BOTTOM ROW - Bust of Leta Snow

Bust of Leta Snow, 1930s

Donor: Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

Leta G. Snow (1880-1980) founded the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra in 1921. This bust was created by orchestra member Hans Baldauf in the 1930s. 

A Woman of Note

Leta Snow played a monumental role in the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO). She arrived in Kalamazoo with her family in 1918 and immediately became an active member of the Kalamazoo Musical Society. In 1921, she and other leading local musicians set the groundwork for the KSO.

With a budget of just $600 and just 25 musicians, the first KSO concert was held December 18, 1921, in the auditorium of the Masonic Temple. Within seven years, the budget had grown to more than $5,000 and the number of musicians to 75. Snow was the orchestra manager as well as executive secretary of the Kalamazoo Symphony Society. Her active role in the growth of the orchestra included recruiting musicians nationally and setting them up with housing and work.

Hans Bauldauf, creator of the sculpture displayed, was a cellist recruited by Snow, who found him working in the art department at the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company. Snow retired from her managerial post in 1949 but continued her involvement in the KSO. She continued teaching piano until age 93. Leta G. Snow passed away in 1980 at the age of 100. In 2008, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.