Review: “The Only Girl in the Orchestra”
Orin O’Brien never wanted to be the center of attention. The daughter of Western star George O’Brien and actress Marguerite Churchill, Orin preferred to stay out of the limelight, having seen the disappointment waning fame can bring. She picked up the double bass in high school, drawn to the instrument for its predominantly supportive role within the orchestra. In devoting herself wholeheartedly to mastering the double bass, she ended up finding solace from her turbulent upbringing.
Her hard work paid off. In 1966, Orin became the first full-time female musician at the New York Philharmonic—the only woman of over 100 players. Calling Orin “a source of radiance in the orchestra,” music director Leonard Bernstein marveled at her commitment to the music, utmost concentration, and deep knowledge of the repertoire. Her appointment understandably caused a big splash in the media, which she found thoroughly embarrassing. She was just one member of a section, not a principal, she insisted, and she did not want her new colleagues to resent her.
Even today, now 87 and recently retired from the New York Philharmonic after a 55-year career, Orin shies away from attention and plaudits. Nonetheless, her niece, director Molly O’Brien, eventually convinced her to be the subject of her 2023 documentary The Only Girl in the Orchestra. Released globally on December 4, 2024, by Netflix, the film has since been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra is an intimate portrait of a reluctant protagonist. Even though Orin has retired, the film shows her as engaged as ever in her teaching. Her vitality and enthusiasm belie her 87 years. Fortunately for us, Molly O’Brien had the foresight to make this film while her aunt is still alive and thriving instead of after she has passed. In capturing her aunt immersed in her career but at a critical juncture that begs reflection, Molly shows what makes Orin truly special. Whereas other documentaries might rely heavily on interviews with friends, family, and colleagues about the film’s subject, we get to know Orin through her own words in interactions with her students and intimate kitchen table conversations with her niece.
Because she refuses to be celebrated, the film does not center on the specifics of Orin’s career as much as her conception of herself as an artist. It would have been nice to have more insight into Orin’s experiences as the first woman in the New York Philharmonic, as the film’s title would suggest. The most revealing part of the film in this regard is when Orin and a former student read through newspaper clippings about her appointment. Calling her “as curvy as the double bass he plays,” the press coverage is predictably sexist and often factually incorrect. For instance, one article falsely claimed that her fellow orchestra members offered to carry her bags and instrument for her while on tour. However, reports that she had to change in a washroom before her first concert because there was not yet a women’s dressing room were true, and quotes from certain male musicians about how women are not fit to be orchestral players are duly shocking.
But rehashing this history is not the true aim of the film or what Orin wishes. Her treatment as a woman also did not seem to be top of mind for Orin at the time, as she seemed to be solely focused on the task in front of her. Instead, the film reveals Orin’s unique philosophy that life can be more fulfilling and enjoyable as second fiddle. “I think it’s better to love something so much you do it for its own sake and also for the wonderful people that you’re playing with,” she says. “You’re creating something together, which is better than something alone.”
Given the subject matter, the documentary’s soundtrack is obviously of critical importance. In addition to live clips of Orin and her students playing, the soundtrack incorporates famous excerpts from the orchestral canon where the double bass has a prominent part, such as the second movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and the opening of Mahler’s Second Symphony, as well as arrangements of works for double bass. The result is a sonic love letter to the instrument to which Orin O’Brien has devoted her life.
