“Jane Little, who debuted as a bassist in Atlanta on February 4, 1945, at age 16 and who never stopped playing, died after a performance of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on Sunday,” write Geoff Edgers and Fred Barbash in Monday’s (5/16) Washington Post. “She was said to the longest-tenured orchestra musician in the world. She was 87. … The symphony said … ‘The Atlanta Symphony orchestra was truly blessed to have Jane as a part of our family for the past 71 years and we all miss her passion, vitality, spirit and incredible talent.’ … The symphony was performing a pops concert called ‘Broadway’s Golden Age,’ according to its schedule. A spokeswoman said the players were about 30 seconds from the last measure of ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ from Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, the encore to the concert, when Little collapsed and was carried backstage by her fellow bassists. She never regained consciousness. … The symphony did not provide a cause of death. Little had not been feeling well. She had been undergoing chemotherapy for multiple myeloma. … Little, according to the ASO, played under all four of the orchestra’s music directors, as well as guest conductors.” Jane Little was married to Warren Little, the Atlanta Symphony’s principal flute for many years, until his death in 2002. She was among the female orchestral musicians profiled in the Spring issue of Symphony magazine.
Posted May 16, 2016
