>> NARRATOR: Ann Hobson Pilot-- for 28 years she was the principal harpist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, one of the most important positions for a harpist in the world of music.

>> Hi, Larry.

Thank you.

>> NARRATOR: That in itself is an enormous distinction, worthy of an honorary degree.

But Ann Hobson Pilot did much more than that.

At the age of 23, she was the first African-American woman principal player in any symphony orchestra.

In the rarefied world of classical music, she broke the color barrier and gender barrier.

In her own quiet way, she rewrote history.

>> I want to read you this letter.

"Dear Mr. Dixon, I went to my first Boston Symphony Orchestra youth concert today and noticed that there were no blacks and very few women.

Why is that?

Sincerely, Jay Bachau, fifth grader, Cabot School.

PS"-- you're going to love this one-- "if you don't think blacks are good enough to play, why don't you teach them?"

>> Oh, wow.

>> NARRATOR: Ann Hobson Pilot has had an enormous impact on the music world.

Her work as a teacher is one of her most important legacies.

>> Ann Hobson Pilot, you are universally regarded as an exceptional musician.

>> NARRATOR: Ann understands how important it is to keep the door open for underprivileged students-- students who just need a chance to show the world what they can do.

>> Your playing of a notoriously difficult instrument... >> NARRATOR: But it has always been her talent and her extraordinary mastery of one of the orchestra's most difficult instruments that has set her apart.

>> She's an amazing musician.

>> Ann Hobson's one of the greatest harpists we've ever had.

>> What I admire about Ann is that she is right there standing on the plate ready to hit a home run every time.

>> She was an icon.

Long before I knew who she was or met her, I knew who she was.

>> NARRATOR: Ann Hobson Pilot has always been a pioneer.

She has moved through life breaking barriers and setting standards.

>> Ann Hobson Pilot was a historic figure.

She was one of the first people of color in a major position in a major orchestra.

>> When I joined the National Symphony in 1966, and I was the only African American in the orchestra, and also that they had ever had, I did recognize the fact that some of the people in the orchestra at that time were not very pleased that I was there.

>> To become who Ann was and is truly required her to be remarkable.

>> NARRATOR: Born in 1943 in Philadelphia, Ann Hobson was the younger of two girls born to Grace and Harr Hobson.

Ann was drawn to music because of her mother.

>> My mother was a concert pianist.

It was not only unique to be an African-American female classical pianist at that time, but it was very, very difficult, next to impossible, to get work.

So she did what most other African-American pianists did-- she taught.

Back in the '40s, she belonged to a group called the Philadelphia Piano Ensemble, which was a group of African- American women who all were concert pianists, and they played together.

They got a piano company to donate pianos into the basement of a church, and they rehearsed, and they eventually gave concerts at the Academy of Music in Philly, which was incredible.

>> NARRATOR: And Ann began studyingno at the age of six with her mother.

Ann's musical talent was evident at a very early age.

However, she was never completely satisfied with the piano.

>> By the time I got to be 14, I realized that I wanted to take up an instrument of my own.

I went to the Philadelphia High School for Girls, which had a very extensive music program at that time.

And all the instruments that I wanted were not available-- the cello or the flute-- and so the music teacher at the school said, "Why don't you try taking up the harp?"

It's helpful with a piano background, reading treble and bass clef, and I said, "All right, I'll give it a try."

So I went home and I spoke to my mother and father about it, and of course they had a fit, and said, "What is an African- American harpist going to do to," you know, "earn a living?"

My teacher at school called my parents and spoke to them, and was very encouraging.

ink that that kind of calmed them down a bit from being hysterically upset.

I made progress very quickly, and I think she thought that I >> NARRATOR: After high school, Ann was accepted at the prestigious Philadelphia Music Academy.

>> I remember once I was at a friend's house-- the friend played the harp-- and her mother was giving me a tour of the house.

And she came up to a picture on the wall of a blonde woman playing the harp, and she turned to me and she said, "Now, she looks like a harpist is supposed to look, with long blonde hair."

I was rather surprised to hear that.

I was the only African American in most of the music circles that I was involved in-- at school, certainly in harp camp or in harp situations.

I was asked to play at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

I think the first act I played with was Johnny Mathis.

And of course I was beside myself, because Johnny Mathis was, I thought, the greatest thing ever.

>> ♪ Chances are you think that I'm in love with you... ♪ >> So I got to play the harp with him, and then I also played with Peggy Lee and Andy Williams.

And I really, I suppose, at that point, thought that that's what I would do.

I had a mentor, her name was Edna Phillips Rosenbaum, who had been with the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years.

And she kind of took me under her wing, and she decided that I needed to pursue a more classical route.

So she arranged for me to get a full scholarship out to the Cleveland Institute of Music.

So I went to Cleveland and studied with Alice Chalifoux for two and a half years.

>> NARRATOR: In 1966, Ann was offered the job of principal harpist at Washington's National Symphony.

