Gladys Welge

Gladys Louise Welge (May 23, 1902 – July 27, 1976) was an American violinist and conductor. She was the conductor of the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago from 1938 to 1940. She was also founder of the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, one of the longest-surviving community orchestras in the United States.

Gladys Welge
A young white woman wearing glasses, holding a violin.
Gladys Welge as a young woman, from a 1919 publication
Born(1902-05-23)May 23, 1902
Austin, Illinois
DiedJuly 27, 1976(1976-07-27) (aged 74)
California
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Violinist, conductor

Early life

Gladys Louise Welge was born in Austin, Illinois (near Chicago), the daughter of Friedrich Welge and Friedericke J. Aron Welge. Both of her parents were born in Chicago; her Welge grandparents were from Hannover in Germany. She studied violin with Leon Sametini. Her brother Vernon Welge was a pianist.

Career

Welge was a performing violinist based in Chicago,[1] "one of the extremely good and altogether agreeable young players of the city".[2] In 1919,[3] Welge opened the Welge School of Music in Chicago, with her brother Vernon.[4] She taught violin there[5] and conducted the school's twenty-piece orchestra.[6]

In 1931, Welge was founder of the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, one of the longest-surviving community orchestras in the United States.[7][8][9] She was conductor of the Symphony from its founding in 1931[10] until she retired to Fontana, Wisconsin in 1954.[11]

Welge was a violinist in the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, and after conducting summer concerts at Grant Park,[12][13] succeeded Ebba Sundstrom as the orchestra's conductor from 1938 to 1940. She was admired for her "strikingly forceful, even dynamic conducting", but limited to conducting primarily at rehearsals; male guest conductors took the podium at most of their concerts.[14]

She moved to California by 1963, where she was a music director at a church in Laguna Beach, and conducted the Laguna Hills String Ensemble.[15][16]

Personal life

Gladys Welge died in 1976, aged 74 years, in California.[17][18]

References
  1. "Student Department Chicago Women's Musical Club" Music News (March 21, 1919): 10.
  2. "Gladys Welge Plays at Lyon & Healy Hall". Music News: 13. May 2, 1919.
  3. "Welge School of Music". Music News: 17. April 25, 1919.
  4. "Gladys Welge Pupils in Recitals". Music News: 19. April 25, 1919.
  5. Beldon, Agnes (May 26, 1922). "Welge School of Music". Music News. 14: 11.
  6. "Welge School of Music". Music News: 6. June 10, 1921.
  7. Wilkinson, Cathryn. "Women's energy fuels OP-RF Symphony tribute". Oak Park. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  8. "Old Home Page". The Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest. July 5, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  9. Sokol, David M. (2000). Oak Park, Illinois: Continuity and Change. Arcadia Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7385-0712-5.
  10. "Oak Park Symphony Gives Annual Concert; Gladys Welge Leads". Chicago Tribune. February 22, 1939. p. 17. Retrieved December 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Fontana Woman Concludes Service as Symphony Leader". Janesville Daily Gazette. April 10, 1954. p. 5. Retrieved December 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Smith, Cecil (July 21, 1938). "Gladys Welge Leads Concert at Grant Park". Chicago Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved December 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Gladys Welge to Join Tomlinson School Staff". Berwyn Life. July 24, 1936. p. 2. Retrieved December 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Dempf, Linda (2006). "The Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago". Notes. 62 (4): 868. doi:10.1353/not.2006.0048. ISSN 0027-4380. JSTOR 4487666. S2CID 191467476.
  15. "Calendar". The Los Angeles Times. December 5, 1971. p. 715. Retrieved December 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Two Church Concerts Will Feature 'Gloria'". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1972. p. 254. Retrieved December 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Deuchler, Douglas (2013). Legendary Locals of Oak Park. Arcadia Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4671-0086-1.
  18. Rexford, Elizabeth. "A History of the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest, in Celebration of its 75th Anniversary".
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