Now retired from the BSO, Pilot - who returns to Philadelphia Sunday for a Settlement Music School recital with violinist Tai Murray - looks back on her time in the famed Boston ensemble as remarkable in several ways.
"I was with the BSO for 40 years - with Seiji [Ozawa] there, we had fabulous tours all over the world. Some of the most memorable concerts took place in Japan or European concert halls, and Seiji used to have fabulous parties in ryokans," traditional inns, "in Japan or beer houses in Austria. That was the golden era of the BSO, and I think it's something that won't be duplicated any time soon. Everything is so different now."
Some things happily so.
In 1969, Pilot was the BSO's only African American member, a distinction she would hold for 20 years. When appointed, she was one of only three African American musicians playing in leading U.S. orchestras, a BSO spokeswoman said. There is just one black BSO musician today, and the slow pace of change surprises Pilot. "I would have thought by the time I left they would have several more," she said.
But the field is a far cry from what it was in the late 1950s, when the orchestra teacher at Girls High offered Pilot the harp after she found that the violin and flute slots were already taken.
"When I was coming along in Girls High and Philly, I was the only African American harpist that I knew. Harp was considered, first of all, a feminine instrument. It was for women with blond hair and long flowing gowns."
Still, in those days strong public-school music instruction was commonplace, its net cast wide enough to catch anyone with talent.
"When I discovered the harp in Girls High and then met [Philadelphia Orchestra harpist] Edna Phillips Rosenbaum, the teacher at Settlement, it opened up a whole new world. It was something I wanted to do and was supported to do, and my career just took off. I have Girls High and Settlement to thank for that."
