From Kitchen to Carnegie Hall: Ethel Stark and the Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra

The Montreal-born Ethel Stark (1910-2012) was a violinist and conductor who, in 1940, co-founded the Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra (MWSO) which she conducted until the 1960s. The MWSO became the first orchestra to represent Canada in New York City's Carnegie Hall, and one of its members, Violet Grant States, was the first Black woman to play in a symphony orchestra in Canada. The author outlines the history of the 80- to 100-piece MWSO and the women who "dared to dream" a place for themselves on the orchestral stage at a time when women were banned from symphony orchestras and ridiculed for playing "masculine" instruments such as the cello or the trumpet.

Toronto, ON

Second Story Press

2015

193p.

en

978-1-927583-87-6