Despite being founded nearly 65 years ago, to this day, the Chicago Symphony Chorus has had just two directors: Margaret Hillis and Duain Wolfe. Hillis, born October 1, 1921, founded the chorus in the 1957-58 season. As WFMT general manager George Preston reflected, under Hillis’s leadership, the chorus “became a model for other symphony choruses to aspire to.” Margaret Hillis retired as the chorus’s director in 1994, after 37 years of service. She died in 1998 at age 76.
This commemorative program recognizes Margaret Hillis’s remarkable work as founder and director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus in music by Bach, Bartók, and Verdi.