She played the Debussy Deux Danses: Sacree et Profane and, as an encore, Carlos Salzedo's virtuoso piece Whirlwind.
Changes occur from a mood of dreamlike meditation to the sprightly devilish antics of a frightened faun, with a suddenness that is breathtaking.
The "Danse Sacree" was beautiful in its delicate solemnity, typifying the ancient Greek form of dance in procession through a lofty and majestic cathedral, and suggesting the refrain of chimes in the distance.
Technically a difficult composition, it was played by the harpist with a poise and assurance that be-tokened an unusual mastery of the dynamics of her instrument.
The grace and beauty of her performance was enhanced by the use of lovely gestures, an innovation in harp playing which added a pleasing symmetry to the entire effect.
)[2] As a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Miss Phillips was thrown into a grueling schedule of performing and recording, everything from Bach to Schoenberg, many in Stokowski's orchestrations, which he would revise on the spot in rehearsals, as well as the latest contemporary scores.
Miss Phillips was the first woman in the orchestra, and as a newspaper headline noted, she "added a feminine touch to the right hand front of the ensemble."
The Philadelphia Ledger recorded on March 16, that she "played superbly Widor's beautiful Chorale and Variations for harp and orchestra.
She showed beautiful tone quality, ample volume and a fluent technique, which the work demands, as it nearly exhausts the possibilities of the harp.
After 1946, she often returned to the orchestra to substitute and help out, and is quite possibly the harpist on the soundtrack of the renowned film Louisiana Story, with its well-known musical score by Virgil Thomson.
When Carlos Salzedo died in 1961, she was offered his position at Curtis, but turned it down in favor of Marilyn Costello, her successor in the Philadelphia Orchestra.
[4] The 2004 National Conference of the American Harp Society, held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was dedicated in large part to the legacy and memory of Edna Phillips.
From her commissioned works, the following were performed: The Concerto by Alberto Ginastera (Yolanda Kondonassis), Eclogue "La Nouvelle Heloise" by Alexei Haieff (Sophie Bruno), Suite "From Childhood" by Harl McDonald (Alice Giles), Concertino Antico by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (Juliana Beckel), Sea Chanty by Paul White (Rong Tan), and Suite for Harp and Chamber Orchestra by Harry Somers (Judy Loman).
She was married in 1933 to Sam Rosenbaum, a prominent attorney and board member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and had a family of two children and two stepchildren.