4 - Orchestral Experience
Career Phase One (1960)
I soon realized that I had to devise a way to get a response to my resume from symphony orchestra managements. They did not reply positively to a female correspondent. I began signing my letters, Sincerely, K. Handelman (my maiden name). Then I started getting responses to Dear Mr. Handelman and I could at least get into the auditions. They were surprised when a female showed up. At the time of the auditions, 1960, to my knowledge and research with the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), there was but a single female percussionist with the New York City Opera (Elaine Jones, an African American timpanist) and I didn’t know about her at that time. As far as I can ascertain, no other female percussionist had a full-time contract with a major symphony orchestra.
There were no blind screen auditions in those days. You stood with, played, and communicated with the committee and/or musical director. I won my first audition but it wasn’t going to materialize until a year later. I was told the job was mine, great audition! but later came the word from Baltimore Symphony that they could not hire a woman in the percussion section at this time. Luckily, I found a graduate assistantship for the coming year and resigned myself to graduate studies. At this time, I also auditioned and became Timpanist for the Wheeling West Virginia Symphony.
  |
In the spring of 1961, I auditioned and was accepted for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra summer tour on the Mississippi River and to London.
  |
In the fall of 1961 I went back to graduate studies. Shortly after classes began, I received a telegram inviting me to accept an immediately open percussion position with Baltimore Symphony. I borrowed some money from a faculty person, was in my car with the dog, a trailer of drums, and a dream come true, a real paying job, with a contract, doing exactly what I set out to do.
I was with Baltimore Symphony for two seasons, 1961-62 & 1963-64, with a year off in between to accompany my husband to his new job site. At the end of the 1964 season we moved to New York City for phase two of my career. During my first season with Baltimore, I transferred many previous credits and finished a Master of Music Percussion Performance degree at Peabody, now a part of Johns Hopkins University.