Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument

by Maggie Cotton, Christopher Morley (Foreword)

Now retired and no longer silenced by a contract, Maggie Cotton presents an honest and long-overdue player's perspective of life inside a professional symphony orchestra, describing how she became the first female percussionist in what was initially a staunchly male-dominated world. Now retired after forty years with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Maggie gives a fascinating and humorous insight into every aspect of her working life, including tours, conductors, composers, soloists, colleagues, recording contracts and educational work, as well as her own family life and the social conditions of wartime England and post-war Eastern Europe. Bolstered by her gritty Yorkshire roots, and naively undeterred by overwhelming odds, Maggie overcame many hurdles in pursuit of her ambition to play percussion in a professional symphony orchestra, in so doing transforming the face of women in that field from one of novelty circus performer to respected professional and colleague.

370 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1969

Reviews

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A riveting book for any musician to enjoy with a genuine behind the scenes account of the CBSO under Simon Rattle and others. Plenty of personal details to keep it interesting too. The inspirational Maggie is obviously extremely talented and strong minded but caring in very many areas yet she manages to write without seeming pretentious or arrogant. My only criticism is that the book is a few chapters too long. It seemed to come to a natural end at one point then felt as if she couldn't bear to leave some things out. In my opinion the editor should have seen this and helped tighten it up a bit. Nevertheless, a great read.