Tribute to accomplished harpist, classical trailblazer

A HARPIST’S LEGACY - ANN HOBSON PILOT AND THE SOUND OF CHANGE On: WGBH (Channel 2)

Time: Tonight, 10-10:30

Ann Hobson Pilot, the former principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has enjoyed a long and distinguished career. She was also the first African-American woman to serve as a principal player in any major symphony orchestra. A program airing tonight at 10 on WGBH, “A Harpist’s Legacy - Ann Hobson Pilot and the Sound of Change,’’ affectionately tells the story of her life as a harpist and her rapid rise through the color barrier in classical music.

Pilot was born in 1943 in Philadelphia into a musical family; her mother was, extraordinarily for the time, a concert pianist. Even so, her parents were understandably skeptical when a teacher at Pilot’s high school nudged her from piano toward the harp. The match took, and in her early 20s she joined the National Symphony Orchestra as its only black musician and even toured with the ensemble in the Deep South. With the poise and cadence of a diplomat, Pilot refers to the period of her tenure with the NSO (1966-69) as “a very difficult time for our nation.’’ On tour she was not always able to eat in the same restaurants as her colleagues, and some hotels required special permission before admitting her.