Ann Hobson Pilot

TRIBUTES TO MS. PILOT

Live Recording

The music heard on this website is a live recording of Ms. Pilot performing Saint-Saens' "Fantasie" with the Ritz Chamber players.

Events

Ann Hobson Pilot, principal harpist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is officially retiring in August this year.

A special Tribute Brunch Cruise aboard the Odyssey Cruise Ship Boston is being planned by the Coalition of Harpists of African Descent (CHAD) to honor Ms. Pilot on Sunday, October 4, 2009.

In an e-conversation with Ms. Pilot, Khymn Autumn, founder of CHAD, asked if news of her retirement was true. Ann had this to say, "It is true that I will be retiring as a member of the BSO after the Tanglewood, 2009 season. I no longer enjoy Boston winters and I wanted to retire while I was still at the 'top of my game.' The exciting news is that John Williams has written a harp concerto-type piece to honor my retirement and I will be premiering it with the BSO for the opening of Symphony Hall on September 23, the opening of Carnegie Hall on Oct. 1, and then back in Boston on Oct. 3 to perform the Williams' piece, Elliot Carter's Mosiac and the Debussy Danses in a concert specifically designed to honor me. I don't know of any other retiring member who has received such an honor so I am extremely flattered. I have also been invited back to South Africa to perform with 3 orchestras there, probably in November. I plan to play the Williams and maybe the Debussy. My husband and I will basically be retired to Sarasota, Fl. but I will continue teaching at NEC and BU (at least for the short term) and we will continue to go to Stockbridge for the summers."

Brief Biography of Ann Hobson Pilot

Harpist Ann Hobson Pilot began her musical education at age six with piano lessons from her mother, a former concert pianist and teacher in the Philadelphia public schools. Ms. Hobson Pilot spent many summers at the Harp Colony in Maine, studying with Alice Chalifoux who became a major influence on the harp. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music and received her first professional appointment in 1965 with the Pittsburgh Symphony which employed her as a substitute second harpist, and in the fall of 1966 she became principal harpist for the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. She performed with the National Symphony in Washington, DC for three years, prior to joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1969. Pilot was named principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1980. Pilot has had an extensive solo career. In addition to solo appearances with the BSO and the Boston Pops, she has appeared as guest artist with orchestras in the United States, Europe, Haiti, New Zealand, and South Africa, including the St. Trinity Orchestra of Port-Au-Prince and Boston's Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. Pilot is founder of the New England Harp Trio and is on the faculties of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She is a member of the contemporary music ensemble Collage and has also performed with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Newport Music Festival, to name but a few. In addition to her many recordings with the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops, she released her first solo recording entitled, “Contrast” on Boston Records. She has several CDs available on Boston Records, and on the Koch International and Denouement labels. In 1999 she traveled to London to record, with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Harp Concerto by the young American composer Kevin Kaska, a work that she commissioned.

Additional biographical articles/stories about Ms. Pilot:

Article in Wicked Local Salem

Article in Town Online (similar to above article but more details and performance info)

Article in Boston Globe Magazine

Article in BSO online newsletter

Musical Journey

In February of 1997, Ann Hobson Pilot traveled to South Africa to perform as a soloist with the National Symphony of Johannesburg - a performance that for a black artist like her would have been unthinkable in the days of apartheid.

But the concert hall was only the beginning of Pilot's musical adventure. After the Johannesburg concert, she and her husband, Prentice, journeyed into the bush to explore the roots of her instrument.

The Results of this project were documented in the video " Ann Hobson Pilot - A Musical Journey" which has aired nationwide on the PBS - public broadcasting stations - and was sponsored by WGBH of Boston and the Museum of Afro American History of Boston.

Link to Ms. Pilot's project: Musical Journey.

Article about Ms. Pilot by Erin Washington: Ann Hobson Pilot, Harpist and Historian Extraordinaire

Concerto forHarp and Orchestra

ARTICLE IN HARP SPECSTRUM:
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra by Kevin Kaska and commissioned by Ann Hobson-Pilot.

Ensemble Performances

In June of 2004 Kaska's Knights of the Red Branch was premiered at the American Harp Society convention in Philadelphia. The work was commissioned by the Philadelphia chapter of the AHS and written for Houston Symphony harpist Paula Page, Dallas Symphony harpist Susan Pejovich, Boston Symphony harpist Ann Hobson Pilot, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

Ann Hobson Pilot Takes Final Bow at Concert at Symphony Hall on May 1, 2009

BRAVO! Ann for a job well done throughout your career. You will definitely be missed by audiences and colleagues alike!

Principal Harpist, Boston Symphony Orchestra Retires in August, 2009