Wicks, a member of the orchestra for nearly 40 years, has died aged 89
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has announced that its former long-time violinist, Eric Wicks, died on 28 October 2024. Wicks was a member of the violin section for 38 years, serving from 1968 until his retirement in 2006.
Wicks was born in Brooklyn, New York on 6 November 1934 and began playing the violin aged five with Alfred Troemel, and later with Helen Airoff, Hugo Kolberg and Berl Senofsky. He attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City and the Manhattan School of Music on a scholarship.
He served as assistant concertmaster of the Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra during his studies and became a member of the NBC Opera Orchestra under George Schick and Peter Herman Adler after completing his degree.
Wicks served in the US Army, where he was concertmaster and soloist of the United States Military Academy Orchestra at West Point. Following his army career, he played with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra in New York, with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in New Mexico, and as assistant concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, additionally serving on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.
He joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1968 by invitation of the orchestra’s seventh music director Jean Martinon. Wicks also played under the directorships of Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim.
Wicks remained in the CSO until his retirement in 2006, upon which he received the Theodore Thomas Medallion for Distinguished Service from the orchestra. He continued to be a member of the CSO Alumni Association, where he was on the board of directors and recently served as vice-president.
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