40:
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Moving with her family to
Melbourne, Jorgensen joined Zelman's Albert Street Conservatorium Orchestra (later the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) at age 15. When appointed concertmaster of the orchestra in 1923, she was the first woman to lead a professional orchestra in Australia.
240:
awards an annual scholarship, named the Bertha
Jorgensen Exhibition, to the "most outstanding student of the violin in third or fourth year". Her alma mater, St Catherine's School, presents the Bertha Jorgensen Prize for Leader of the Orchestra annually.
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said that he was "perhaps doubtful" when he first met
Jorgensen, acknowledging that she was "very good, yes as good as a man (better than some! . . . but this time I am NOT talking about Australian orchestras!)".
211:, standing in for French violinist Jeanne Gautier when she was on tour. At the end of WWII, Gautier returned to France, passing some of her pupils to Jorgensen and selling her 1780 François Fent violin.
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148:, Victoria on 17 May 1904. She gave her first public performance there at age five, receiving "prolonged applause". She later travelled to Melbourne each week to study with
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to be the best musician the MSO had worked with, because "every member of the orchestra felt that he knew the whole score, and not merely his own part".
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In addition to her work with the MSO she was a frequent performer on radio broadcasts from 1925 through to the late 1950s. She also taught at the
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200:. At the time she was one of only two women concertmasters or major orchestras in the world. In 1954 she considered Argentine conductor
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Jorgensen was appointed a Member of the Order of the
British Empire for "service as leader of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra".
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In 1952 Jorgensen travelled to Europe to hear and observe many of the famous orchestras, including the
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Jorgensen's career with the MSO spanned 50 years. She retired as acting concertmaster on 17 May 1969.
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188:. Visiting conductors were "usually puzzled and slightly perturbed" to find a woman concertmaster.
497:. Vol. 32, no. 9, 505. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 June 1958. p. 13
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to
Margaret Hetherington of ABC Radio, 20 March 1979; re-broadcast 28 February 2022
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441:. Vol. 16, no. 8. Sydney: ABC. 20 February 1954. nla.obj-1548343236
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577:. No. 24, 342. New South Wales, Australia. 14 October 1954. p. 5
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293:. No. 15, 732. Victoria, Australia. 7 December 1909. p. 2
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Westwood, Matthew (5 December 2006). "Scoring a
Musical Century".
523:. Vol. 44. Queensland, Australia. 13 December 1944. p. 1
403:"Australia's Symphony Orchestras Compare with the Best Overseas"
128:(17 May 1904 – 11 January 1999) was an Australian violinist and
469:. No. 24, 564. Victoria, Australia. 1 May 1925. p. 24
330:(39), Australian Broadcasting Commission: 5, 26 September 1947
640:(156), Australian Broadcasting Commission: 14, 29 June 1969,
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Jorgensen played and led the MSO under conductors, including
413:(41), Australian Broadcasting Commission: 5, 7 October 1949
551:. New South Wales, Australia. 27 September 1954. p. 4
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Annual Report of the
Australian Broadcasting Commission
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Jorgensen speaks of her experience with Otto
Klemperer
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Australian
Members of the Order of the British Empire
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320:"Symphony Leader Bertha Jorgensen Has Unique Job"
435:"Bertha Jorgensen . . . In Search of Orchestras"
575:Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate
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233:, Victoria on 11 January 1999. She was 94.
694:Cellist Valerie Awburn speaks of Jorgensen
585:– via National Library of Australia.
559:– via National Library of Australia.
543:"Melba Pulled Pigtails of Woman Conductor"
531:– via National Library of Australia.
505:– via National Library of Australia.
477:– via National Library of Australia.
301:– via National Library of Australia.
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16:Australian violinist and concertmaster
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351:Musset, Kerrie (11 December 2020).
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749:20th-century classical violinists
729:People from Castlemaine, Victoria
209:Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
144:Bertha May Jorgensen was born in
734:Australian classical violinists
658:Annab, Rachid (25 March 2019).
378:"Melbourne Symphony Orchestra"
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660:"Bertha Jorgensen Exhibition"
216:1960 Queen's Birthday Honours
134:Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
113:Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
739:Australian women violinists
664:The University of Melbourne
597:"Miss Bertha May JORGENSEN"
765:
744:Women classical violinists
37:
461:"Classified Advertising"
571:"Woman Leads Orchestra"
548:Illawarra Daily Mercury
238:University of Melbourne
636:"Music and Concerts",
262:"Bertha May Jorgensen"
152:. She was educated at
44:Jorgensen in the 1920s
466:The Argus (Melbourne)
357:St Catherine's School
154:St Catherine's School
89:, Victoria, Australia
70:, Victoria, Australia
517:""Stars of the Air""
291:Mount Alexander Mail
287:"Temperance Meeting"
121:Bertha May Jorgensen
54:Bertha May Jorgensen
521:Pittsworth Sentinel
198:Vienna Philharmonic
156:from 1910 to 1919.
494:The Canberra Times
449:– via Trove.
229:Jorgensen died in
353:"2020 Speech Day"
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25:Bertha Jorgensen
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79:11 January 1999
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682:External links
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623:The Australian
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382:TheAudioDB.com
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190:Otto Klemperer
186:Thomas Beecham
178:Rafael KubelĂk
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150:Alberto Zelman
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667:. Retrieved
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81:(1999-01-11)
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714:1999 deaths
709:1904 births
146:Castlemaine
68:Castlemaine
64:17 May 1904
703:Categories
439:ABC Weekly
407:ABC Weekly
324:ABC Weekly
245:References
140:Early life
60:1904-05-17
646:0313-3222
99:Violinist
109:Employer
669:8 April
606:8 April
581:9 April
555:9 April
527:9 April
501:9 April
473:9 April
445:9 April
417:9 April
387:8 April
362:9 April
334:9 April
297:9 April
271:8 April
214:In the
136:(MSO).
132:of the
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160:Career
671:2023
642:ISSN
608:2023
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557:2023
529:2023
503:2023
475:2023
447:2023
419:2023
389:2023
364:2023
336:2023
299:2023
273:2023
236:The
184:and
76:Died
50:Born
125:MBE
30:MBE
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58:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
