Margaret Hillis onstage in Orchestra Hall in 1978 (Terry’s Photography)
Margaret Hillis was the first woman to regularly conduct a major symphony orchestra, she was the founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and served for thirty-seven years as its first director, winning nine Grammy Awards.
In the new biography Margaret Hillis: Unsung Pioneer, author Cheryl Frazes Hill—a longtime colleague and associate—examines how Hillis was able to overcome the many challenges she faced, navigating a career in ways relatable not only to musicians but also to women in all professions. For this Women’s History Month program, Cheryl Frazes Hill is joined by Frank Villella, director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Rosenthal Archives, to share stories from the book as well as performances by the Chicago Symphony Chorus directed by Margaret Hillis.
Learn more about Margaret Hillis: Unsung Pioneer HERE.
Playlist
Giuseppe Verdi: “Sanctus” from Messa da Requiem
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis and Terry Edwards, directors
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Stephen Foster (arr. Alice Parker and Robert Shaw): Beautiful Dreamer
Grant Williams, tenor
Robert Shaw Chorale
Robert Shaw, conductor
Verdi: “Libera me” from Messa da Requiem
Leontyne Price, soprano
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Igor Stravinsky: The Wedding Feast from Les noces
Mildred Allen, soprano
Regina Sarfaty, mezzo-soprano
Loren Driscoll, tenor
Robert Oliver, bass
American Concert Choir
Margaret Hillis, director
Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, and Roger Sessions, pianos
Columbia Percussion Ensemble
Igor Stravinsky, conductor
Sergei Prokofiev: “The Entry into Pskov” from Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fritz Reiner, conductor
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, “Resurrection”
V. Finale: “Auferstehen, ja auferstehen wirst du gesät”
Carol Neblett, soprano
Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Johann Sebastian Bach: “Osanna in excelsis” from Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Arnold Schoenberg: “Wo ist Moses?” from Moses und Aron
Philip Langridge, tenor
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem, Op. 45
IV. “Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen”
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Béla Bartók: Cantata profana
I. Molto moderato
Jane Green, soprano
Deborah Guscott, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Dymit, tenor
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Pierre Boulez, conductor
Hector Berlioz: Pandemonium from The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24
José van Dam, bass-baritone
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, “Choral”
IV. “O Freunde, nicht diese Töne”
Jessye Norman, soprano
Reinhild Runkel, mezzo-soprano
Robert Schunk, tenor
Hans Sotin, bass
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
