An article in the Spring, 2022 edition of OVERTONES from the Curtis Institute of Music caught the attention of the Marcel Tabuteau First-Hand Editorial Board. In it, Curtis archivist Kristina Wilson tells the story of a young woman who auditioned for Marcel Tabuteau in the 1930s for acceptance at the Curtis Institute. 

In the spring of 1939, Thelma Neft (Geller) auditioned for Tabuteau and was told she was among the top three who auditioned and that he was accepting her at Curtis. However, according to Curtis records, this decision was rather quickly reversed by Tabuteau, whereupon Thelma Neft wrote to Mary Louis Curtis Bok, the founder of the Curtis Institute, to plead her case for acceptance to the school. A review of the students in the Curtis alumni book shows several women flutists during those years, but Mrs. Bok wrote to Thelma that “Our belief that women find it increasingly difficult to hold orchestral positions is based on experience.” Incidentally, at the time, the oboe was generally considered to be just too physically demanding for women! And conductors were hiring very few women in orchestras. Thelma Neft was told she was not accepted because she was a girl. 

Mrs. Bok then referred the matter to incoming director Randall Thompson for a final decision, who wrote to Curtis registrar Miss Hoopes that he was in favor of admitting Miss Neft. He also wrote personally to Thelma Neft that  “… one of the applicants in Oboe will be unable to come to the Institute next year. That leaves a vacancy which makes it possible for me to accept you…” 

Thelma Neft received a letter of acceptance dated July 31st from the Secretary of Admissions. Interestingly, there would be several women oboe students at Curtis in the 1940s; many men were away in the army during the war. 

From a June 2002 telephone interview with Thelma Neft, Laila Storch, in her wonderful biography of Marcel Tabuteau states: “Thelma Neft was at Curtis during the school years of 1939-40 and 1940-41. In the middle of her third year she left to study medicine.”

Many thanks to Kristina Wilson for providing the correspondence from the Curtis archives between Thelma Neft, Mrs. Bok and Randall Thompson. Along with the OVERTONES article, we have posted the material here.