Myrtle Hart Society: Harpist Ann Hobson Pilot Solos With Boston Symphony

The February issue of The Myrtle Hart Society eNewsletter includes an article by Rashida N. Black on Ann Hobson Pilot. We present an excerpt:

I first met Ms. Pilot during an open rehearsal at the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) when I was about 14 years old. I ran up to the stage while she was tuning and excitedly told her that I too played harp. I remember her smile. The very next school year, I began my study with her.

Ms. Pilot is the principal harp of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position she's held since 1980. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music under Alice Chalifoux, Ms. Pilot currently serves on the faculties of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In 1998 and 1999 she was featured in a video documentary sponsored by the Museum of Afro-American History and WGBH, aired nationwide on PBS, about her personal musical journey as well as her African journey to find the roots of the harp. Sources tell me, there's a Part 2 in the works...

Ann Hobson Pilot solos this month with the Boston Symphony. Program includes Martin-Petite symphonie concertante, for harp, piano, harpsichord, and double string orchestra; Prokofiev-Violin Concerto No. 1; Saint-Saens-Symphony No. 3, Organ. Wednesday, February 6 at 7:30 PM, Thursday, February 7 at 8:00 PM, Friday, February 8 at 1:30 PM, Saturday, February 9 at 8:00 PM and Tuesday, February 12 at 8:00 PM.

Ann Pilot
Hobson Pilot
Black Harpist
African American
classical music
Black History