera Theatre, but she also played trombone in the University of Miami faculty brass quintet.

Ziegler died of cancer on March 1, 1972, in South Miami, Florida at the age of forty-nine.

This award was presented posthumously.

Bette Eilers was principal trumpet in the Chicago Civic Orchestra at the age of 17. In 1954, while in the Civic Orchestra, she performed with the Chicago Symphony under the direction of Fritz Reiner.

She also performed with the CSO in 1964 under the direction of Antal Dorati. CSO recordings she plays on include the premier of Khatchaturian’s Third Symphony under the direction of Leopold Stokowski and Stravinsky’s Firebird (complete ballet suite), Pierre Boulez, conductor.

She appeared at the Ravinia Festival performing in Berlioz’s Les Troyens and Verdi’s Requiem under the direction of James Levine. Bette has played extra trumpet for Lyric Opera of Chicago on several occasions including productions of Othello, Hamlet, Lohengrin, and two productions of Aida.

In addition to the CSO recordings, Bette recorded with Brass Works of Chicago, and played on soundtracks for the movies The Wedding, and Lucas.

She played the trumpet solo for the U.S. premier and radio broadcast of The Dark Tower by Benjamin Britten. Bette has appeared as a soloist with the following ensembles: Fish Creek Peninsula Festival Orchestra, Oak Park Symphony, Park Forest Orchestra, Community Renewal Chorus, Triton College Band, University of Illinois at Chicago Band, Northwest Chicago Symphony Orchestra, River Forest Concert Band, and the German Day Band.

She participated in a series of brass concerts in the Chicago Public Schools under a federal grant program. She was a member of the ballet orchestra for performances with Nureyev, International Dance Festival, Loop Fest, and the Nutcracker Ballet Orchestra at Arie Crown Theater. Bette has performed with a myriad of ensembles including: Music Center of the North Shore Orchestra, Fish Creek Peninsula Festival Orchestra, Park Ridge Fine Arts Orchestra, Loyola Chamber Orchestra, Kankakee Orchestra (First Trumpet), the Arlington Race Course Fanfare Group, and played trumpet fanfares at Cubs Wrigley Field games.

In 1962 she received an A.B. from the University of Chicago, with a major in Sociology. She was a group worker in a neighborhood house with teenage gangs. She has served as a faculty member of Harper College, Sherwood Music School, Vandercook College of Music, Music Center of the North Shore, Illinois Summer Youth Music at the University of Illinois, and music specialist at Morton High School and Lyons Township High School.

She taught intermediate and advanced trumpet classes for the Merit Program, Inc. At Michigan State University School of Music, she lectured on ‘How to get work as a profession musician’ (co-sponsored by MSU and Yamaha International). In 1988 she substituted for Ron Modell at Northern Illinois University while he was on sabbatical leave. She is still very active as a player and teacher. Currently she is a member of the Fort Dearborn Brass, Prairie Brass Band (Solo Cornet), trumpeter-in-residence at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Wilmette, and the Chicago Reading Orchestra. She is forming a North-Western Illinois area orchestra named the Professional Orchestra Project.

She is on faculty at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Triton College, and Wright Jr. College, and she continues to teach private music lessons. Bette is a widow with two grown children, Diana Morris who lives in Springfield, Illinois and Lou Dasaro who just graduated with a Political Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.

Bette lives in River Forest Illinois with her Shiba Inu dog, Ming, who sings along when she plays the trumpet! Her hobbies include fishing, photography, and reading about investing.

Froydis Ree Wekre was born in Oslo, Norway. Her mother was a pianist and her father an amateur violin player. She started very early to learn piano and violin, and then turned to horn at the age of 17.

Outside of Oslo, her studies have taken place in Sweden, Russia and USA. After being a prize winner in a national competition for wind players she was offered the position of co-principal horn of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1965, a position she left in 1990.

Currently, Ms. Wekre is appointed Professor of Horn and Chamber Music at the Norwegian State Academy of Music. In addition, she is active worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician and baroque horn player, as well as being sought for to give master classes and to be a member of international juries.

Her book, ‘Thoughts on Playing the Horn well’ has been translated into several languages. Numerous composers have written works for her, some of which have been recorded on the labels of SIMAX and CRYSTAL.

