Virginia Halfmann, Phila. Orchestra violinist

Virginia Halfmann's violin was just one voice among many, but her "monster" talent, colleagues said, contributed mightily to Eugene Ormandy's Philadelphia Sound. The violinist, 68, died Tuesday night of congestive heart failure, nephew John Halfmann said.

Ms. Halfmann was hired by Ormandy in 1972 and retired from the second violin section in 2010.

A gruff exterior belied a kind soul, friends said.

"She was a real character, to say the least, a wonderful character," said Louis Lanza, Ms. Halfmann's stand partner in the orchestra for more than a decade. "Inside, she really was an extremely warm person."

"Her mantra could have been 'the best defense is a good offense,' but if you got to know her, she was a softy," orchestra violinist Philip Kates said.

She donated generously to various causes and put her nephew through college. "She was a very charitable person," John Halfmann said.

Long Island-born, Ms. Halfmann studied with star teachers: Dorothy Delay, Mischa Mischakoff, and Rafael Druian, and at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., from which she graduated in 1965, with Joseph Knitzer. While at Eastman, according to her Philadelphia Orchestra biography, she traveled with the school orchestra on a State Department tour of Europe and the Soviet Union, and was also a member of the Rochester Philharmonic. For two summers she attended the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood.

Previous to Philadelphia, she was a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and played in the string section for several Motown record releases, including Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

But it was her role in Philadelphia's widely admired string lineage that stood out.

"The traditions and legacy of this orchestra and her contribution to it were a tremendous source of pride for Virginia," Kates said. "Many of the valuable lessons on how to be a meaningful part of a great orchestra I learned my first years here under the keen eyes, and ears, of Virginia."

She also is survived by three brothers; a sister; and nieces and nephews.

Details of a memorial service were not set.