Acclaimed violinists Tina Chang Qu and Jorja Fleezanis to join Interlochen Arts Academy faculty
Interlochen Arts Academy string students will also have the opportunity to work with renowned guest artists Rachel Barton Pine, the Brentano String Quartet, and the Ying Quartet during the 2021-22 academic year.
Tina Chang Qu (left) and Jorja Fleezanis (right).
Rachel Barton Pine
The Brentano Quartet.
The Ying Quartet.
Acclaimed violinists and distinguished teachers Tina Chang Qu and Jorja Fleezanis (AS 63-64, IAC/NMC 65-66, IAA 66-67, 68-69) will join the Interlochen Arts Academy string faculty in the fall of 2021.
Qu performs regularly around the globe as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. She will serve as a full-time instructor of violin at Interlochen Arts Academy. A sought-after performing artist and teacher, Fleezanis made history as the second woman to hold the title of concertmaster in a major US orchestra when she was appointed to the Minnesota Orchestra in 1989. An alumna of both Arts Camp and Arts Academy, she returns to Interlochen for the 2021-22 school year to serve as visiting faculty for creative orchestral studies at the Academy.
“Tina and Jorja are world-class teaching artists and we are thrilled to welcome them to our Music Department,” said Enrique Márquez, director of music at Interlochen Center for the Arts. “Our students will benefit immeasurably from their wealth of experience in teaching and performing and their global perspective.”
Qu joins Interlochen from the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, where she coached chamber ensembles. She also served as acting concertmaster of the Los Angeles Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and as a member of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, as associate concertmaster of the New West Symphony, and as a frequent visiting musician of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She formerly taught at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Qu received a master’s degree from the Juilliard School and a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. Her principal teachers include Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, Felix Galimir, Pamela Frank, Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, and Alice Schoenfeld. Among her recordings and DVDs, she premiered “The Sunshine” by Ping Anjun as soloist with the National Orchestra of China.
Fleezanis joins Interlochen from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she taught orchestral studies. Prior to her appointment to the Minnesota Orchestra, where she was the longest-tenured concertmaster in the orchestra’s history, Fleezanis was associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony and a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has served as a visiting faculty member at Boston Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and the Shepherd School of Music, and has been on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West summer festival since 2015. She previously served as guest faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp and Interlochen Arts Academy. Fleezanis is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
A number of works have been commissioned for Fleezanis, including the John Adams Violin Concerto and Ikon of Eros by John Tavener, the latter recorded on Reference Records. Her many recordings include the complete violin sonatas of Beethoven with the French fortepianist Cyril Huvé, which was released in 2003 on the Cyprés label.
During the 2021-22 academi year, Interlochen Arts Academy string students will also have the opportunity to work with several renowned guest artists, including violinist Rachel Barton Pine, the Brentano String Quartet, and the Ying Quartet.
Qu and Fleezanis join Interlochen at a time of exciting growth in the Music Department. In April arts leader and musician Enrique Márquez was appointed Interlochen’s Director of Music. This July, for the third consecutive summer, musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will mentor Interlochen Arts Camp students. In 2019, the renowned conductor Cristian Măcelaru became the inaugural Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Arts Camp’s flagship musical ensemble, following the opening of Interlochen’s $24 million state-of-the-art Music Center.
About Rachel Barton Pine
Celebrated as a leading interpreter of great classic and contemporary work, violinist Rachel Barton Pine has appeared as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A champion of new music, Pine has commissioned major works from Billy Childs, Mohammed Fairouz, José Serebrier, and Augusta Read Thomas, among others. Pine has an extensive, 39-album discography and is a laureate of many prestigious competitions, including the J.S. Bach International Violin Competition.
About the Brentano String Quartet
Currently in residence at Yale School of Music, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared in prestigious venues across the globe. Founded in 1992, the ensemble has earned both Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and was one of the inaugural members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber music Society Two. Champions of the full range of quartet repertoire, the quartet has a deep interest in both very old and very new music.
About the Ying Quartet
The Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet has established itself as an ensemble of the highest musical qualifications. Driven by the belief that music can be a meaningful part of everyday life, the ensemble has appeared at a wide variety of venues, ranging from prestigious concert halls to workplaces, schools, and juvenile prisons. The quartet’s ongoing LifeMusic project has sponsored commissions from both established and emerging composers to create music that reflects contemporary American life. The quartet is currently in residence at the Eastman School of Music.