Long-time Germantown resident and violinist Booker Rowe, who in 1968 became the first Black musician to play with the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, died July 31 of complications from pneumonia and sepsis at Jefferson Abington Hospital. He was 85.
After his death, the Philadelphia Orchestra issued the following statement: “It is with great sadness that the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts has learned of the passing of former violinist Booker Rowe. In 1968, Booker made history as the first Black musician to play in the ensemble. After performing with the Orchestra as a substitute musician, Eugene Ormandy hired him for a full-time position in 1970, and he became a full-time member of the ensemble in 1971. For almost 50 years, until his retirement in 2020, Booker was a well-loved member of the second violin section.”
Patsy Baxter Rowe, Booker’s widow, is the founder and executive director of Rowe Academy, a music school in Mt. Airy. Also an associate minister at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in East Mt. Airy, she asked that we reprint some of the following article she wrote for the Local in 2020 when her husband retired from the Orchestra at the age of 79:
In November 1968, Booker Rowe, a violinist, was living in New York City. He had just completed his Master of Music degree from Yale University a few months prior and had come to New York to freelance when he received a call from Philadelphia Orchestra personnel manager Mason Jones, saying that Eugene Ormandy, the music director, wanted him to come back to Philadelphia to play for the remainder of the 1968–69 season as a substitute for a violinist who had died.
He grew up around music in his home (his mother played piano, and his father loved to sing); in his church; in the thriving African American classical music community, where he heard and began to play classical music; and, most importantly, in the Philadelphia public school system, which, in the 1950s and ’60s, had an excellent, nationally recognized music-education program.
Booker chose to pursue classical music, and once he began to excel on the violin, he became known throughout the city and the East Coast as a talented young African American violinist. Despite the effects of occasional racism, he thrived with the help of his parents, many well-trained dedicated teachers and the rich musical climate of Philadelphia.
Booker did his undergraduate work at Temple University and then played in the Nashville Symphony Orchestra for two years. During this time, he also played in the Nashville Symphony String Quartet, making it the first integrated professional string quartet in the South.
After two years in Nashville, he decided to return to school to study with Broadus Erle at Yale University and get his Master of Music degree. Upon Booker’s return to Philadelphia, he was the first African American musician to play with the world-renowned ensemble.
But despite all of the well wishes, there were hurdles. Being the first African American was met with mixed feelings. Many Orchestra musicians welcomed and supported him but he also experienced isolation and disrespect as well.
One day, he encountered the words “N..... Go Home” written on the Academy of Music backstage stairway he was known to use. He was determined not to let it embitter or deter him. When he returned the next day, someone had removed the words. No one spoke of the incident, but he truly appreciated the respect and concern the removal represented.
The one situation that did deter him, however, was a technical change he had made while at Yale. The Philadelphia Orchestra used a “spiccato” bowing technique that Ormandy insisted his violinists use. Booker proceeded to work on it. It was during this time that Booker and I began to date. I was a voice student at the Philadelphia Musical Academy, and we had met two years prior to that at an orchestra concert at the Robin Hood Dell.
While working on the spiccato technique, Booker took a job playing with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., for the 1969–70 season. In 1970, Ormandy hired him back for a full-time position but on a conditional basis while he made sure the spiccato technique was solid. Booker was able to give Ormandy the bowing technique he wanted while also being able to use the other method when he felt it served the music best. Ormandy was pleased, and Booker received his permanent contract for the 1971–72 season.
Booker and I have been married for over 50 years now, and we have two children and two grandchildren.
A celebration of Booker Rowe’s life will be held at a later date. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
