Constance Pether:- First woman to be appointed to a wind section in an ABC Orchestra.

Constance Pether was born in South Perth, Western Australia, on January 10th, 1901, into a musical family. Her father, Henry John Pether, was Government Lithographer and a string player. Her mother had studied piano and violin at the Royal College of Music in London. The Pethers had been well-known musicians at Cowley in Oxford, England before emigrating to Australia.

Constance was the third eldest of eight daughters. She showed early musical promise and was taught to play the piano by her Mother. At the age of nine she began to play the flute, an instrument that she chose to learn. At the age of eleven she was playing principal flute with the Metropolitan Orchestral Society, Perth, conducted by Mr A.J. Leckie. She also played solos and in theatres. As there was no Conservatorium in Perth at this time Constance came to Adelaide to study with Stanley Baines at the Elder Conservatorium. Constance worked while studying: in the late 1920s her employer was W. Thomas and Co. of Peel Street, Adelaide. In mid 1926 Stanley Baines moved to Melbourne and Constance Pether succeeded him as the Conservatorium’s flute teacher. Constance Pether continued to teach at the Elder Conservatorium until 1945, when she retired because of the other professional demands on her time.

At the instigation of the Elder Professor of Music, Dr E. Harold Davies, the South Australian Orchestra was formed in 1920, and conducted by W.H. Foote, who was also appointed teacher of Woodwinds at the Elder Conservatorium. Constance Pether was appointed principal flute in this orchestra at the age of 21. A concert review from 1928 says about her performance in Rossini’s William Tell Overture, ‘so well did the flautist (Miss C. Pether) acquit herself that at the request of the conductor … she stood forward … to share the applause’. She continued to play in this orchestra until 1936 when the Australian Broadcasting Commission established the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, which absorbed the players of the South Australian Orchestra. Constance Pether was the first woman to be appointed to the wind section of an A.B.C. orchestra. Constance Pether also played Piccolo and Cor Anglais in the orchestra. She was the only full-time flautist; other players were called in as needed. Constance Pether was sent interstate to deputise in the A.B.C. orchestras in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney when players there were indisposed. She retired as principal flute in 1950, but continued to play casually until the mid 1950s.

Two of Constance Pether’s former students describe her playing as ‘clear and sweet, she had a dainty way of playing’ and ‘brilliant technical player.’ In 1948 The Advertiser described her performance of a Mozart Flute Quartet as ‘most gracefully and flowingly played’

Constance Pether was married to Fred Linnet, a school teacher. They had no children. He died suddenly in the late 1950s, and Constance was greatly affected by this. She developed Alzheimer’s Disease and was taken back to Perth where she died on February 3rd, 1965.