Margaret Hillis

Conductor, chorus director, airplane pilot, educator, activist, mentor, and advocate Margaret Hillis blazed a trail upon which many continue to tread. 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.She was also a flight instructor for the U.S. Navy during World War II, an influential member of the National Endowment for the Arts, and built a rep