Antonia Louisa Brico (Rotterdam, June 26, 1902 – Denver, August 3, 1989) was a Dutch-born conductor and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Early life and education

Born Antonia Louisa Brico to a Dutch Catholic unmarried mother in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Brico was renamed Wilhelmina Wolthuis by her

foster parents Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

. She and her foster parents migrated to the United States in 1908 and settled in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. On leaving

Oakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six compreh ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

in 1919 she was already an accomplished pianist and had experience in conducting. At the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, Brico worked as an assistant to the director of the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...

. Following her graduation in 1923 she studied piano under a variety of teachers, most notably under Zygmunt Stojowski. In 1927, Brico entered the Berlin State Academy of Music and in 1929 graduated from its master class in conducting, the first American to do so. During that period she was also a pupil of

Karl Muck Karl Muck (October 22, 1859 – March 3, 1940) was a German-born conductor of Classical music. He based his activities principally in Europe and mostly in opera. His American career comprised two stints at the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). M ...

, conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she studied for a further three years after graduation.

Career

Following her debut as a professional conductor with the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was f ...

in February 1930, Brico worked with the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San F ...

and the Hamburg Philharmonic, winning plaudits from critics and the public. Appearances as guest conductor of the Musicians' Symphony Orchestra in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Washington, D.C. and other sites soon followed. In 1934, she was appointed conductor of the newly founded Women's Symphony Orchestra which, in January 1939 (following the admission of men), became the Brico Symphony Orchestra. In July 1938, Brico was the first woman to conduct the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, and in 1939 conducted the Federal Orchestra in concerts at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purc ...

. During an extensive European tour, in which she appeared both as a pianist and a conductor, Brico was invited by

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

to conduct the Helsinki Symphony Orchestra. Brico settled in Denver, Colorado in 1942. Here she founded a Bach Society and the Women's String Ensemble. She also conducted the Denver Businessmen's Orchestra, which in 1968 became the Brico Symphony Orchestra, and in 1948 she became conductor of the Denver Community Symphony (later the Denver Philharmonic). She was conductor of the

Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1958, is a professional symphony orchestra based in Boulder, Colorado. It is led by Music Director Michael Butterman. The Boulder Philharmonic’s season at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colo ...

from 1958-1963. She taught piano or conducting to such students as

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

, Donald Loach, James Erb and

Karlos Moser Karlos Moser is Professor Emeritus at University of Wisconsin–Madison, and an independent music professional. Education Born in western Brazil of missionary parents, Karlos Moser received his musical training in Denver, Colorado under Antonia Bri ...

. Brico continued to appear as guest conductor with orchestras around the world, including the Japan Women's Symphony. A documentary film about Brico's life, entitled '' Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman'', by director Jill Godmilow, with help from Brico's former student Judy Collins, appeared in 1974. In it, Brico candidly described her career-long struggle with gender bias that kept her from conducting more frequently. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

and its popularity was partially responsible for invitations for Brico to conduct the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in sold-out concerts recorded by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

in 1975, and the Brooklyn Philharmonia in 1977.

Death and legacy

Brico died in 1989 after a long illness at the age of 87. She had lived at the Bella Vita Towers, a nursing home in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

since 1988. History Colorado, formerly the Colorado Historical Society, holds a large collection of her personal papers. She was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 1986. Dutch director Maria Peters' movie '' De Dirigent'' ('The Conductor') about the life of Brico, starring Christanne de Bruijn as Antonia Brico, was released in 2018. Children's picture book 'In One Ear And Out The Other: Antonia Brico And Her Amazingly Musical Life' by Diane Worthey and illustrated by Morgana Wallace was published by Penny Candy Books in 2020. The book is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

References

Sources

* Jane Weiner Lepage, "Women Composers, Conductors, and Musicians of the Twentieth Century", (Scarecrow Press, New Jersey, 1980).

External links