Bertha May Jorgensen (17 May 1904 – 11 January 1999) was an Australian violinist and

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on fun ...

(MSO).

Early life

Bertha May Jorgensen was born in Castlemaine, Victoria on 17 May 1904. She gave her first public performance there at age five, receiving "prolonged applause". She later travelled to Melbourne each week to study with

Alberto Zelman (Samuel Victor Albert) Alberto Zelman (15 November 1874 – 3 March 1927) was an Australian musician and conducting, conductor, and founder of one of the predecessors to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Life and career Alberto Zelman was born ...

. She was educated at St Catherine's School from 1910 to 1919.

Career

Moving with her family to Melbourne, Jorgensen joined Zelman's Albert Street Conservatorium Orchestra (later the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) at age 15. When appointed concertmaster of the orchestra in 1923, she was the first woman to lead a professional orchestra in Australia. Jorgensen played and led the MSO under conductors, including Eugene Goossens,

Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague and travelled to London in March 1939 when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. He worked for substa ...

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. The son of a distinguished violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the a ...

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

and

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

. Visiting conductors were "usually puzzled and slightly perturbed" to find a woman concertmaster.

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

said that he was "perhaps doubtful" when he first met Jorgensen, acknowledging that she was "very good, yes as good as a man (better than some! . . . but this time I am NOT talking about Australian orchestras!)". In 1952 Jorgensen travelled to Europe to hear and observe many of the famous orchestras, including the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

. At the time she was one of only two women concertmasters or major orchestras in the world. In 1954 she considered Argentine conductor

Juan José Castro Juan José Castro (March 7, 1895September 3, 1968) was an Argentina, Argentine composer and conductor. Born in Avellaneda, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under Eduardo Fornarini, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920 ...

to be the best musician the MSO had worked with, because "every member of the orchestra felt that he knew the whole score, and not merely his own part". In addition to her work with the MSO she was a frequent performer on radio broadcasts from 1925 through to the late 1950s. She also taught at the

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is the music school at the University of Melbourne and part of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne City Centre on the S ...

, standing in for French violinist Jeanne Gautier when she was on tour. At the end of WWII, Gautier returned to France, passing some of her pupils to Jorgensen and selling her 1780 François Fent violin. In the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours Jorgensen was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for "service as leader of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra". Jorgensen's career with the MSO spanned 50 years. She retired as acting concertmaster on 17 May 1969.

Death and legacy

Jorgensen died in South Caulfield, Victoria on 11 January 1999. She was 94. The

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

awards an annual scholarship, named the Bertha Jorgensen Exhibition, to the "most outstanding student of the violin in third or fourth year". Her alma mater, St Catherine's School, presents the Bertha Jorgensen Prize for Leader of the Orchestra annually.

References

External links

Jorgensen speaks of her experience with Otto Klemperer
to Margaret Hetherington of ABC Radio, 20 March 1979; re-broadcast 28 February 2022
Cellist Valerie Awburn speaks of Jorgensen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Bertha 1904 births 1999 deaths Concertmasters Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Castlemaine, Victoria Australian women classical violinists 20th-century Australian classical violinists Players of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra