Frédérique Petrides papers, Additions

1918-1983

Frédérique Petrides née Mayer (1903-1983) was a violinist, conductor, teacher, publisher, and pioneering advocate for women in music. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, she studied violin from a young age. In 1923, Petrides immigrated to the United States, where she worked as a teacher and freelance violinist in New York City. She married Peter Pétrides, a journalist, in 1931.

Petrides studied conducting with John Lawrence Erb and later attended New York Philharmonic rehearsals conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos from 1950 to 1956. In 1933, she founded the Orchestrette Classique (later known as Orchestrette of New York), an ensemble for women instrumentalists. From 1934 to 1943, it performed in Aeolian Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall. Petrides commissioned new music for the group from Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, David Diamond, Gian Carlo Menotti and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Petrides also promoted the activities of professional women musicians with her publication, Women in Music (begun as the orchestra’s newsletter).

Petrides conducted summer concerts in Washington Square Park and Carl Schurz Park, and conducted the Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra in Tarrytown, New York; the Student Symphony Society of New York; and the West Side Community Concerts.

Frédérique Petrides died in New York City on January 12, 1983 at the age of 79.