Boston’s first woman cellist dies at 101

Boston’s first woman cellist dies at 101

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norman lebrecht

January 17, 2021

Winifred Mayes became the first woman in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s string section when she beat 14 men in an audition for a cello vacancy in 1957.

She stayed in Boston for a dozen years before getting a better offer in 1970 from the Philadelphia Orchestra, where her husband Sameul Mayes was principal cellist. She slipped into the seat beside him as assistant principal cellist.

Winifred has died, aged 101.

 

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