In collaboration with the New York Philharmonic Archives, Nives Widauer created this work to honor the remarkable life of Steffy Goldner, the first woman member of the famous U.S. symphony orchestra. Goldner, born in 1896 and raised in Vienna, was already successful as a harpist in the Danube metropolis. In 1921, she set off for New York where, just one year later, she was offered a permanent position in the New York Philharmonic. She remained as the only woman with the Orchestra for 10 years, led during this time by Arturo Toscanini and Willem Mengelberg. In 1930, Goldner took part in the Philharmonic’s first international tour, performing in the European capitals including Vienna, for which a specially designed travel case was made for her harp. Despite her success, she ended her career to support that of her husband, the conductor Eugene Ormandy. After Goldner’s departure, it would be another 34 years before the New York Philharmonic once again hired a woman member.
Nives Widauer’s installation projects images and film clips from Goldner’s life onto the historic harp case. It explores the extraordinary life story of a young Jewish woman from Vienna in New York, which unfortunately ended with a fate all too typical for women. The installation uses this story as an opportunity to draw attention to the inequalities women face in the art world, both then and now.
Nives Widauer, born in Basel, now lives in Vienna and has been working since the 1980s in the fields of video art, installation art, photography, set design, and sculpture. In her work, she highlights the parallels between historical and contemporary sociopolitical developments. As early as 2017, Widauer worked with the Vienna Philharmonic’s instrument cases and conceived the exhibition “Special Cases” to mark the orchestra’s 175th anniversary. The project was also shown in New York, but one case was not transported in time and the New York Philharmonic Archives provided a replacement: it was Steffy Goldner’s harp case that led Nives Widauer to this project.
The installation opens in conjunction with the New York Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel’s concerts at the Musikverein on 21 and 22 October 2026. It is the New York Philharmonic’s first tour to Vienna since 2017, and the first led by Gustavo Dudamel.
