Siblings Ann and Roger Blickensderfer promote their lifelong love of music

Growing up in the city of Hamilton in southwestern Ohio, siblings Ann and Roger Blickensderfer shared a love of classical music from an early age. With their parents and younger brother, they listened to LPs at home and attended a local concert series that featured internationally recognized classical musicians and opera singers. Ann and Roger also took piano lessons and played in school music programs throughout high school and college.

The two siblings continued to attend concerts together when they were students at Indiana University-Bloomington, where Ann earned her bachelor of arts degree and Roger his doctorate in physical chemistry. Now retired in Chicago and Evanston, respectively, they regularly attend performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists. They also support local classical music organizations such as Cedille Records.

Recently, Ann and Roger made a generous commitment to SEMPRE ALWAYS: The Campaign for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to endow the Blickensderfer Family Chair, a position currently held by CSO cellist Brant Taylor. Coincidentally, Taylor received his master’s degree in music at Indiana University and plays a cello previously owned by the great János Starker, a longtime professor at I.U.

Ann first subscribed to the CSO in the 1971-72 season, shortly after moving to Chicago. Since then, she has been involved with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association in many capacities. During her career as an estate planning attorney, she managed several clients’ donations to the CSOA through foundations or endowed funds. She has volunteered with the Women’s Association (now the League of the CSOA) and served on a committee of the CSO’s Negaunee Music Institute.

Currently, she serves on the Governing Members Engagement Committee and is a Stradivarian Associate of the Theodore Thomas Society. She also plans to travel with the CSO on an upcoming international patrons tour. 

Through these experiences, Ann has cherished the experiences of meeting Music Directors Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti; Guest Principal Conductor Pierre Boulez; Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink, and Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. Another favorite memory is meeting world-renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

“I love classical music. It gives me joy and solace. It has been the foundation for my life,” Ann says. “I’m just so grateful and privileged that I live in Chicago and have had the opportunity to hear amazing music and be a part of the CSO family for over a half century.”

Roger’s first encounters with the CSO came in the early 1960s when he attended concerts during his years at Northwestern University. Although a gifted pianist as a youth, he decided on a profession in science. After a 35-year career as a physics professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, he moved to Evanston in 2011 and joined Ann as a CSO subscriber.

A lifelong pianist, Roger started lessons at the age of 6, and in recent years, he has taken lessons with Dr. Matthew Hagle at the Music Institute of Chicago. Every day, he plays the family’s Baldwin grand piano, purchased in 1958.

Ann’s and Roger’s shared love of music and dedication to the CSO inspired them to support the SEMPRE ALWAYS campaign. Ann has always loved the cello, and she credits a friend with comparing the instrument’s sound to that of the human voice. In addition to Rostropovich, she has enjoyed meeting several CSO cellists over the years and also notes that Klaus Mäkelä plays the cello. It was a natural choice for the Blickensderfers to choose a cello chair for their endowed gift.

“Our endowment will be a legacy for us,” Ann says. “My brother and I have named the chair for our family, not only for us but for our parents who instilled in us and our ancestors who have passed down over the generations their love of music.”

One of these ancestors was their great-grandmother Anna Blickensderfer, an accomplished pianist and vocalist, who was a music instructor at the Moravian Young Ladies’ Seminary in Pennsylvania in the late 19th century. Ann, who acts as the family’s archivist, once discovered in Anna’s papers some piano sheet music based on works performed by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra — the ensemble that the CSO’s founding music director, Theodore Thomas, conducted before he was invited to form his own orchestra in Chicago. She has donated that sheet music to the CSOA’s Rosenthal Archives.

With this musical legacy in their past and their desire for the excellence of the CSO to continue so future generations may enjoy the beauty of classical music, the Blickensderfers are proud to support the campaign.

“I’m a firm believer in the power of music to better our community, our society, our world,” Ann says. “Music enriches our lives.”