She was the only African American in the orchestra.

>> It wasn't anything unusual for me, though I did recognize the fact that some of the people in the orchestra at that time were not very pleased that I was there.

>> NARRATOR: This appointment made Ann the first African- American woman principal player in any orchestra.

That same year, her cousin Patricia Prattis Jennings also broke the color barrier and became the principal keyboardist for the Pittsburgh Symphony.

The world of symphony orchestras had changed forever.

>> Culturally speaking, I'm sure there must have been some... perhaps some tensions there, simply because you do stand out as the only black person on the stage.

You have to find ways inside yourself to lessen that stress or that pressure.

When I was in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, I was one of 12 cellists.

And I was in the last stand of the cellos, so, I mean, in a sense, I could hide, because I didn't have any solos.

As a harpist, you can't hide.

You just have to go out, do the a way to just put all the other stuff into the background.

>> So I was in the National Symphony from 1966 to 1969, which was a very difficult time for our nation.

And the National Symphony used to tour down south a lot.

Almost all of our tours were down south, to Alabama, or Mississippi, Arkansas.

I did run into some problems-- not being able to eat in certain restaurants.

There were times when I'd have to go eat somewhere else.

I had a couple of friends that would come with me.

Even some hotels that they had to get special permission for me to stay there.

If someone said something to me that I considered to be objectionable, I was able to very calmly just say to them, "That's objectionable, and I don't appreciate your saying that."

I feel like I didn't have that extra burden of anger, inner anger.

My mother was a very good role model for me.

Her name was Grace.

We used to call her Amazing Grace.

And she always carried herself with dignity and grace.

And so I guess I'vst tried to model myself after her.

Arthur Fiedler came to guest conduct.

He called me into his room and said, "Our harpist in the Boston Pops is leaving."

And he asked if I'd be interested to come to audition for the job.

He said he liked my playing, and he would like me to be his harpist.

I went and auditioned for the job, but I wasn't really sure if I wanted it, because in Washington it was principal harp.

Even though it was principal with the Pops, it was actually sort of second with the BSO.

I had a lot of good advice from a lot of people who said that the Boston Symphony was the place to be.

>> NARRATOR: At age 26, Ann Hobson Pilot accepted the position of principal harpist with the Boston Pops and associate principal harpist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Once again, in her own quiet way, Ann Hobson Pilot made history.

She became the first African- American woman musician in the BSO.

In 1980, Ann was named principal harpist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

>> It was especially rewarding when they elevated me to principal, because I think I was, you know, the only African- American female principal harpist in any major symphony ever.

I felt like I had to prove myself a lot, especially in Boston, because it was such a big job.

>> I have heard the Boston Symphony play at least a thousand times, and there has never been an occasion when you said, "Oh, dear, Ann is making a mess of things," because she just doesn't.

She takes her responsibility very seriously, and she plays with this big, broad, dramatic sound and manner, which means that she has no place to hide.

(applause) >> I think what attracted me to the harp is the fact that you make music with your fingers in direct contact with the strings.

Everything that you do-- phrasing, loud, soft dynamics, everything... there's no loud-soft pedal.

The pedals change the pitch of the strings.

There are seven pedals, one for every note, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and each pedal has three notches-- flat, natural, and p. If the pedal is all the way up, it's going to be in flat.

And if you put it in the middle notch, it's in natural.

If you put it all the way down, it's in sharp.

One way to think of it is, like, the strings on the harp are like the white keys on a piano, and the pedals make the black keys.

I'm going to play just a few bars of a piece that will show you how the pedals change and how active my feet have to be in this piece.

>> NARRATOR: During Ann's 40 years with the Boston Symphony, she has worked with some of the world's finest conductors.

>> What Ann Hobson Pilot learned to do was to respond to the sound worlds and imaginations of many different conductors, all of them operating at the highest level.

Naturally, over the years she developed an increased flexibility and range of color, because people had asked her for it, and she found those colors within her.

>> I think one of the things that I'm appreciated for, I guess, is my sound.

I have a strong sound, and I'm ableo not only play loud or to play soft, but to play with different colors, different textures.

>> From a conductor's point of view, when I'm on the podium, or any other conductor... James Levine has the same... and Seiji Ozawa and others all have the same feeling about her, that from the point of view of being on the podium where the harp string is plucked many, many feet over here, along with basses over here, the uncanny ability to sort of time that, because there's a microsecond of opportunity, to be right on ground zero with that pizzicato note...

Her sense of vertical alignment with what's happening onstage with the orchestra is uncannily keen.

>> When I was asked to find a harpist to play "The Swan" by Saint-Saens, and to perform it with a ballerina to honor the Kennedys' love of the arts, Ann Hobson Pilot's name just popped up.

I had played with her many, many times, other scores that featured prominent harp parts, sound, you know, like, from many, many feet away where I'm sitting.

It came out always sounding like a bell.

