EXCLUSIVE: Musician Orin O’Brien doesn’t relish attention. But it’s difficult to avoid when you’re one of the world’s greatest double bassists, and a pioneering figure in classical music.
It’s even more challenging to escape notice when you’re the focus of an Oscar-nominated documentary, as has come about with The Only Girl in the Orchestra, the Netflix short directed by Molly O’Brien – Orin’s niece.
Netflix is releasing a new trailer for the film ahead of the start of final Oscar voting next week. Watch it above.
In 1966, O’Brien became the first female musician to join the New York Philharmonic full-time, under music director Leonard Bernstein, the legendary conductor and composer. Breaking that gender barrier made her the object of considerable media fanfare at the time, which she neither courted then nor invited in the ensuing decades.
L-R Producer Lisa Remington, consulting editor Kate Amend, director-producer Molly O’Brien
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for International Documentary Association
“This film has been a long time coming. It’s a film I’ve wanted to make for over 10 years,” Molly O’Brien told Deadline on Oscar nomination morning January 23rd. “It’s a film that comes from my love of Orin O’Brien, ‘the only girl in the orchestra,’ and was made by a group of women in the documentary industry who I equally love and admire. And it just feels like not only the [Academy’s] documentary branch, but the folks who are watching the film on Netflix get it. They’re feeling inspired and hopeful when they watch the film, which is everything that Lisa Remington, the producer of the film, and I wanted people to feel.”
O’Brien spent 55 years with the New York Philharmonic, becoming renowned not only for her brilliant musicianship but as a teacher as well — at Julliard and other prestigious institutions. Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris, himself a cellist, joined the film as an executive producer. Oscar nominee Laura Karpman (American Fiction) composed the score.
“Classical music stands on the shoulders of Orin, whose sound and power defined not only the New York Philharmonic but generations of bass players and musicians,” Karpman said. “I too have been the only girl on many, many stages. It takes a giant like Orin to break glass ceilings and usher in beautiful, harmonious change. It was a tremendous honor to write and produce this score under her wing.”
O’Brien was born the daughter of Hollywood stars, actors George O’Brien and Marguerite Churchill. Their names appeared on marquees going back to the silent era, yet Orin preferred to pursue her artistic passions away from the klieg lights.
Orin O’Brien with conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein
Courtesy of Netflix
“She was thrust into the spotlight [by Leonard Bernstein], and she is being thrust into the spotlight again today with this [Oscar] nomination, and I think for all the right reasons,” Molly O’Brien told us. “She picked up the double bass because it’s an ensemble instrument. She didn’t choose the piano or the violin. She didn’t want to be a soloist or a superstar. She enjoys playing in an ensemble, and the film is a celebration of ensemble, and it’s an ensemble that made the film as well.”
The filmmaker added, “Music is a balm for the soul, and the double bass is its beating heart… We need to perform as an ensemble in so many arenas right now, especially.”
The Only Girl in the Orchestra is directed and produced by Molly O’Brien and produced by Lisa Remington. The co-producer is Katy Beal and the archival producer is Lauren Wimbush. Cinematography is by Martina Radwan; the score is composed by Laura Karpman.
Monique Zavistovski edited the film; Kate Amend serves as consulting editor.
Watch the trailer for The Only Girl in the Orchestra above.