Anne Manson

Anne H. Manson ’83 credits a scheduling conflict for her most historic accomplishment. In 1994, when famed conductor Claudio Abbado was unable to lead the orchestra in its last performance of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Manson stepped in, making history as the first woman to conduct the renowned orchestra.

When Manson first arrived at Harvard in 1979, she did not consider a future in music to be a “realistic possibility.” She went the premed route instead, taking many courses in chemistry and biology even as she ultimately chose a concentration in music.

“She was very studious and serious about her work,” said Tiina B. Smith ’83, Manson’s high school friend and freshman year roommate. “She didn’t want to rely on music as a career.”

Manson said that she “would have been a happy doctor,” but that she is glad to be doing her current work. “Luckily things did work out,” she added.

A pioneer in her profession, Manson’s career in conducting has taken her through territory previously untraveled by her female counterparts. She cites her experience conducting the Vienna Philharmonic—an all male orchestra that did not even allow women to become full members at the time—as a turning point in her career.

Since then, Manson conducted some of the finest orchestras in the world, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York City Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Stockholm’s Royal Opera, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, among many others. In 1999, she became the music director of the Kansas City Symphony—one of only three women to have held such a position in a leading American symphony.

Manson is optimistic that the difficulties women conductors faced when she was first starting out have lessened, especially in the United States, where, she said, orchestras are more willing to hire women.

Manson’s next projects include a tour in Canada with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and more performances in Europe, but she plans to make a stop in her hometown of Cambridge this June for Radcliffe Day, when she is being honored as an outstanding alumna by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies.

—Staff writer Bora Fezga can be reached at bfezga@fas.harvard.edu.