Remembering Eric Wicks

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family mourns the loss of Eric Wicks, who served as a member of the violin section from 1968 until 2006. He died on October 28, 2024, in Chicago. Wicks was 89.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 6, 1934, Eric Wicks began violin studies at the age of 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, frequently performing in ensembles and as a soloist in Town Hall as well as with the Little Orchestra of New York under Thomas Scherman.

While attending the Manhattan School of Music on scholarship, Wicks was assistant concertmaster of the Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. After completing his degree, he became a member of the NBC Opera Orchestra under George Schick and Peter Herman Adler. 

During his service in the U.S. Army, Wicks was concertmaster and soloist of the United States Military Academy Orchestra at West Point. Following his service, 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 and on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

In 1968, seventh music director Jean Martinon invited Wicks to join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s violin section, later also serving under Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. After 38 years in the Orchestra, he retired in 2006, receiving the Theodore Thomas Medallion for Distinguished Service on September 23 of that year. In his retirement, Wicks was a longtime member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Alumni Association, for many years serving on the board of directors, most recently as vice-president. 

Eric Wicks is survived by his beloved wife Linda Baker, along with four daughters, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild from a previous marriage. Details for services are pending.

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