French Tapestry

Casual Concert: Postponed​
Salon Concert: Postponed

​The music of French impressionists Debussy and Ravel is at times pure, innocent and crystalline, and elsewhere extroverted and passionate, developing out of the romantic expression of 19th century composers like Gounod and Faure. Their love of the harp and its vibrant colors opened composers up to new stylistic possibilities. Filled with French sensibility, this program covers the full spectrum of French romantic and impressionistic modes, including a glance forward with Francis Poulenc’s mesmerizing, bi-tonal duet for two clarinets.

Program

Claude Debussy: Syrinx for Flute Solo
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Two Clarinets, FP 7
Claude Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp
Intermission
Charles Gounod: String Quartet No.3 in A minor, II. Allegro quasi Moderato
Claude Debussy: Selected Pieces from "Children's Corner" arr. for Clarinet and String Quartet 
III. Serenade of the Doll
V. The Little Shepherd
VI. Golliwogg's Ghost
Gabriel Fauré: Berceuse, Op. 16, arr. Clarinet, Harp, and String Quartet
  Gabriel Fauré: Sicilienne Op. 78, arr. for Clarinet, Harp, and String Quartet
Maurice Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet

Listen

Musicians
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Praised for her “communicative, emotionally intense expression” (Jerusalem Post) and for “playing exquisitely” (Dallas Morning News), Emily Levin is the Principal Harpist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Bronze Medal Winner of the 9th USA International Harp Competition. 
Now in her fourth season with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Emily has also performed as Guest Principal Harp with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony, and regularly appears with the New York Philharmonic. As a soloist, she has performed throughout North America and Europe, in venues including Carnegie Hall (New York), the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia) and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Rugen, Germany). At the request of conductors Jaap van Zweden and John Adams, she appeared as soloist with the DSO in 2018 and 2019; other concerto performances include the Jerusalem, Colorado and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Lakes Area Music Festival, among others. For debut album, Something Borrowed, the Classical Recording Foundation named her their 2017 Young Artist of the Year.
Emily is a top prize winner at the two most prestigious harp competitions—the 2013 USA International Harp Competition, where she won the Bronze Medal, and the 2009 International Harp Contest in Israel, where at age 18 she was a Finalist and recipient of the Renie Prize.  She is a 2016 Winner of the Astral Artists national auditions. Dedicated to the performance and commission of new music, Emily is a core member of the New York new music ensemble Ensemble Echappé and the Dallas-based Voices of Change.
A strong believer in music’s impact on community, Levin organized a concert series in early 2017 with her fellow Dallas musicians benefiting the International Rescue Committee and the Refugee Services of Texas.  She is the newly appointed Artistic Director of Fine Arts Chamber Players, a concert chamber music series at the Dallas Museum of Art that presents seven chamber concerts presented free of charge to the general public. At inaugural DSO Women in Classical Music Symposium, she will be featured as a concerto soloist and will also moderate a panel discussion on classical entrepreneurship. 
Emily was named Adjunct Associate Professor of Harp at Southern Methodist University in 2019. She received her Master of Music degree in 2015 at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Nancy Allen and she completed undergraduate degrees in Music and History at Indiana University with Susann McDonald. Her honors history thesis discussed the impact of war songs on the French Revolution. Connect with her at www.emilylevinharp.com.
At 26 years old, flutist Gabriel Fridkis is quickly establishing himself as a distinguished orchestral musician and sought-after soloist. Gabriel began his musical studies at seven years of age at the Westminster Conservatory of Music in Princeton, NJ.  At 11, Gabriel debuted with his brother, Jake Fridkis at the National Flute Convention in San Diego, premiering a duet by world-renowned flutist and composer Gary Schocker. At 12, Gabriel toured Europe as the soloist with a chamber orchestra, performing in Prague, Florence and across Eastern Europe, as well as beginning studies in the private studio of Mr. Schocker as his youngest full-time student. As an orchestral musician, Gabriel played in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra throughout high school and attended the Kinhaven Music Festival.
After taking a three-year hiatus from music to study law and business at American University in Washington D.C., Gabriel resumed his musical studies with Dr. Tara Helen O’Connor at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase. At Purchase he won the Purchase Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in his first semester, performing the Ibert Concerto under the baton of conductor and legendary flute soloist, Ransom Wilson and graduated summa cum laude in three years. 
Gabriel won a position in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before completing his Bachelor of Music degree. He moved to Chicago to join the orchestra while concurrently pursuing a Masters degree at DePaul University in the studio of Mark Sparks. During his first year in Chicago in addition to his studies Gabriel appeared as a soloist with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and won the Principal Flute chair in the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Gabriel received his Master of Music degree in the spring of 2018, while simultaneously completing his first season with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and second season with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. During these two years Gabriel also performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony and the San Antonio Symphony.
