In 1930s North America, women—for the first time—were accorded permanent principal positions in significant American orchestras. Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, and Sylvia Meyer, all students of the legendary harp pedagogue Carlos Salzedo, have been celebrated as pioneers for the prestigious employment they obtained in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, respectively, between 1930 and 1933. Despite the impressiveness of these accomplishments, however, the narrative of their “firstness” is not wholly accurate. In actuality, female harpists have occupied orchestral posts as acting principals, substitutes, and second harpists since the very inception of orchestras. The cause for their early inclusion therein was directly and indirectly related to the feminine connotations of the instrument formed in eighteenth-century French salon culture and molded by literature, artwork, music, and ideologies over the course of the next two centuries. This research attempts not to dismiss the myths that have come to be assumed as fact, but rather to understand why and how a cauldron of events, large-scale cultural shifts, and specific individuals shaped these narratives and created lasting professional opportunities for female harpists.
","abstract_html":"<p>In 1930s North America, women—for the first time—were accorded permanent principal positions in significant American orchestras. Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, and Sylvia Meyer, all students of the legendary harp pedagogue Carlos Salzedo, have been celebrated as pioneers for the prestigious employment they obtained in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, respectively, between 1930 and 1933. Despite the impressiveness of these accomplishments, however, the narrative of their “firstness” is not wholly accurate. In actuality, female harpists have occupied orchestral posts as acting principals, substitutes, and second harpists since the very inception of orchestras. The cause for their early inclusion therein was directly and indirectly related to the feminine connotations of the instrument formed in eighteenth-century French salon culture and molded by literature, artwork, music, and ideologies over the course of the next two centuries. This research attempts not to dismiss the myths that have come to be assumed as fact, but rather to understand why and how a cauldron of events, large-scale cultural shifts, and specific individuals shaped these narratives and created lasting professional opportunities for female harpists.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lane, Chelsea"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Musical Arts","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Music","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Emily Wilbourne"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Anne Stone","Scott Burnham","Ann Yeung"],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:38Z","subjects":["Cultural History","Musicology","Music Performance","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","United States History","Women's History","Women's Studies","Harp","Feminism","Women","Gender","Orchestra","North America"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4893","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Emily Wilbourne"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Anne Stone","Scott Burnham","Ann Yeung"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lane, Chelsea"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-04-28T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Music"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Musical Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Cultural History","Musicology","Music Performance","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","United States History","Women's History","Women's Studies","Harp","Feminism","Women","Gender","Orchestra","North America"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4893"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In 1930s North America, women—for the first time—were accorded permanent principal positions in significant American orchestras. Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, and Sylvia Meyer, all students of the legendary harp pedagogue Carlos Salzedo, have been celebrated as pioneers for the prestigious employment they obtained in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, respectively, between 1930 and 1933. Despite the impressiveness of these accomplishments, however, the narrative of their “firstness” is not wholly accurate. In actuality, female harpists have occupied orchestral posts as acting principals, substitutes, and second harpists since the very inception of orchestras. The cause for their early inclusion therein was directly and indirectly related to the feminine connotations of the instrument formed in eighteenth-century French salon culture and molded by literature, artwork, music, and ideologies over the course of the next two centuries. This research attempts not to dismiss the myths that have come to be assumed as fact, but rather to understand why and how a cauldron of events, large-scale cultural shifts, and specific individuals shaped these narratives and created lasting professional opportunities for female harpists.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Feminine Harp as Feminist Tool: Early Professional Footing for Women in Mid-Twentieth-Century America"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Emily Wilbourne"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Anne Stone","Scott Burnham","Ann Yeung"],"dc:creator":["Lane, Chelsea"],"dc:date.available":["2022-04-28T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In 1930s North America, women—for the first time—were accorded permanent principal positions in significant American orchestras. Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, and Sylvia Meyer, all students of the legendary harp pedagogue Carlos Salzedo, have been celebrated as pioneers for the prestigious employment they obtained in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, respectively, between 1930 and 1933. Despite the impressiveness of these accomplishments, however, the narrative of their “firstness” is not wholly accurate. In actuality, female harpists have occupied orchestral posts as acting principals, substitutes, and second harpists since the very inception of orchestras. The cause for their early inclusion therein was directly and indirectly related to the feminine connotations of the instrument formed in eighteenth-century French salon culture and molded by literature, artwork, music, and ideologies over the course of the next two centuries. This research attempts not to dismiss the myths that have come to be assumed as fact, but rather to understand why and how a cauldron of events, large-scale cultural shifts, and specific individuals shaped these narratives and created lasting professional opportunities for female harpists.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4893"],"dc:subject":["Cultural History","Musicology","Music Performance","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","United States History","Women's History","Women's Studies","Harp","Feminism","Women","Gender","Orchestra","North America"],"dc:title":["The Feminine Harp as Feminist Tool: Early Professional Footing for Women in Mid-Twentieth-Century America"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Music"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Musical Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:38Z"}