Chamber Music Magazine wrote in a 1992 article that "Every woman flute player in every major American orchestra, every little girl who plays the flute in a school band, has Frances Blaisdell to thank. She was the first." 

  I was deeply honored to be the first high school student awarded the Frances Blaisdell Scholarship by the National Flute Association. 

Frances Blaisdell has worked at Stanford University as a flute instructor and was one of the first women to break into the male-dominated world of orchestral performance. She began studying the piccolo and flute at age 5 with her father. Later, her father wrote to Ernest Wagner, then with the New York Philharmonic, asking him to teach "my Jim" flute lessons. He initially refused upon finding out she was actually a female but was later persuaded to give her lessons.

In 1928, Blaisdell wrote to the Juilliard School of Music requesting an audition. The secretary at the Institute had recorded her name as "Francis" rather than Frances, and thus the Institute was expecting a male flutist to audition. At the time, the Institute did not accept female wind instrument players because the institution would "'lose its investment.'" Frances’s admission helped open the door for future generations of female wind players.  She became the first woman to perform as a wind soloist with the New York Philharmonic, defying those who once told her that a woman could never build a career on the flute.

https://stanfordmag.org/contents/instrumental-figure 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Blaisdell

 Following her retirement from performing, Blaisdell taught at Stanford University until her death in 2009 at age 97. In 1994, Blaisdell received the NFA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her trailblazing status as a flutist. In 2005, she was also awarded a Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award to honor her exceptional contributions as a flute educator at Stanford.  

https://www.nfaonline.org/about/about-the-nfa/nfa-news-updates/2025/07/02/frances-blaisdell-convention-scholarship-awarded-to-alice-hu-and-nathan-anderson

One of the most memorable moments in my musical journey came when I received the Frances Blaisdell Scholarship by the National Flute Association. I learned from her closest friend, Ms. Nancy Toff, that Blaisdell was the first female wind player accepted to Juilliard—only because the school mistook her for a boy. Her story of breaking barriers moved me. Her courage and determination encourage me to use music as a force for empowerment. Through the Do Re Mi project and local Youth Orchestra, I helped those under-resourced students, and I brought my music peers volunteer to the local senior center. Like Blaisdell, I believe music should be accessible to all people. My goal is to keep learning music to make a meaningful difference in the lives of underserved and vulnerable populations.