American flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer was born on March 6, 1922. Like her great-aunt, Susan B. Anthony, she was also a trailblazer. In 1952, Doriot Dwyer earned the principal flute position with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, becoming the orchestra’s first female principal and only the second woman ever to earn a principal seat in a major American orchestra. The only reason she had the opportunity is that, on a whim, the BSO’s Music Director at the time, Charles Munch, held a “ladies’ day” audition. (Seriously!) Ms. Dwyer tenaciously prepared for that audition, and knocked the socks off Munch and the rest of the committee by playing (by memory) everything they asked her to play with virtuosic aplomb. She held that presitigious position with the BSO for 38 years. Today you can hear Doriot Anthony Dwyer play Beautiful Music by Johann Sebastian Bach — the Brandenburg Concertos 4 and 5 — with her BSO colleagues from a 1974 performance. You can also hear Ms. Dwyer with the Manhattan String Quartet playing the Theme & Variations for flute and string quartet by another trailblazing American woman musician: Amy Beach. There’s also a link to Ms. Dwyer’s biography/obituary.
(44) Bach: Brandenburg Concertos #5 and 4, Boston Symphony/Tanglewood – YouTube
(44) Amy Beach – Theme and Variations, Op. 80 –
Doriot Anthony Dwyer, 1922 – 2020 – The Boston Musical Intelligencer (classical-scene.com)