Tag: News

‘The Only Girl in the Orchestra’ is a Passionate Production

This 34 minute documentary short is a tribute to Orin O’Brien, the first female musician hired full time by the New York Philharmonic in 1966 under the directorship of Leonard Bernstein. The trailblazing, unsung hero is spotlighted, albeit reluctantly, by her niece, filmmaker Molly O’Brien, who had looked up to her aunt as someone to emulate ever since she was a child. The 34 minute screen time, however, reveals a humble character who refuses to be called ‘an artist’, and looks at her achievements as ‘accidental,’ rather, seeing her life as one who has simply enjoyed the experience of playing her beloved double bass and making music together with other musicians.

I find what’s inspiring throughout the documentary is Orin’s humility. She could have boasted about many things, including her parental heritage of early Hollywood, the old-time movie stars George O’Brien (the classic Sunrise, 1927) and Marguerite Churchill, or her own self-propelled motivation to reach her musical goal. It was her deep desire to play in an orchestra that led her to learn the double bass in high school, read all she could get her hands on about the subject, later entering Juilliard and becoming not just a female trailblazer in a male dominated arena but further expanding her influence as an acclaimed teacher mentoring numerous young musicians. Yet she offers these words that impress me the most:

This is my theory of how to enjoy your life incredibly. You don’t mind playing second fiddle… I think it’s better to love something so much you do it for its own sake and also for the wonderful people that you’re playing with. You’re creating something together, which is better than something alone.

After 55 years in the New York Philharmonic, Orin retired at age 86 in 2021. She keeps on going with her passion in teaching and mentoring. The documentary follows her as she turns a new page in her life. Retirement doesn’t mean ending a musical career.

The other prominent character in this short feature is Orin’s instrument, the double base. Positioned at the back of the orchestra, often unnoticed, the double base plays a supporting role in the background, nonetheless is essential for producing the foundational rhythm and creating the deepest resonance in a piece of music. The score throughout the film is a case in point. Orin’s double basses are like pets to her. The ‘Orin’s Duke’ is a double bass made in the 1750’s, with a history of playing for George III.

A trailblazer that deserves more than 34 minutes of tribute to her life and career, this gem of a documentary could well reflect what Orin stands for, a pure joy, passionate in its production, unassuming but inspiring in essence.

The 95th Academy Awards nominations were announced a few days ago. The Only Girl in the Orchestra is given the nod deservedly as a nominee in the Best Documentary Short Film category. Before the March 2 awards show, don’t miss Orin’s documentary now streaming on Netflix.

~ ~ ~ ~ Ripples

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While we wait…

While we wait, the world spins. Tweets flood my screen by the second, as the revolutionary flame spreads, earthquake strikes, bookstore chain bankrupts, oil prices rise, Joan Didion fell and broke her collarbone, John Keats died today 190 years ago, iPad 2 comes out March 2, Oscars countdown begins. My head hurts.

The more I’m connected, the more the distress. But I still avoid falling into the escapist trap claiming ‘ignorance is bliss’. I think of it as the price to pay as a citizen of the world. Will I feel better not knowing about those dying on the streets revolting against a dictator, or that hundreds are buried in the rubbles of their homes, even when they are thousands of miles from me? Is it better not knowing? The answer is obvious.

With a series of uprising that started with a Tunisian fruit vendor setting fire to himself in protest, it’s all about a voice being heard. Thousands of miles away in the 5th most liveable city of the world, I sit comfortably on my couch checking tweets and blogging away. It almost feels surreal.

But as I listened to an interview about how people braved death to go out on the streets, I began to see the significance of this receiving end. If it’s about a voice being heard, we who are on the other side of the world are doing just that… we’re hearing that voice, and witnessing the domino effects. Sure, there are more practical ways to participate in the cause of democracy, or to help the victims of earthquakes, or to support surviving booksellers… but we who are merely checking our tweets, reading articles, and watching news clips are hearing those voices. Our awareness is a form of participation, the least we can do. A beginning.

Despite joining Twitter recently, I’m still an advocate of slow blogging. Opposites juxtapose in this postmodern world. While I’m checking out news feeds and relevant articles as quickly as time allows, I am slowly digesting and mulling over their content, and listening carefully to the multiple voices speaking out.

The world spins at a speed I can’t control. But it’s in stillness that I can make some sense of it. The voices deserve my quiet attention.