Antonia Brico | |
|---|---|
 Antonia Brico,1940 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1902-06-26)June 26, 1902 |
| Died | 3 August 1989(1989-08-03) (aged 87) |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, Pianist |
Antonia Louisa Brico (June 26, 1902 – August 3, 1989)[1] was a Dutch-born Americanconductor andpianist.[2][3]
Born Antonia Louisa Brico to a Dutch Catholic unmarried mother[4][5] inRotterdam,Netherlands, Brico was renamed Wilhelmina Wolthuis by herfoster parents. She and her foster parentsmigrated to the United States in 1908 and settled inCalifornia. On leavingOakland Technical High School[6] inOakland in 1919 she was already an accomplished pianist and had experience in conducting. At theUniversity of California, Berkeley, Brico worked as an assistant to the director of theSan Francisco Opera. Following her graduation in 1923 she studied piano under a variety of teachers, most notably underZygmunt Stojowski.
In 1927, Brico entered theBerlin State Academy of Music and in 1929 graduated from its master class in conducting. During that period she was also a pupil ofKarl Muck, conductor of theHamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she studied for a further three years after graduation.[2]
Following her debut as a professional conductor with theBerlin Philharmonic Orchestra in February 1930, Brico worked with theSan Francisco Symphony and theHamburg Philharmonic, winning plaudits from critics and the public. Appearances as guest conductor of the Musicians' Symphony Orchestra inDetroit,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.[2]
In July 1938, Brico was the first woman to conduct theNew York Philharmonic,[7] and in 1939 conducted theFederal Orchestra in concerts at the1939 New York World's Fair.[8] During an extensive European tour, in which she appeared both as a pianist and a conductor, Brico was invited byJean Sibelius to conduct theHelsinki Symphony Orchestra.[8]
Brico settled in Denver, Colorado in 1942.[2] Here she founded a Bach Society and the Women's String Ensemble.[8] She also conducted the Denver Businessmen's Orchestra, which in 1968 became the Brico Symphony Orchestra, and in 1948 she became conductor of theDenver Community Symphony (later theDenver Philharmonic).[9] She was conductor of theBoulder Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958-1963.[10][11] She taught piano or conducting to such students asJudy Collins,Donald Loach,James Erb andKarlos Moser.[2] Brico continued to appear as guest conductor with orchestras around the world, including the Japan Women's Symphony.[8]
A documentary film about Brico's life, entitledAntonia: A Portrait of the Woman, directed byJudy Collins andJill Godmilow, 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 anAcademy Award for Best Documentary Feature and its popularity was partially responsible for invitations for Brico to conduct theMostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in sold-out concerts recorded byColumbia Records in 1975, and theBrooklyn Philharmonia in 1977.[12] In 2003, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Brico died in 1989 after a long illness at the age of 87. She had lived at the Bella Vita Towers, a nursing home inDenver, since 1988.[8]
History Colorado, formerly the Colorado Historical Society, holds a large collection of her personal papers. She was inducted into theColorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.[13]
Dutch director Maria Peters' movieDe Dirigent ('The Conductor') about the life of Brico, starringChristanne de Bruijn as Antonia Brico, was released in 2018.[14]
Children's picture bookIn 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.[15] The book is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
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