Abstract
The purpose of this doctoral essay was to document selected biographical stories and lessons from flutist Trudy Kane’s career with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in addition to an examination of her early life, musical influences, mentors, and multi-faceted teaching and performance career. Kane spent thirty-two years as the Metropolitan Opera’s principal flutist after winning the position in 1976. She was the first woman in the company’s history to earn the title Principal Flute. In 2008, Kane retired from the opera to teach at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami where she was Associate Professor of Flute from 2008 to 2019.
After an introductory Chapter One, Chapter Two highlights literature surrounding Trudy Kane and two other women flutists, Frances Blaisdell and Doriot Anthony Dwyer. Blaisdell and Dwyer’s careers are explored and intermittently referenced throughout this essay in an effort to reinforce their importance and also to put Kane’s career into context. Chapter Three details the methodology, specifically the oral history research method, used to gather information for this essay.
This essay includes Trudy Kane’s selective and thematic biography which can be found in Chapter Four. Chapter Five explores the challenges Kane faced as a professional musician, and Chapter Six outlines Kane’s advice for musicians. Throughout the document, themes of importance include women in music, music mentors, and flute pedagogy. The essay concludes with testimonials of Kane’s influence from former students and colleagues.
The majority of information referenced in this essay was collected through the oral history research method and involved interviews conducted between the author and Trudy Kane. These interviews provide unique insight into Kane’s life, influences, pedagogy, and career. Each narrative was recorded, transcribed, and edited with the permission of the interviewee. The complete, edited transcripts from these interviews can be found in the Appendix F. Additional information on Trudy Kane was gathered from reputable flute journals and from Kane’s personal archive. Biographical material about Frances Blaisdell and Doriot Anthony Dwyer was extracted from a variety of journal articles and newspapers; and a brief background of women in American orchestras was compiled based on research studies, articles, and books.