During his years in school Gabriel attended many music festivals including a summer in the National Repertory Orchestra, two summers with the Aspen Music Festival, one at the Brevard Music Center where he was the winner of the Jean and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, as well as taking part in the Breckenridge, Eastern, and Banff music festivals. Gabriel has had the opportunity to work with conductors including Riccardo Muti, Christoph Eschenbach, Osmo Vanska, Ken-David Masur and Robert Spano, and soloists such as Yo Yo Ma, Andre Watts and Augustin Hadelich. Gabriel also studied with Stefan Hoskuldsson, Demarre McGill, Ransom Wilson, Marianne Gedigian, and Nadine Asin.
Gabriel won the position of Assistant Principal Flute in the Fort Worth Symphony in the fall of 2018, a position he currently holds. In addition to his orchestral and solo work, Gabriel also performs with his brother and duo partner, Jake Fridkis.
Stas Chernyshev, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, is recently appointed principal clarinetist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder and artistic director of Fort Worth Performances for Autism, and a co-director of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series. Mr. Chernyshev is a prize winner of many international competitions, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan. A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Chernyshev has collaborated with Grammy-winning ensemblesEighth Blackbird and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, commissioned new works for his instrument. He has been featured on WQXR -New York’s classical music station and WHYY’s television program - On Stage at Curtis. Mr. Chernyshev holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and a Master’s degree from St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia. He is an alumnus of Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW), a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute, and ArtistYear, a program of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Ann Hung, born in Taipei, Taiwan, began her musical studies at a young age, starting with piano at age five and clarinet at age nine. Dr. Hung is an active performer in the Dallas and Fort Worth area who regularly performs in the realms of both the orchestral and chamber music. She has shared the stage with the Fort Worth Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the faculty of the Juilliard School. Dr. Hung is always pushing the boundaries of her repertoire and skills, such as collaborating with jazz musicians and commissioning new composers. As a proponent of new music, she has avidlycommissioned new works including a wind quintet with her quintet Opus Now premiering in Symphony Space in NYC. One of the new works that Dr. Hung commissioned is included in a recently released album “Stained Glass Story” by Eldad Tarmu. Dr. Hung is currently teaching in Lewisville ISD, Burleson ISD as private lesson instructor and often plays with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. She is the associate director of the Fort Worth Performances for Autism and co- founder of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series.
Jen Betz has been a member of the first violin section of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 2012. Originally from California, she began playing the violin at age seven.
She studied at the preparatory division in San Francisco Conservatory with Doris Fukawa and then with Zaven Melikian at the San Domenico School in San Anselmo, CA. She was accepted into the studio of Almita and Roland Vamos at Northwestern University and was also a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2007-2008. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree, she moved to Miami to play with the New World Symphony as a Fellow for four years. There she worked closely with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas and Esa- Pekka Salonen. She now lives in Fort Worth with her husband, her beautiful daughter, and two rescued lab mixes.
Molly Baer joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Before moving to Texas, Molly was a violin fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. She graduated from the New England Conservatory in Boston as a student of Miriam Fried, and received her Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music, where she studied with Andrés Cárdenes. Molly has participated in the National Orchestral Institute, National Repertory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and Music Academy of the West. Molly grew up in a suburb of Baltimore and enjoys returning to spend time with her family.
A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Dmitry Kustanovich immigrated with his family to the U.S. at age 5, settling in Worcester, MA. After completing violin studies at the New England Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, Dmitry became a violist. He then attended the Curtis Institute of Music, working with Joseph de Pasquale.
Dmitry joined the FWSO in 2005. He has also performed with the
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Seattle Symphony orchestras. He has toured the U.S. and Europe, working with many of the world's greatest conductors.
His summers at the Greenwood Music Camp and participation in Alexander Schneider's New York String Seminar propelled him into a career in music. In his spare time, Dmitry enjoys playing chamber music with his FWSO colleagues in their group Sedici Strings, road trips, hiking, cycling, baseball and chess.
Allan Steele, principal cellist with the Fort Worth Symphony, is a performer, teacher, and composer. Mr. Steele maintains an active solo career and has performed with the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, and others. He has premiered several works in chamber or orchestral settings by composers such as Mark Antony Turnage and Stephen Cohn, as well as performing the world premiere of Henri Lazarof's Fifth Cello Concerto. Mr. Steele has studied with a number of notable pedagogues such as Tanya Carey, Hans Jensen, and Susan Moses. Music festival appearances include Indiana University's Summer String Program, The Meadowmount School of Music, and the Montreal International String Quartet Academy. He is a graduate of the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where he studied with Ronald Leonard. He is a regular in the chamber music scene, performing with musicians such as Edgar Myers, Paul Coletti, Arnold Steinhardt, and Vadym Kholodenko. Steele is a founding member of the classical music group, "MC2" and devotes much of his spare time to composing and arranging. ​
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