Program Highlight

Women in Classical Music

If you look at the listings of the major orchestras in America you will see two things in common; very few of them are programming major pieces by women composers, and almost none have a woman on the podium. Despite the abundance of wonderful compositions by women, the world of classical music has been, for centuries, a man’s world.

Ruth Taiko Watanabe, Pianist & Music Librarian

Classical 91.5 WXXO-FM | By Jeanne Fisher

Published February 8, 2021 at 1:33 PM EST

Ruth Taiko Watanabe, Pianist & Music Librarian

Ruth Taiko Watanabe was a Japanese-American music librarian who ran the Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music for 38 years (1946-1984). She attended the University of Southern California, where she majored in piano, earning her B.Mus. in 1937 and an M. Mus. in musicology in 1942. Her plan to earn a Ph.D. in English was interrupted by the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. when her family was involuntarily relocated to the Santa Anita Assembly Center.

In late September 1942, she received a telegram Howard Hanson, director of the Eastman School of Music, offering her a fellowship. On October 2, 1942 she arrived in Rochester, NY, where she would spend the rest of her career.

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Ruth Taiko Watanabe, Pianist & Music Librarian