Florence Wightman

Florence Wightman was an exceptionally prominent harpist of the 20th century. She began her orchestral career in Philadelphia theaters, and then serving as Principal Harp for the Cleveland Orchestra, making her the first woman to hold a principal position in the USA. After one season, she left to serve as Principal Harp for the Roxy Theater Orchestra in New York City. Later, while serving as Principal Harpist at the Metropolitan Opera, she concurrently performed for several years weekly solo recital programs on several national radio networks. After her early retirement from the Metropolitan Opera, she performed for the Lyric Opera of Chicago for many years, and for opera companies in South America and elsewhere. She has left recorded performances of Wonder Tidings, a Christmas work by the composer John LaMontaine for solo harp, choir and narrator. There are also historic recordings of her playing in the library of the American Harp Society. She participated in the Memorial Concert for Carlos Salzedo, produced by Gerald Goodman, which took place in New York's Town Hall in 1962, the recording of which was released in limited distribution. On it she performs Salzedo's brilliant masterpiece, Sonata for Harp and Piano.

She began music study on the piano, then became a harp student of the master teacher, Carlos Salzedo,^[1] and served as his assistant instructor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, before embarking on her orchestral and solo career. Among her protégées was the noted harpist, Edna Phillips (Rosenbaum).

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