Jorja Fleezanis, longtime concertmaster for Minnesota Orchestra, dies at 70

Violinist Jorja Fleezanis brought warmth, joy and passion to the music she played, the audiences who experienced it, and her interactions with those who knew her.

The Minnesota Orchestra's longest-tenured concertmaster died suddenly at age 70 on Saturday at her home in Lake Leelanau, Mich., where she had recently retired. The Minnesota Orchestra's first female concertmaster was the second woman to reach that level of leadership with a major American orchestra.

"Jorja was a wonderful musician, and she had so much passion and love for music," said Osmo Vanska, the last of three Minnesota Orchestra music directors under whom she served. "She was always open-minded when speaking about life, food and wine, new ideas and, of course, music."

Fleezanis followed her previous music director, Edo de Waart , to Minneapolis when she joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1989. He had been music director at the San Francisco Symphony, where Fleezanis had been associate concertmaster. Before that, she'd been a violinist in the Chicago Symphony and concertmaster of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.

"Jorja Fleezanis was a force of nature," de Waart said. "Jorja put more into her music than anyone I ever worked with. She had a tremendous instinct for how things should be played. In my experience that is a rare talent — as was her ability to be absolutely charming and frank at the same time. Jorja was a great friend, and her passing is a tremendous loss to me and the world of classical music."

In her 20 years as concertmaster, Fleezanis acted as the leader of the orchestra's musicians in all matters musical, as well as being principal violin soloist. It was a role she mastered like few others, said Bob Neu, the Minnesota Orchestra's vice president and general manager from 1995 to 2014.

"She was, by a long shot, the finest concertmaster I have ever known," Neu said in a Facebook post Sunday night.

"I never experienced her having a diva moment. I never knew her to give less than 100% on and off stage, and I always knew I could rely on her for honest and sound advice."

Fleezanis was frequently a featured soloist with the orchestra on new and seldom-performed concertos, known for impeccable, adventurous musicianship and colorful attire. In 1994, she premiered John Adams' Violin Concerto with the orchestra and later debuted John Tavener's "Ikon of Eros," also acting as soloist for the orchestra's recording of that work.

She was half of a Twin Cities classical music power couple. Her husband, musicologist Michael Steinberg, a celebrated classical music writer, died in 2009. Their lively dinner parties became salons for many Twin Citians working in the arts, complete with after-dinner poetry readings.

In 1990, she also became an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Music. In 2009, she left the Twin Cities to join the faculty of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music as the chair in orchestral studies.

Her last Twin Cities performance was in May, when a "Jorja Fleezanis and friends" concert at Minneapolis' Westminster Hall featured the premiere of a work she commissioned from composer Jessica Meyer.

A memorial service in Minneapolis is planned.

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.