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The American sorano, Neva Lorraine (Stevens) Pilgrim, was born and grew up in her family’s farm-home in Cottonwood County in southwestern Minnesota, near Bingham Lake, between Mountain Lake and Windom. She was the sixth child of Walter and Myrtle Stevens of rural Minnesota, and went on to lead an active life as wife, mother, and professional musician (solo singer/performer, voice teacher, musical entrepreneur). Even from those earliest times she sparkled with energy and intelligence, showed special skills in music (flute, piano, voice), and won awards for both school work and music performances. She attended and graduated magna cum laude with Bachelor of Arts degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1960, having majored in Music and English. It was there, then, that she met her future husband (Richard Pilgrim) - who, like her, loved making music in the University’s choir. Married in 1959, they finished college together and went on to finish their life together after 65 wonderful years. In that life she was always ‘leaving people behind’ by moving ahead creatively and confidently “her wonders to perform”: A professional singing career began to blossom while at Yale Music School completing her Master of Music degree (1963). She used an award from that school (the Ditson Fellowship for outstanding graduates) to study and sing professionally at the Vienna Academy of Music and elsewhere in Europe (1963-1964). She pursued the same activities in Chicago while her husband was doing a M.A./PhD at the University of Chicago (1964-1967). And did yet more of the same while he was in Japan researching for a dissertation (1967-1968).
Neva Pilgrim practiced her arts and skills particularly in the CNY region (especially at Colgate University, and with the Syracuse Society for New Music) from 1970 to 2024. She was known for her work in the performance of contemporary classical music. She worked closely with many composers, including Pierre Boulez, Lukas Foss, Luciano Berio, George Rochberg, R. Murray Schafer, Ralph Shapey, Richard Wernick, Luigi Dallapiccola, Gunther Schuller, and Steven Stucky. Many of whom have written for her. She appeared regularly in recital and as soloist with orchestras, hincluding the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, Binghamton Symphony and Choral Society, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Northeastern Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Clarion Concerts. She concertized in Japan, Canada and Europe and appeared at such festivals as Tanglewood, Marlboro, Chautauqua, Monadnock, and Saratoga Baroque, as well as the International Computer Music Festival.
Neva Pilgrim released over 20 recordings and and soloed with such distinguished chamber ensembles as the Da Capo Chamber Players; Speculum Musicae; the Baltimore Chamber Music Society; and the Concord, Tremont, and Madison Quartets, to name but a few. She was one of the three founding members of the Society for New Music, which was established in Syracuse, New York in 1971. She was an artist-in-residence at Colgate University until 2023 and had a private studio in New York City.
Among her awards were a Martha Baird Rockefeller grant, NEA and Fromm Foundation commission grants. She also received a Certificate of Merit for her significant contribution to the field of music from the Yale School of Music, an outstanding alumni award from Hamline University, and the Laurel Leaf Award from the American Composers Alliance (1994). She was a long-time resident of Syracuse, New York. She died on January 22, 2024, at the age of 85, with her husband of 65 years (Richard Pilgrim), and her younger adult son (Jason) at her side. |
