About this Artist
Praised for her "communicative, emotionally intense expression" (Jerusalem Post) and "technical wizardry and artistic intuition" (Herald Times), harpist Emily Levin has forged a multifaceted career as a soloist, orchestral musician, chamber collaborator, artistic director, and advocate for new music.
Levin is now in her seventh season as principal harp with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She has also served as guest principal harp with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Houston Symphony, and appears regularly with the New York Philharmonic.
Guided by her mission to expand the harp repertoire, Levin works extensively with established and emerging composers alike. In 2021, she founded GroundWork(s), an initiative commissioning 52 American composers — one from each state, plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico — to write new works centered on the harp. Levin is also the artistic director of Dallas's Fine Arts Chamber Players (FACP), which presents local musicians in a series of free concerts tailored to families and children.
Levin's 2023/2024 season will also include joining the Boston Symphony as guest principal harp for their fall European tour, performances of Dylan Mattingly's Lacrimae Rerum for two harps and two detuned pianos at Los Angeles's Green Umbrella, a North American tour of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Freude with harpist Michelle Gott, and the release of a new album of trios with violinist Julia Choi and cellist Christine Lamprea.
Levin is the only American to receive top prizes at two of the most prestigious international harp competitions: the USA International Harp Competition and the International Harp Contest in Israel. She is an adjunct associate professor of harp at Southern Methodist University and is on the faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and Young Artist's Harp Seminar. Levin lives in Dallas with her husband, composer Jonathan Cziner, and their dogs Charlie and JoJo.