Just...

I don't know how she gets that sound.

(applause) >> NARRATOR: In 2009, after 40 years with the orchestra, Ann Hobson Pilot took her final bow.

>> When the Boston Symphony said to me, "We'd like to honor you upon your retirement-- what would you like as an honor gift?"

And I said, "I think it'd be great to have a new harp concerto added to the repertoire."

And they said, "Well, who would you like to write it?"

And I thought about it for quite a while, and then I thought, "I'd actually love John Wi difficult."

Harp is not easy to write for.

All the pedaling and fingerings and so on are very complicated.

>> And he said no.

>> But I thought about it, and thought about the privilege of being asked to do this.

So it's a two-movement piece.

>> He wrote what I think is a wonderful piece.

He decided to title it "On Willows and Birches."

The first movement is very wispy, kind of like a willow tree would be.

>> That's going to work.

Clearly you'll have it.

>> There aren't a lot of patterns in it, so it makes it difficult to learn, but it's a lot of fun to play.

>> That's in good shape.

Very good shape, wonderful.

>> That was a good day.

You look happy.

>> I am happy.

>> I'm ecstatic.

>> I think that this is the first time in the history of the BSO that they've brought a former member back after retirement to play a concerto that they commissioned.

>> I mean, she looks like she's creating wizardry when she plays.

Can you describe, what do you hear, what do you see as far as her technique is concerned?

>> Well, we've been working together for 30 years, actually, here at the Symphony and Pops.

I know Ann's playing pretty well.

But she is... your question, you used the word "wizard."

I think she is a... she wasn't Harry Potter, but she is a magician in the harp world.

>> The harp world seems to think it's a wonderful piece.

It's now been chosen to be the concerto that will be played in the most famous harp competition in the world, the Israel Competition.

So all the harpists that enter that competition will have to learn and play his piece.

It really was an incredible honor for them to do that for me.

The people that play the grace notes, even though it says two Ps, bring that out a bit more.

I find teaching to be very rewarding.

Over the years I've learned what to me sounds good on the harp.

I impart my point of view to them and try to help them become the best musicians they can.

>> It's so amazing to think that you're studying with the former, now, BSO harpist.

It's very inspirational to think how many barriers that she broke down and that she... she was basically the trendsetter for so many people.

>> I started teaching the harp probably about 45 or 50 years ago.

But it wasn't until maybe ten years ago that I had my first African-American student.

The image of the harp is definitely changing.

One of my students, Charles Overton, is very unique.

He's actually as excellent in jazz as he is in classical music.

Mason Morton started with me last year.

He's very accomplished, and is now pursuing a master's.

Be careful of that chord...

It's very surprising to me that there are not more African Americans in symphonies at this point.

I would definitely have expected more progress than there has been.

>> The whole question of people from minorities in orchestras is difficult, because people have to be trained from a very early age, and our culture is not doing that.

>> (singing violin part) Yes.

Turn the bow.

>> It's a very complicated, complex problem.

People like to see these issues of diversity very simply, which unfortunately it's not.

>> Ready?

>> NARRATOR: And that is the reason Project STEP was founded by the Boston Symphony Orchestra 28 years ago.

>> So at the vivace it goes into double tempo... >> My husband, Prentice Pilot, was the first artistic administrator of Project STEP.

>> It goes into double tempo... >> NARRATOR: Project STEP recognizes that certain racial and ethic minorities are vastly underrepresented in orchestras.

>> Right on the beat.

>> Its mission is to encourage African-American and Latino students with musical talent to pursue the world of classical music.

>> When I was a cello professor at the University of Texas, I was always trying to increase the numbers of students of color that we had.

I'm quite baffled at times by the fact that people of color, particularly African Americans and Hispanics, who are talented in music, are told by their parents or people in the community, if they're really smart and intelligent, "Don't go into music because you can't make money."

>> One of the things that is unfortunate is that most people are not aware of people like Ann.

There's no awareness of William Grant Still, probably the grandfather of African-American composers.

>> Students of color who are really serious about classical music look for themselves in musical organizations.

And there are not many musical organizations where you see people of color.

>> Now that I've retired from the BSO, I have a lot more opportunity to play chamber music.

And I have very much enjoyed playing with musicians such as violinist Tai Murray.

I'm also a member of the Ritz Chamber Players.

It's a very talented group of African-American musicians.

It was a unique experience for me, playing with a group of all African-American players, because I often was the only African American.

>> Mrs.

Pilot has my life that I would like to have one day-- principal harpist of a top orchestra.

Not only does she do that, she solos around the world, and she teaches.

That's what I want to do with my life.

>> Ann Hobson Pilot, for your contributions to the practice, teaching, and understanding of music, I am honored to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa.

(applause) >> Everybody says to me, "Do you miss it?"

And I can't really say I do, because I am still playing.

I would miss it if I stopped playing the harp, but I will continue as long as I can.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org