Friday (5/25) on the KSL news radio website (Salt Lake City, Utah), Peter Rosen reports, “In 1942, Frances Darger, then 17, got a part-time job playing with a new music group. Years later, it’s really amounted to something. That’s because the music group was the Utah Symphony, and after 69 years of service Darger is the longest-tenured member of the orchestra. … Darger is retiring this year and recently sat down with KSL News to discuss her career. She said she was born into music. Her mother was a singer who made sure her five daughters sang and played instruments. … During her first year of college, Darger won her seat with the fledgling Utah Symphony. … The symphony was then a part-time community orchestra with an 18-week season. … Darger’s day job was on the society desk of the now-defunct Salt Lake Telegram. She says it might have been on assignment for the newspaper that she first saw the man who would change the orchestra’s fortunes. In 1947 Darger covered the announcement of a new music director, Maurice Abravanel. … Abravanel transformed the orchestra into a world-renowned ensemble. He won recording contracts, brought in prestigious guest artists, and lobbied for what would eventually become Abravanel Hall.”
Posted May 29, 2012
