American Conductor

Liza Redfield was an American conductor, pianist, and composer, best known for making history in 1960 as the first woman to serve as the full-time conductor of a Broadway pit orchestra. She achieved this milestone when she was appointed music director for The Music Man during its original Broadway run.

A piano prodigy, Redfield was performing recitals by the age of eight. She graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls and went on to earn a music degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Initially aspiring to a career as a classical pianist, she discovered after graduating at 19 that she did not enjoy the rigorous demands of constant practice and performing. Instead, she chose a new path, moving to New York after marrying and shifting her focus to popular jazz music.

Redfield’s first foray into conducting came during recording sessions for The Amazing Adele, an obscure 1950s musical featuring Tammy Grimes that never made it to Broadway. Later, she studied conducting under Vladimir Brailowsky, who also encouraged her to continue honing her piano skills. She gained further experience conducting summer theater productions in Detroit, including Damn Yankees, The Mikado, and South Pacific.

Her regional theater work eventually led to conducting roles in two off-Broadway musicals in 1960, Miss Emily Adams and Ernest in Love. Redfield’s breakthrough came later that year when she was appointed orchestra director for The Music Man. Reflecting on this experience, she noted that women in the audience often expressed their pride and excitement in seeing a woman conductor. Her career also had moments of public attention, including an appearance on the game show What’s My Line? in 1960, where the panel failed to guess her occupation. In a humorous twist, Dorothy Kilgallen asked if Redfield was one of the strippers in Gypsy.

Following her tenure with The Music Man, Redfield conducted several other Broadway productions, including Sophie, Good News, and Charlie and Algernon, though these shows were short-lived. Through the 1980s, she continued working with touring Broadway productions and pre-Broadway tryouts.

In addition to her work as a conductor, Redfield was also a composer. Among her notable achievements, she composed music for the reopening of Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 1968.

Redfield’s contributions to music and her groundbreaking achievements in a male-dominated field remain a significant part of her legacy.