The First Woman Member Of The New York Philharmonic Is Still Playing

“Back in 1966, when Leonard Bernstein hired Orin O’Brien to join the double bass section of the New York Philharmonic, she became the orchestra’s first woman, making history in a heretofore all-male club. (The first ever was Edna Phillips, who broke the gender barrier in 1930, when Leopold Stokowski hired her as principal harp of the Philadelphia Orchestra).”