A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

In a time when women were told they couldn't become conductors, Antonia Brico didn’t listen to discouraging words. Those words went in one ear and out the other.

The second title in Penny Candy’s Amazing Women Series of nonfiction picture books, In One Ear and Out the Other: Antonia Brico & Her Amazingly Musical Life tells the story of one woman’s fight to gain recognition as a conductor in an era when men dominated classical music. The first woman to guest-conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Antonia Brico never secured a permanent conducting job with a major symphony—but her contributions paved the way for the many women conductors to follow. A true visionary in the long fight for equal opportunities for women.

Diane Worthey is a violinist in the Washington-Idaho Symphony and teaches violin and viola to all ages of students at the University of Idaho Preparatory Division. As a teenager growing up in Denver, Colorado, she performed in the Brico Symphony (now The Denver Philharmonic) under Maestra Brico. In One Ear and Out the Other is Diane’s first children’s book. She lives a creative life with her husband and loyal corgi, Sir Galahad, in Pullman, Washington.

Morgana Wallace was born into an artistic family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and later studied at the Victoria College of Art, before becoming a full time artist. As a child, she was captivated by book illustrations and still believes they are as important as the words. Her medium is mainly paper collage, but she incorporates watercolor, ink, and pen to create her imaginary world of characters. She has had several successful shows at Victoria’s Madrona Gallery, as well as completing four commissions for the British children’s magazine, Aquila. In One Ear and Out the Other: The Amazingly Musical Life of Antonia Brico is her second picture book with Penny Candy Books, after 2019's Hedy and Her Amazing Invention. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.