Canadian violinist and conductor Ethel Stark was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1910. A talented violinist from a young age, Ethel received her early music education at the McGill Conservatory of Music in Montreal. She then auditioned for a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia; she won the scholarship, the first Canadian woman to do so, and she graduated with distinction in 1934. While at the Curtis Institute she was chosen to do a violin solo on a popular radio program, playing the institute’s Molitor Stradivarius, one of the most expensive violins in the world. The performance was very well-received and helped launch Ethel’s career. After graduation Ethel continued to perform on radio broadcasts and as a guest soloist with orchestras. Ethel had been the first woman allowed into the conductor’s course at the Curtis Institute and she was interested in becoming a conductor, an almost impossible career for a woman at that time. To pursue more opportunity Ethel moved to New York and, in 1938, she and another musician founded the New York Women’s Chamber Orchestra, with Ethel as conductor. The group was a success and grew to a membership of 25 women musicians. In 1940, Ethel was asked to return to Montreal and found the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra, the first all-women symphony in Canada. With almost 100 musicians, the orchestra was a much larger undertaking than Ethel’s previous ensemble and it became very popular throughout Canada. Although it started out as mix of amateur and professional musicians the orchestra eventually became an all-professional ensemble and it was the first Canadian orchestra to play at Carnegie Hall. Ethel conducted the group for over twenty years. In addition, Ethel was a sought-after guest conductor with symphonies in Canada and throughout the world, including Israel and Tokyo, Japan, and she taught at various institutions including the Catholic University in Washington D.C. and the Montreal Conservatory of Music. Ethel Stark and the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra were a true inspiration for women musicians all over Canada and the world, and Ethel’s contributions were formally recognized by Canada in 1975 when she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 2003 when she was named a Grand Officer of the Order of Quebec. Ethel Stark died at the age of 101 in Montreal, Quebec, in 2012.

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