Elsa Hilger (April 13, 1904 – May 17, 2005) was an American cellist. She was the first woman other than a harpist to become a member of a major symphony orchestra. She was born in

Trutnov Trutnov (; german: Trautenau) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 29,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Trutnov is ...

in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She began taking cello lessons with

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a soloist and an ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. Biography Ševčík was born in Horaž ...

at the age of nine. Her father died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and her mother took her three daughters to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where Hilger and her two sisters were awarded scholarships to the Vienna Conservatory. There she studied with Paul Grümmer. At the age of twelve, she performed

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's '' Variations on a Rococo Theme'' with the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

. The following year, she was presented with a

Guarneri The Guarneri (, , ), often referred to in the Latinized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati an ...

cello. At the end of World War I, she began touring with her two sisters as The Hilger Trio. The sisters also performed several times with

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

as a quartet. In 1935, Hilger was invited to join the Philadelphia Orchestra by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

. She began performing in the fourth chair; later, conductor

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

invited her to become assistant principal cellist. Despite her talent, she never became first cellist during her 35 years with the orchestra. She also taught at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. In 1935, she married Willem Ezerman, the son of D. Hendrik Ezerman, director of the Philadelphia conservatory. She taught her son and grandson to play the cello. In 1969, Hilger was forced to retire from the orchestra due to union rules and moved to

Lake Dunmore Lake Dunmore is a freshwater lake in Addison County, Vermont. The lake spans the towns of Salisbury and Leicester and has a surface area of 985 acres (3.98 km2). Lake Dunmore is over 3 miles long (oriented north-south) and up to 1 mile wide. ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. She continued to perform, giving her last recital at the age of 95. Hilger continued to teach at her home in

Shelburne, Vermont Shelburne is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne's town center lies approximately south of the city center of Burlington, the largest city in the state of Vermont. As of the ...

. She died at home in Vermont in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilger, Elsa 1904 births 2005 deaths People from Trutnov American classical cellists German Bohemian people Austrian emigrants to the United States American women classical cellists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American women 20th-century American people American centenarians Women centenarians 21st-century American women 20th-century cellists