Eli Hilborn

Double bassist Eli Hilborn is a first-year Fellow at the New World Symphony. He has performed around the world with various ensembles, including the Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony and Fort Worth Symphony under the batons of famed conductors including Fabio Luisi, Cristian Măcelaru and Jaap van Zweden. Also versed in operatic repertoire, Eli has held the position of Assistant Principal Bass of the Central City Opera since 2025. In 2026 he served as Guest Principal Bass of the Welsh National Opera orchestra.

In 2026 Eli attended the Lucerne Festival Academy, where he performed and toured across Switzerland and Germany with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra under the baton of Jörg Widmann. In 2023 Eli attended the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix Festival in Québec, performing alongside renowned bassist François Rabbath. He also received Honorable Mention in the 2020 Double Bass Lab Orchestral Competition Junior Division and has participated in master classes with notable teachers including Paul Ellison, Ed Barker, François Rabbath, David Allen Moore, Nina DeCesare, Scott Dixon, Brandon Mason, Ali Yazdanfar and Andrew Raciti.

Eli began playing the double bass when he was seven years old and has been performing with orchestras since he was nine. He received his master of music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University studying under Timothy Pitts and completed his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University studying under Kevin Brown.