Fresh off her victory at the Santa Fe Opera, Emily Levin has emerged as the Principal Harp winner in Dallas following a September 29, 2015, final round audition with the Dallas Symphony. The audition consisted of three rounds beginning September 21.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the Dallas Symphony Orchestra,” states Levin. There were some wonderful harpists who auditioned for this position, and I feel so thankful for this opportunity—it’s still a bit surreal! The DSO is a fantastic group of musicians, and I am so excited to begin playing with them and working with conductor Jaap van Zweden. Everyone I met was so welcoming, and the Dallas community is really supportive of the arts. I can’t imagine a better place to make music.”
Levin’s new position officially begins with the 2016-2017 season, however she’ll join the orchestra for their April 2016 tour, which includes Wagner’s Die Walkure and the 7th Symphony by Shostakovich.
Curious what candidates were asked to play for the Dallas audition? Here’s the list of required repertoire as posted on the Dallas Symphony’s website:
Solo
Mozart Concerto in C Major for Flute and Harp, first mvt.
Cadenzas
Ma Vlast, Vysehrad, Smetana
Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker, Waltz of the Flowers, Tchaikovsky
Excerpts
Concerto for Orchestra (Harp I), Bartok
Movement 4, bars 42–58 and bars 119–127; mvt. 5, bars 345–356
Symphonie Fantastique, Mvt. II, Berlioz
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Britten
Variation I and Fugue, Reh. I –J
La Mer (Harp I), Debussy
Rehearsal. 2–6; reh. 14 through 2 bars after 15; 4 bars after reh. 33 through 5 bars after 36
Symphony No. 5, Adagietto, Mahler
Tzigane, Ravel
Reh. 4 to 5; reh. 12 to 8 bars after reh. 13
Capriccio Espagnol, Rimsky-Korsakov
Mvt. 4 Cadenza; mvt. 5
Death and Transfiguration, Strauss
Bars 16–19; 1 bar after reh. B through 4 after C
“Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome (Harp I), Strauss
Reh. H to Reh. S
Symphony in Three Movements. Stravinsky
Mvt. 2, 3 bars after reh. 117 to reh. 120; reh. 122 to Reh. 128; mvt. 3, 1 bar before reh. 172 to reh. 177; reh. 191 to Reh. 194
“Magic Fire Music,” Act III, Scene III, from Die Walküre, Wagber
4 bars after reh. 97 through 6 after reh. 100
Final Round
Introduction and Allegro, Ravel
