Klarinet Archive - Posting 000229.txt from 2009/03

From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Obituary, unfortunately
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:11:38 -0400

In the Tuesday, Mar. 31 issue of the NY Times is a report of the death of
flutist Frances Blaisdell. She led a hard life as a woman trying to play
with an orchestra in the 1930s but she was finally the first woman to play
with the NY Philharmonic ca. 1937.

From the clarinetist's point of view, she was the wife and the widow of
Alexander Williams who was a very important NY clarinetist for many, many
years. Both husband and wife lived in the same city where I reside and I
would see them both every now and then. She was still teaching flute around
the age of 95, and taught at Stanford for 35 years.

Dan Leeson

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