She is a harpist who studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and was appointed by Eugene Ormandy as a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1963, immediately after graduating.
In May 1994 she was presented with the C. Hartman Kuhn Award that is given to “a musician who has shown both musical ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the musical standards and reputation of The Philadelphia Orchestra” and in the summer season of that same year she took the position of co-principal harp. She was a member of the Orchestra’s Musicians Tour Committee for 25 years and retired from the orchestra in 2014 after 51 years service.
An active chamber musician she is a co-founder of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble and has been a participant in the Philadelphia Chamber Music Series and the Marlboro Festival.
Recordings she has performed on include Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka and Tschaikowsky: Schwanensee (Highlights) by The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Her husband is Donald Montanaro who is a retired Associate Principal Clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra.
She is the harpist here…
Sources:
- https://harpcolumn.com/blog/margarita-csonka-montanaro-retires-from-the-philadelphia-orchestra/
- https://www.stokowski.org/Philadelphia_Orchestra_Musicians_List.htm
- https://www.instantencore.com/contributor/bio.aspx?CId=5059117
- https://old.philorch.org/blog/news/orchestra-concert-brings-recognition-musicians#/
- https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Margarita%20Csonka%20Montanaro
- https://www.harpsociety.org/pdfs/conferenceinstitute/conference/conference%20program%20book.pdf
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/margarita-csonka-montanaro-mn0002247856
- https://www.discogs.com/it/artist/4419071-Margarita-Csonka-Montanaro