“Constance Janet ‘Connie’ Weldon, 88, the first woman tubist to earn a position in a major symphony orchestra, died Friday, Aug. 7, 2020,” reads an unsigned obituary in Friday’s (8/14) Port City Daily (Wilmington, N.C.). “She died of natural causes, according to her longtime companion Linda Broadwell…. In 1954, she attended the Tanglewood Music Festival performing under direction of Leonard Bernstein. She also played with the Boston Pops Touring Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. In 1956 and 1957, she was a member of the North Carolina Symphony. Connie was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Amsterdam [and was] appointed principal tubist with the Netherlands Ballet Orkest and acting principal tubist of the Concertgebouw. Following her stint in Europe, Connie joined the Kansas City Philharmonic for two seasons…. Connie then [accepted] a position in the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra … and taught tuba at the University of Miami, where she gained wide recognition as a tuba pedagogue…. Weldon was born and raised … in Winter Haven, Florida…. [At] the University of Miami [she] earned the degrees of Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance and Master’s Degree in Education…. She was appointed the professor of tuba and the first assistant dean for undergraduate studies at what is now known as the University of Miami Frost School of Music, a position she held from 1972 to her retirement in 1991.”
Change font size
