Jorja Kay Fleezanis (March 19, 1952 – September 9, 2022) was an American violinist and the Henry A. Upper Chair at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Fleezanis grew up in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, the daughter of

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immigrants. A graduate of Cass Technical High School, she studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cincinnati Conservatory and later won a position in the Chicago Symphony. Fleezanis was concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1989 to 2009—the longest-tenured concertmaster in the orchestra's history and only the second woman in the U.S. to hold the title of concertmaster in a major orchestra when appointed. Prior to Minnesota, she was associate concertmaster with the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

for eight years. In 1994, she premiered

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

' Violin Concerto—a work commissioned for her by the Minnesota Orchestra—with then-music director Edo de Waart leading the orchestra. Fleezanis became an adjunct faculty member at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

's School of Music in 1990. She also maintained teaching roles with other organizations as teacher and artist at the Music Academy of the West (2013–2022); Round Top Festival Institute in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(1990–2007); artist in residence at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, Davis; guest artist and teacher at the San Francisco Conservatory, where she served on the faculty from 1981 to 1989; artist and mentor at the Music@Menlo Festival (2003–2008); teacher and coach at the New World Symphony (1988–2017) and a visiting teacher to the Boston Conservatory, the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, and Interlochen Academy and Summer Camp. Fleezanis was married to the music critic Michael Steinberg. She died on September 9, 2022, at the age of 70.Violinist Jorja Fleezanis has died aged 70
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* 1952 births 2022 deaths Cleveland Institute of Music alumni Indiana University faculty Musicians from Detroit University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century American classical violinists 21st-century American classical violinists Classical musicians from Michigan American people of Greek descent Concertmasters Players of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Players of the San Francisco Symphony {{US-violinist-stub