Abbie Conant to Speak on Barrier-Breaking Career

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Abbie Conant
Abbie Conant

Award-winning performance artist and Juilliard-trained trombonist Abbie Conant, who defeated gender discrimination to become the first female member of the Munich Philharmonic, will present a talk “From Discrimination to Art” on Thursday, March 22 at noon in Bezanson Recital Hall.

The talk, which details her struggles against prejudice and the evolution of her career, is free and open to the public.

Conant is a well-known figure in the international orchestral world. Her legal battle and victory in 1980 were covered by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal and was also referenced in Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book, “Blink.”

She has been the subject of several cover articles in various brass publications, including International Trombone Association Journal, British Trombone Journal, The Brass Herald and others. She has been a guest on NPR’s “Performance Today” as well as on West German Radio, Southwest German Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and New York City classical station WQXR.

Also, on Wednesday, March 21, Conant will perform Aletheia, her one-woman, one-act multi-media opera in Bezanson Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. That performance is also free.

The opera centers around an opera singer preparing for a gala performance. The singer contemplates her doubts and existential questions from within an actual “iron maiden” cage.

The show is designed, directed, and with music composed by William Osborne.