CELLIST HAVING STRING OF A TIME MAKING HISTORY.(Show)

Byline: Scott Cantrell

Looking at the grandmotherly face crowned with white braids, you wouldn't immediately think of Elsa Hilger as the history-making type. But as the first woman to play in a major American orchestra - apart from harpists - she had an enormous impacton American musical life.

"Sometimes I wish I had come along later," she admitted, "when it was easier. But I guess I broke the ice."

At age 81, the former co-principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra still is playing recitals, and having a wonderfultime at it. Monday at 8 p.m., she will perform at the Siena College Chapel in Loudonville as part of the college's music series. The program will include music by Haydn, Liszt, Saint-Saens and Ravel. General admission tickets, available at thedoor, are $5.

Hilger, who retired from the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1969, had been a conspicuous figure onstage for 3 1/2 decades. When she joined the …