The Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra and the Emergence of Women as Orchestral Musicians in Canada (1940--1965)

The Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra was Canada's first and only all-woman orchestra. It was founded in 1940 by conductor Ethel Stark and philanthropist Madge Bowen in response to the lack of women professional musicians in symphony orchestras. The goal of the orchestra was to provide training for women interested in professional music careers. Not only was the MWSO one of the major orchestras in Canada in the 1940s, it also became the first Canadian orchestra to perform live in New York's Carnegie Hall in 1947. Even though public support was strong and praise extensive, repeated appeals to the three levels of government for financial support went largely unnoticed, and in 1965 the orchestra officially disbanded. This dissertation examines the roles that gender, Canada's cultural infrastructure, and finances played in the demise of the orchestra.