Meet the Orchestra Header 2022

BFO Principal Winds

STRINGS  |  WINDS  |  BRASS  |  PERCUSSION/KEYBOARD/HARP

Leslie Fagan, Principal Flute

leslie fagan

Leslie Fagan is currently Assistant Principal Flute of the Nashville Symphony, and has also held the position of Principal Flute of the Britt Festival Orchestra since 2008.

Before moving to Nashville, Leslie was Assistant Principal Flute with the Omaha Symphony for nine seasons. She has performed with the St. Louis Symphony as well as with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, participating in their 2009 Asia Tour.

She is currently Adjunct Flute Instructor at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music and holds a Doctorate of Music in Flute Performance from Northwestern University. After completing her undergraduate degree in flute performance from Indiana University, Leslie spent 8 months studying with Trevor Wye, in Kent, England. Her other teachers include Peter Lloyd, Kathryn Lukas, and Walfrid Kujala. 

Principal Oboe, Alex Kinmonth

Alex Kinmonth web

Alex Kinmonth was appointed Principal Oboe of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Leonard Slatkin in 2015 at the age of twenty-one, at the time making him one of the youngest Principal musicians in a major American orchestra. He can be heard on the DSO’s most recent “Live from Orchestra Hall” recordings of Copland’s Third Symphony, the Brahms Symphonies and Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1, 2, 4, and 6. He also makes regular solo appearances with the DSO and other orchestras across the country, most recently performing the Strauss, Mozart, and John Williams concertos. Alex earned his Bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Nathan Hughes of the Metropolitan Opera and graduated with the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music.

Mr. Kinmonth is also Principal Oboe of the Britt Festival Orchestra which he joined in 2019, and has recently played as Guest Principal with the New York Philharmonic, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and the Bellingham Festival Orchestra. He has also substituted in the Metropolitan Opera on both oboe and English horn, and in the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra. Read More

Andrea Levine, Principal Clarinet

Andrea Levine Headshot

A native of Queens, New York, Andrea Levine was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Louisville Orchestra in 2003.  She also served as Acting Principal Clarinet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the 2017-2018 season. She won the position of interim assistant principal of the Colorado Symphony during the 2011-2012 season. She also won the position of interim second clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra during the 2007-2008 season and joined them on two European tours. Prior to coming to Louisville, she spent a year as a member of the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida.  Before joining New World, she served as Interim Principal Clarinet of the Akron Symphony while completing a Professional Studies Diploma at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  She completed her undergraduate degree at the Eastman School of Music.  In addition to serving as Principal Clarinet of the Britt Festival Orchestra, she holds the same position at the Artosphere Festival.  She has appeared as guest principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Detroit Symphony and the Saint Louis Symphony. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Louisville Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and with the Eastman Philharmonia.

She is also an active teacher, having presented masterclasses at the Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, University of Florida, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Tennessee, and the University of Louisville. She recently served as Adjunct Professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Teachers with whom she has studied include Daniel Gilbert, Kenneth Grant, Franklin Cohen, Yehuda Gilad, Mitchell Estrin, and Ricardo Morales

She loves living in Louisville with her husband, Jack Griffin, and their two Cockapoos, Gus and Leo.

Erich Heckscher, Principal Bassoon

erich heckscher

Erich Heckscher is Principal Bassoon of the National Philharmonic and Maryland Symphony Orchestras and the Maryland Lyric Opera Orchestra.  He served as Acting Second Bassoon with the National Symphony Orchestra for the 2011/2012 season and guest Principal Bassoon with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2000, and previously held positions with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet and Alabama Symphony Orchestras.  Mr. Heckscher has performed with the Baltimore, Dallas, Oregon, Richmond, Virginia and Charleston Symphony Orchestras, and locally with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra and Washington National Opera.  Solo appearances include the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and the Britt Festival Orchestra, where he has been Principal Bassoon since 2000.  He has participated in the Sarasota, Kent/Blossom, Chautauqua, National Orchestral Institute and National Repertory Orchestra summer festivals.

Mr. Heckscher holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Southern Methodist University, studying with K. David Van Hoesen, John Hunt and Wilfred Roberts.  He was on the bassoon faculty at the University of Maryland from 2012 to 2021, and at Texas A&M University at Commerce from 1997-1999.

BFO Winds

FLUTE
Leslie Fagan, Principal*
Gloria Yun*
Flute III/Piccolo/ Utility- Open

PICCOLO
Open

OBOE
Alex Kinmonth, Principal
Mark Debski
Jason Lichtenwalter+*

ENGLISH HORN
Jason Lichtenwalter+*

CLARINET
Andrea Levine, Principal*
Clarinet II/ Utility- Open
Tzuying Huang*

BASS CLARINET
Tzuying Huang*

BASSOON
Erich Heckscher, Principal+
Jenny Gunter*
Rebecca Watson

CONTRABASSOON
Rebecca Watson

+ Orchestra Member for 20 or more years

*On Leave of Absence in 2024