For two years, Froydis Ree Wekre was the president of the International Horn Society, where she is also an honorary member since 1994. Her most recent concerts have taken place in Germany, Finland and USA.

Dr. Betty Scott is a full professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she gives brass instruction, teaches Music Appreciation and World Music and conducts the MU Brass Choir and MU Trumpet Ensemble.

For the Honors College, she teaches a class entitled The Creative Process, among the most popular on campus, as well as other classes.

She is the winner of several academic honors, including the University of Missouri Alumni Teaching Award, Alumnae Anniversary Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, Honors Professor of the Year, and Faculty Honors Tap for Mortar Board.

She plays ‘extra’ with The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the MU Faculty Brass Quintet and the Clarion Brass Quintet in St. Louis.

She also performs regularly and gives workshops for the International Trumpet Guild and has performed frequently with The Classical Music Seminar in Eisenstadt, Austria.

Nadine Jansen is a multi-talented musician and performer who is as proficient on the fluegelhorn as she is on piano and vocals. She was an all-star on the trumpet and fluegelhorn in the Women’s Jazz Festival in 1983 in Kansas City and has received rave reviews in The New York Times, The Daily News, The San Francisco Chronicle, Variety, and Downbeat.

Ms. Jansen considers herself a Vaudevillian entertainer, having broken into the business with Horace Heidt’s amateur show and appearing in theaters between movies. She shared the spotlight with acts like The Clooney Sisters (Rosemary and Betty), Dick Contino, Skitch Henderson and Tony Pastor.

A native of Sacramento, California, she now calls Scottsdale, Arizona her home where she has worked with a trio for many years, and has organized and performed in many jazz concerts. Her career includes playing the Capitol Theatre in New York and the Blue Note Club in Chicago opposite Charlie Parker.

In 1987 Jansen appeared with jazz pianists Marion McPartland and Judy Roberts performing a concert at Phoenix Symphony Hall entitled ‘Women in Jazz’. She was also featured with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra guest conducted by Tania Leon. Critics, loyal fans and first-timers can attest that Jansen’s Gershwin medley has consistently inspired and delighted audiences.

Nadine Jansen is now semi-retired but performs solo acts and enjoys a weekly jam session in Scottsdale at the popular J. Chew & Company. Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Pete Jolly, Billy Taylor and the Modern Jazz Quartet have been known to stop in and join in the impromptu jam sessions

Ms. Jansen has two recordings available: A-Little-Taste and Ala Mood.

Since the publishing of her biography here, Nadine Jansen passed away in 2008.

“My specialty, I think,” horn legend Ethel Merker reflects, “is trying to expose young players to all kinds of music, so they will be flexible in their playing, instead of stodgy and rigid.”

In her own career, which spans five decades, Ms. Merker has followed that credo to the letter. A precocious music student who, as a sixth grader played in the high school orchestra, she took her first full-time job at age 18 with the NBC Radio Orchestra. She concurrently carried a full course load at Northwestern University, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Ms. Merker went on to play assistant first horn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, impeccably blending and dovetailing with the phrasing of her friend, the late Phil Farkas. Numerous other symphonic, opera and ballet orchestras have benefitted from Merker’s virtuosity.

As a recording artist, she has backed such artists as the Jackson Five, Diana Ross and John Denver, and her horn could be heard on countless commercials for Marlboro, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and many others. She has also performed with Peggy Lee and Pearl Bailey.

As a valued educator, Ms. Merker has taught at many prestigious schools, including Indiana University, DePaul University and VanderCook College of Music.

Recently, she has turned her talents to horn design. Phil Farkas often brought her along to Elkhorn as an impartial judge of the famous models he helped create. In 1995, she collaborated with the Frank Holton Company on her own innovative Holton ‘Merker-Matic’ French horn line, which enjoys growing popularity and acclaim.

The wide diversity of her playing and teaching experience, along with her quick wit and irrepressible personality, provide Ethel Merker with a unique ability to communicate and inspire young people as a clinician for G. LeBlanc Corporation.

Since the publishing of her biography here, Ethel Merker passed away in 2012.

