Goetz’s Trailblazing Timeline Shows History of Female, Nonbinary Conductors
Until now, the answer to what year the first woman conducted a Broadway production was not very well known.
But thanks to Performing Arts Associate Professor Sariva Goetz, you can find at answer on an interactive and engaging historical timeline of female and nonbinary Broadway conductors, recently published on MaestraMusic.org.
“I’ve always been a musical historian. I wanted to uplift a marginalized community that very few people recognize them or the challenges they face in the industry,” said Goetz.
Before beginning her research, Goetz guessed the first time a woman conducted a Broadway production would have been around 1950. But she found a surprising fact.
“The first female conductor was in 1915. [Linda Bloodgood] was also the composer of the show [Jack’s Romance],” said Goetz.
But it wasn’t until the 1950s when Liza Redfield became the first female full-time Broadway conductor. Up until then, women and nonbinary individuals were substitutes, assistants, and choral directors, and those roles are not included in playbills, so they didn’t receive any documented credit for their work.
“Redfield took over the original The Music Man in 1957, and was the leader of the orchestra for eight shows a week,” said Goetz.
Back in the day, Goetz said Redfield’s appearance on the old game show What’s My Line? was emblematic of the novelty of a non-male conducting a Broadway production. The premise of the show is that celebrity panelists would try to figure out the guest’s line of work.
“They came close. They got to the fact she was in show business. But they couldn’t wrap their heads around it,” said Goetz. “One of the panelists asked if she was one of the strippers in Gypsy. That’s one of my favorite stories from research.”
Goetz shared the clip from What’s My Line? during a May 19 “Maestras on the Broadway Podium” symposium she led in New York City to coincide with the timeline’s debut. At the symposium, a collaboration between the Society of Composers & Lyricists, Maestra Music, and the Dramatists Guild of America, she presented her research and interviewed a panel of four conductors from the timeline.
Another favorite story from Goetz’s research was of Sande Campbell, one of the premier rehearsal and audition pianists in the 1960s, and one of the first female conductors on Broadway.
“She got a call from the American Federation of Musicians union, Local 802. This was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and they called her to chastise her for taking work away from men who had families to feed,” said Goetz. “She went down to the union and gave it right back to them. She said, ‘I’m a single mother of two sons. I’m not taking work away from a man. I’m taking work.’”
Campbell is just one of more than 90 people on the timeline, including Goetz, whose resume includes being the assistant conductor and keyboardist for the original production of Les Misérables. For Goetz, research for the project was both scholarship and nostalgia.
“I knew a lot of them, but it was great to connect with the younger people. Also, the women who I reached out to were so grateful to have their work lifted up because it hasn’t happened [in the context of female and nonbinary individuals],” said Goetz.
Goetz hosted the symposium with panelists Vicki Carter, Kathy Sommer, Lily Ling, and Meg Zervoulis Bate. Goetz wanted panelists from different eras: Carter worked beginning in the late 1970s; Sommer started doing shows in the 1980s into the 2000s; and Ling and Bate are at the height of their careers.
The panelists discussed their careers, running and rehearsing shows, how they learned to be leaders, and how they navigate challenges of being female leaders in a male-dominated industry.
“How does gatekeeping show up? Have you become more inclusive as a leader?” said Goetz. “The last question is what does the timeline mean to them and why they wanted to be part of the symposium.”
Goetz added that in the last 10 years, the number of female and nonbinary conductors has significantly risen.
As Goetz researched the topic, with help from research assistant Isan Gharajeh ’25, she realized it was ripe to be featured as a documentary, which is now in development.
She applied for and received a grant from the Emerson College Research Hub. Visual & Media Arts Professor and Associate Chair of Curriculum Marc Fields (whose work includes co-authoring From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theater) suggested a film crew of several students: Thomas Brady, MFA ’27; Chih-Yu Liu, MFA ’26; Nina Leeuwerck, MFA ’27, and Nikhila Nanduri, MFA ’27. The crew joined her at the symposium in New York.
Goetz said she appreciates Emerson College’s support of her research and the project. She said it allows her to walk the walk of Emerson’s core values of creativity, innovation, equity, expression, and collaboration.
“There are many different journeys these women have taken, as well as the things they do in addition to musical theater. One is a pop song writer who’s been on platinum albums,” said Goetz.
“[Emerson students can see there are] so many different ways of being an artist and a leader. We’re always telling our students, ‘It’s not about how high you can kick your leg or how high you can sing. It’s about what value you can bring to projects and the stories you want to tell.’”
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