The Rochester Music Hall of Fame board of directors extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of RMHF, Class of 2012 inductee, Doriot Anthony Dwyer, who has sadly passed away at the age of 98.
Boston Flute Academy
RIP. Retired BSO Principal Flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 14th in Lawrence, Kansas, with her daughter at her side. She was 98 years old.
We have been very influenced at Boston Flute Academy by the brilliance and teaching of this legendary flutist, as have so many flutists from around the globe. Her legacy lives on.
With thanks to Lincoln Center, here is an excerpt from what they recently wrote in honor of Women’s History Month:
“Did you know that in 1952, flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer became the first woman permanently appointed to a principal chair in a major symphony orchestra?
Doriot Anthony Dwyer, one of the first women to occupy a principal chair for a distinguished American orchestra, was a descendent of Susan B. Anthony. This famed American flautist studied at Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Eastman School of Music. Upon graduation, Dwyer landed the position of second chair flute with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington,
D.C. Women were so rare in orchestras in the 1950s that there were no accommodations for her in the concert hall.
She spent 38 years with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, playing to great critical acclaim, with some of the leading conductors of the day. She was also a highly decorated teacher, teaching at Boston University and the Boston Conservatory.”