The Artists
September 23, 2023
Piccinini and Friends
Marina Piccinini, flute, Gary Levinson, violin, DJ Cheek, viola, Allan Steele, cello, June Han, harp
Program includes: Ranjbaran Fountains of Fin, Mozart D Major Quartet, Paganini Serenade for Two violins and Harp, Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp, and Jolivet Chant de Linos String Trio and Harp.
Flute
Marina Piccinini
Hailed by Gramophone as “the Heifetz of the flute,” Marina Piccinini is widely recognized across the world as a daring, dynamic artist with varied musical interests. She is internationally-acclaimed for her interpretive skills, intensely communicative performances, technical command, and powerfully magnetic stage presence, with a distinct and global perspective that informs her work as one of the most compelling advocates of both traditional and new works.
Violin
Gary Levinson
Gary Levinson is the Senior Principal Associate Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. Known for his Bel Canto playing style and adroit technique, Mr. Levinson made his New York Philharmonic solo debut in 1991, under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf, coinciding with the completion of his Master’s of Music degree at the Juilliard School, where his teachers included Dorothy DeLay, Glenn Dicterow and Felix Galimir.
Viola
DJ Cheek
DJ Cheek joins the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as Principal Viola in Fall 2021. Prior to his current appointment, DJ played Principal Viola for four seasons in the Jacksonville Symphony. In recent seasons he appeared as guest Principal with the Indianapolis Symphony and Colorado Music Festival, and as a substitute with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra.
Cello
Allan Steele
Allan Steele was born in Chicago and began studying the cello at the age of four. He studied at the Music Institute of Chicago for four years, and was a long-time member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. He previously studied with Tanya Carey, Hans Jensen, Susan Moses, and most recently, Ronald Leonard at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music.
Harp
June Han
June Han is hailed as a “true and tasteful harpist… [with] exceptionally varied phrasing and a surprising yet innate sense of timing” by the Concert Review Magazine at her debut recital in Carnegie Hall.
She is an active proponent of chamber and contemporary music and has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Speculum Musicae, Manhattan Sinfonietta, Bronx Art Ensemble, Music from Japan, the Group for Contemporary Music, Sequitur Ensemble, Ensemble 21, Mabou Mines, Alarm Will Sound, Talea Ensemble, and Jupiter Chamber Players.