Betty O’Hara, termed herself as a ‘mostly self-taught trumpet player.’ After high school she went on the road with a girl band led by Freddie Shafer, playing the USO circuit, hotels, clubs, theaters and ballrooms around the Midwest. In 1947 Ms. O’Hara joined Al Gentile’s big band in Connecticut, playing trumpet, valve trombone, and writing arrangements and singing. Then, in 1955, she accepted the trumpet chair with the Hartford Symphony, where she stayed for five years.

She moved to California in 1960, married bass trombonist Barrett O’Hara and raised a family. Betty O’Hara co-led the female jazz quintet, The Jazzbirds, playing trombone, cornet and double-belled euphonium as well as writing original material, arranging and singing. As a founding member of the big band, Maiden Voyage, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Ms. O’Hara was a guest artist at many of the Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festivals where she also took part in judging young jazz musicians for scholarships offered by the festival.

Betty O’Hara passed away on April 18, 2000. She will be missed by many but her legacy as a great musician will live on.

“Clora Bryant gave an excellent account (in the book Central Avenue Sounds by by Clora Bryant, William Green, Buddy Collette) as one female working in the male dominated music arena.

She praised her father for encouraging her musical career, who sacrificed by relocating his family to Los Angeles for that purpose. Especially memorable was her frequenting the jam sessions at the Downbeat.

Cherokee was the musicians’ favorite, and when Bryant performed it, colleagues were impressed, one of them being Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie, too, was a mentor to Bryant, even allowing her to use his horn.

Despite the fierce competition, she wanted equal treatment from her colleagues, without losing her femininity. On stage she made it clear her sexuality, as she said, ‘People thought you were playing trumpet because you had male tendencies, which I didn’t have.’ She would let the audience know as she puts it, ‘never forget I was a female . . . I always dressed as a female.’

Because she had big legs she’d wear mesh stockings with a seam up the back to look sexy. Sometimes the problems were with jealous wives and girlfriends of the male musicians and she had to prove she was there to play music.”

Since the publishing of her biography here, Clora Bryant passed away on August 23, 2019.

Credits: www.allaboutjazz.com

Jane Sager: Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Ms. Sager started playing violin at the age of six. By the time she was ten, she was appearing on a radio show playing Mendelssohn, and as a reward, her father bought her a bicycle.

She was hit by a car and the back wheel ran over her left hand and ended her violin career. In high school, Ms. Sager went down to the Moose (Lodge) Hall and picked up a Tonk horn, took it home and practiced until she literally ‘fell over.’

One of the most outspoken and active women in jazz, Ms. Sager played major trumpet roles in the all-women bands of Rita Rio and Ada Leonard.

She has also held Bobby Hackett’s chair in Katherine Dunham’s band, and played with the bands of Charlie Barnet and Johnny Richards.

Since the publishing of her biography here, Jane Sager passed away in 2012.

Born and raised in Winter Haven, Florida, Constance Weldon started playing drums in the fourth grade. She then picked up the trumpet, later playing horn, valve trombone, baritone horn all on the way to her final destination, the tuba! From that day on, Connie’s life was never the same as it constantly revolved around playing the tuba. As valedictorian of Miami Jackson High School, she was offered scholarships to all of Florida’s universities. She decided to accept an academic scholarship to the University of Miami.

While studying with Bower Murphy, the trumpet playing teacher of all brass at the University of Miami, Connie auditioned for and was accepted to the Tanglewood Music Festival in the summer of 1951. There she played under the baton of a young Leonard Bernstein as well as other promising and established professional conductors. At summer’s end, she turned down a position in the Rio de Janeiro Symphony to finish her education.

Connie completed a Bachelor of Music degree in 1952 and a Master of Education in 1953 from the University of Miami. Returning to Tanglewood in 1954, she auditioned for Arthur Fiedler and joined the Boston Pops Touring Orchestra. Connie next joined the North Carolina Symphony. In 1957 she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship Award to study in Amsterdam with the Concertgebouw tubist, Adrian Boorsma. During that time she joined the Netherlands Ballet Orkest and was acting principal tuba of the great Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Upon returning to the U.S., Connie joined the Kansas City Philharmonic for two seasons, after which she returned to Florida to join the Miami Philharmonic and teach at the University of Miami. Connie quickly established a reputation as an expert teacher, known for her prescriptive and thorough approach. In Connie’s studio, musicianship and technical teaching received equal time. As a result of her successful studio building, Connie formed the University of Miami Tuba Ensemble in 1960, the first credited group of its type at any university. In this ensemble, Connie taught a higher awareness of intonation, balance, rhythm, accompaniment skills, and solo playing with musical opinion. Her success with the University of Miami Tuba Ensemble led to interest from other universities and a proliferation of this type of ensemble throughout the tuba world. Connie’s success as a teacher also led to her becoming the conductor of the University of Miami Brass Choir, one of that school’s flagship ensembles.

