Talk:Jane Little (musician)

Notability?

Notability? Membership in a symphony orchestra, even one of the most renowned, is not notability in itself. There may be more members of Atlanta professional sports teams than there are members of the Atlanta Symphony, but until one starts seeing playing cards that read "Oboist, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra" as there are for utility infielders of the Atlanta Braves baseball team or members of a specialty team of the Atlanta Falcons' football team, notability for these superb musicians as such does not exist. Symphony and opera musicians generally do not meet the criteria of notability unless they get renown as soloists, conductors, or teachers of noteworthy musicians even if they are members of the best-recognized orchestras.

Without the extreme durability of her career (becoming a member of the symphony at age 16 and being a participant in the Atlanta Symphony until 87) she lacks notability. This story might be more appropriate for the Guinness Book of World Records than for Wikipedia, but this looks like a very stable record. Professional symphony orchestra are now unlikely to have a 16-year-old player of any instrument as a member; the standards are much more rigorous, typically requiring matriculation through a conservatory which is not completed until one is in one's twenties. To match this today someone would have to be playing in an orchestra into one's nineties, which is unlikely barring major changes in gerontological reality.

First, nobody now begins a career as a symphony member at age 16 in a first-rate orchestra. The Atlanta Symphony may not have been a very professional orchestra when she began her career, but it is now. Although symphony musicians can have careers that last until the musician can no longer play the instrument, which is much longer than for a professional athlete.

Second, membership in a first-rate symphony orchestra is on the brink of notability, which is much more than one can say about a real-estate salesperson who might make far more money off the job. This position has some distinct formality that would not exist in most private-sector or public-sector positions.Pbrower2a (talk) 14:24, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Please see WP:MUSICBIO which reads in part "Has been the subject of multiple, non-trivial, published works appearing in sources that are reliable, not self-published, and are independent of the musician or ensemble itself." I believe this is the case here. There are more in existence that I am slowly adding. Existance of a source is sufficient even if has not yet been added. She started at 16 as a charter member of Atlanta Youth. The orchestra itself matured into Altanta Symphony three years later. For this reason her tenure was considered continuous from her 1945 debut. ^{Talk to} SageGreenRider 18:20, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

• http://i.cbc.ca/1.3584734.1463428504!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/jane-little-article.jpg
• http://www.ajc.com/news/entertainment/music/meet-the-87-year-old-bassist-who-just-made-symphon/nqLz3/
• http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/05/17/after-71-years-orchestra-she-dies-onstage/84484930/
• http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.3584412/a-friend-s-tribute-to-bassist-jane-little-who-died-during-orchestra-performance-1.3584415
• http://internationalmusician.org/jane-little/ also on Highbeam at https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-3769638121.html Jane Little: Traces the Steps of Her 70-Year Career Aug 1, 2015
  • Photo from The Atlanta Constitution, October 19, 1959. Original Caption: 'Husband carries her big bass violin. Mr. and Mrs. Warren Little play with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.'
• Counterpart—Headlining Atlanta Women, August 1989. Jane Little Lives her life in complete harmony (literally) by Eva Matacia

hth ^{Talk to} SageGreenRider 18:20, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

I took it upon myself to remove the "Notability" template from the article. As you've noted, she clearly meets the requirements for notability. And I would also point out that she was already receiving attention in the news media before the many obits which appeared after she died. Cgingold (talk) 18:34, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

PS - I think the article is a shoo-in for Wikipedia:Did you know. You've made a good start; we have 5 days left to qualify. Cgingold (talk) 18:43, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks! I tried DYK once but found the process frustrating. Feel free to go ahead with it if you like. I'll add some more to the article over the next few days. ^{Talk to} SageGreenRider 19:16, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Husband died when?

According to the Career section, her husband died in 1994 and in 2002. I checked the last three revisions and the dates weren't one of them. Is this a typo or vandalism? Thomas R. Fasulo (talk) 01:59, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

• This source says "retired in 1992 and died in 2002". If you read the 41 years mentioned here as the length of his tenure as principal flutist rather than the length of the marriage, it adds up neatly.

tl;dr → the 1994 date is original research. Bo Lindbergh (talk) 03:10, 9 July 2016 (UTC)