PHILADELPHIA — Elsa Hilger, 101, the first woman in the world, other than harpists, to be a permanent member of a major symphony orchestra, died May 17 at Wake Robin Retirement Community in Shelburne, Vermont.
Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski hired her as a cellist in 1934. She never missed a performance — except the day her son was born — until retiring in 1969. And she retired only because of union rules.
Hilger, who gave her last recital in 2002 at age 98, moved to Lake Dunmore, Vermont, in 1977. Before that, she had lived in Philadelphia for more than four decades.
A child prodigy born in Trautenau, Austria, and the youngest of 18 children (only four survived), Hilger learned to love music while listening to famed violin instructor Ottokar Sevcik give lessons to her sister.
Impressed by the 9-year-old's attentiveness and the reach of her long fingers, Sevcik persuaded her parents to buy her a half-size cello. He became her first teacher.
After studying with famed Paul Grummer at the prestigious Vienna Conservatory, where she played a borrowed priceless Guarnerius cello, Hilger became the youngest member of the Conservatory Orchestra. At 12, she made her premiere performance with the Vienna Philharmonic.
In an interview in the Vermont Woman newspaper in 2004, Hilger spoke of that first performance: "I was hungry; it was the war years. They put wood blocks beneath my feet because I was so short ... my feet would not reach the floor."
Grummer rewarded her with the Guarnerius.
When World War I ended, Hilger and her two sisters came to America and began playing in concerts across the country. The Hilger Trio was offered $1,000 a year to join the vaudeville circuit, but the girls' mother declined.
During the winter of 1934, the trio played more than 37 concerts. Then she got a call from Stokowski's first wife, pianist Olga Samaroff, with whom Hilger was friends, inviting her to audition. After she played solo pieces on the Academy of Music stage for two hours, Stokowski said, "You're in."
"I had no idea what I was in for! At that time the Philadelphia Orchestra was the most touring orchestra in the world. We went everywhere ... every week, at least two, three days ... Washington, Baltimore, New York, California," Hilger said in a 1994 interview on National Public Radio.
Stokowski offered Hilger the fourth chair, the lowest-ranked position. It took years before Eugene Ormandy, Stokowski's successor, promoted her to third chair and finally to assistant principal cellist.
Hilger married Willem Ezerman in 1935. The couple moved to Lake Dunmore after she was forced to retire in 1969 because of her age. There, she continued to play and teach.
Hilger is survived by her son, Robert Ezerman, and a grandson, Alexander Ezerman. Her husband died in 1990.
Services have not been announced. Donations may be made
to Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, 223 Ethan Allen Ave., Colchester, VT
05446.