From 1972 until her retirement in 1991, Connie was the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Miami. In this position she provided guidance to thousands of future musicians and teachers. Since then, she has been honored with the University of Miami Distinguished Alumna Award, the University of Miami Distinguished Woman of the Year, the World Who’s Who of Women in Education, and the Pioneer Award of the International Women’s Brass Conference.

Betty S. Glover, retired in 1992 after 40 years as a faculty member of the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. She had been Conductor of the Brass Choir from 1969-1992.

Ms. Glover was Bass Trombone and Tenor Tuba player with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Opera (1952-1985). She was Conductor of the Brighton Brass Band, a group of professional musicians sponsored by Local #11, A.F. of M (1987-1992), and Instructor of Brass and Conductor of the Band and the Brass Choir at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio (1950-1952).

Previously, Ms. Glover served for five years as Principal Trombone with both the Kansas City Philharmonic and the Columbus (Ohio) Philharmonic orchestras.

Melba Liston, 73, a pioneering jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, died April 23, 1999. She was universally known as the first female brass player to make an impact in jazz, playing in the bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones. A stroke in 1985 partially paralyzed her, ending her performing career. But she continued to arrange and compose for musician Randy Weston, with the help of a computer.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., Liston met the trombone at age seven. By age eight, she was playing on a local radio station.

In 1937, Liston’s family moved to Los Angeles. At 16, she joined the musicians’ local and was writing and playing in the pit orchestra of the Lincoln Theater and later joining the band of trumpeter Gerald Wilson.

In 1949, she went on tour with Billie Holiday in the Southern United States. But it disillusioned Liston. She quit music, working for the Los Angeles Board of Education for three years, and was a movie extra plucking a harp in ‘The Prodigal’ and ‘The Ten Commandments.’

In 1955, Gillespie asked her to join his big band touring the Middle East and Asia for the State Department. A few years later, Quincy Jones formed a band to tour Europe with ‘Free and Easy’ and asked Liston to be his musical director and trombonist.

In the ’60s Liston freelanced as a player, but gigs were few. She began arranging music for MoTown performers, the Buffalo Symphony and was encouraged by Weston to compose.

In the ’70s she taught at the University of West Indies and the Jamaica Institute of Music, and in 1987, two years after her first stroke, she was awarded a Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993, she shared billing and the cover photo with Weston on their CD, ‘Volcano Blues.’

Since the publishing of her biography here, Melba Liston passed away in 1999.

Leona May Smith made her first public trumpet performance at the age of nine on WNAC radio in Boston. At 11 she appeared as a soloist with Goldman’s Band, and at 14 played First Trumpet with the Boston Women’s Symphony. Ms. Smith went on to perform with numerous bands, including Fred Waring’s, and was the first woman trumpet soloist ever to play at Radio City Music Hall.

Her frequent performances as a soloist throughout the northeastern US and Canada included appearances with the National Orchestral society and the Chautauqua Festival Symphony.

In the late 1940’s, Ms. Smith and her husband, composer and conductor George w. Seuffert, founded a summer ‘Music for Youth’ program in Newport, Vermont. Known for its teaching excellence, the music center drew talented young performers from all parts of the US and abroad.

Reflecting her lifelong interest in providing musical opportunities for children, Ms. Smith has taught trumpet privately and in the Schenectady, New York, public schools. With her husband, she founded, funded, managed and promoted the Seuffert Band in New York City, which offered free concerts to the public, and she performed as its soloist and assistant conductor.

Ms. Smith has played First Trumpet with the Brooklyn Symphony under Sir Thomas Beecham, and for 17 years was Extra Trumpet for the Metropolitan Opera. She was also featured in an NBC music education series narrated by Olin Downes.

Since the publishing of her biography here, Leona May Smith passed away in 1999.