A life in music -- and a perfect end to a long career

This is not a story your could sell as fiction;   it's just too implausible a set of coincidence and irony.  Except that it just made the national news and went viral on the internet.   And I know it's true, because I knew the people.  I once lived on the same street;  and, for 15 years, I was in the chorus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, where Warren Little played first flute until he retired in 1992 and where Jane Little never retired as Assistant Principle of the bass section.

So what was the story that made it national news?    Jane began at age 16 playing string bass in the Atlanta Youth Orchestra, which then evolved into the nationally acclaimed Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO).  What made it a story is the fact that she continued as an ASO bass player until, at age 87, she collapsed during a concert last weekend and died after being rushed to the hospital.  Essentially Jane died on stage, literally ending her long career in music while playing up to the last minute of the last piece on a pop concert of music from "The Golden Age of Broadway."   This final piece that provided background for her demise was the uniquely appropriate "There's No Business Like Show Business."

Honestly, you can't make this up.   But there's more.  Jane Little held the record for the longest tenure -- 71 years -- with a major symphony orchestra.    She met her husband, Warren Little, as a fellow orchestra member.   And there were ironies:  At 4 feet 11 inches tall, her married name "Little" was fitting.   But the contrast between this petite woman, who played the largest instrument in the orchestra, and the rather large hulking figure of her husband who played the smallest instrument, led to running jokes -- which she seemed to enjoy, even saying that one reason she married Warren was, since his instrument was small, he could also carry hers for her.   And I remember seeing them leaving rehearsals, with him carrying his flute and her bass.

Thanks, Jane, for contributing to my many years of musical listening pleasure at the ASO.  It's great that you were doing what you loved, among friends, at the end.  RIP.

Ralph