Hillis, Margaret

▪ 1999

      American chorus and orchestra conductor (b. 1921, Kokomo, Ind.—d. Feb. 4, 1998, Evanston, Ill.), founded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Chorus and for 37 years served as its director. Under her leadership the chorus made almost 600 appearances with the orchestra, participated in the recording of 45 works, and won nine Grammy awards. It also sparked the formation of choruses elsewhere in the U.S. Hillis began her musical education, on piano, at the age of five and could play a number of instruments by the time she was in high school, but from the age of eight she knew that what she really wanted was to conduct orchestras. Following her graduation (1947) from Indiana University, Hillis attended the Juilliard School in New York City. Aware of the limited opportunities for women in her field, she heeded advice to concentrate on choral conducting and studied with Robert Shaw. She went on to serve as Shaw's assistant, found the Tanglewood Alumni Chorus, conduct choruses for the New York City Opera and the American Opera Society, teach at Juilliard and the Union Theological Seminary, and form the American Choral Foundation. In 1957, at the invitation of Fritz Reiner, the CSO's musical director, Hillis formed the CSO Chorus. It made its debut the next year and within a decade had become one of the country's best professional choirs. Hillis also conducted the CSO several times, spent a few seasons on the conducting staff of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, appeared as guest conductor with a number of other American orchestras, and served as the choral director of the Cleveland (Ohio) Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. In addition, she worked with smaller regional and community orchestras, among them the Kenosha (Wis.) Civic Orchestra and the Elgin (Ill.) Symphony.

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