Wigler, Jerome (January 1920-Present)

He is a violinist and WWII veteran born in Detroit, Michigan who started out learning the piano but changed has musical interest to the violin. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music where he earned his diploma in 1941.

He became a member of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 42 but was drafted into the military where he served as a medic. While in service during World War II he worked in Britain, France and Belgium, where he met his wife, on the front lines in Ardennes and during the Battle of the Bulge. For his service he was awarded two bronze stars and a purple heart.

After the war he returned to Minneapolis and went back to playing with the symphony while battling post-traumatic stress disorder. The following year he had recovered enough to go back to New York where he had freelance work with the NBC Orchestra and became the first chair of the Center Theater Group. He did, however, decline an invitation to join the New York Philharmonic, because at that time the season was only for 6 months instead of a year and it wouldn’t be financially viable.

He was offered a position in The Philadelphia Orchestra, which he accepted joining as a second violinist in 1951. During the early years the orchestra managed to make the ground-breaking change from a 6 month to a 12 month season.

In 1973 he was a co-founder of the Delaware County (Pa) Youth Symphony and he was active in the musicians’ union and several other organisations.

He became the longest serving member of the orchestra with 60 years and many concerts and recordings under his belt before his retirement in 2011.

Sources:

Wigler, Jerome (January 1920-Present)

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