Four string players have been appointed to the orchestra, including two bassists, one violinist and one cellist
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and its music director Fabio Luisi have announced the appointment of six musicians to the orchestra for the 2025/26 season.
Among the appointments are four string players. Christian Luevano has been appointed associate principal bass, while Alexander Heather joins the bass section. Samantha Bennett joins the second violin section on an interim basis, and SaiSai Ding joins the cello section.
Additionally, Mark Debski has been appointed as interim principal oboe and Paul Hafley as associate principal and E-flat clarinet.
Luevano will take up the role of associate principal bass on 5 January 2026. He studied with Gudrun Raschen and Jeff Bradetich in Denton, TX, and is currently completing his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers include Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. He has been a prizewinner and finalist in nearly every major competition for double bassists in the United States, including the Sphinx, Stulberg and Klein Competitions.
Heather completed his undergraduate studies in London at the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, before earning his master’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for two years.
Bennett studied with Donald Weilerstein and Malcolm Lowe at New England Conservatory. She previously held positions with the Dallas Opera Orchestra and the Sarasota Orchestra, where she was principal second Violin from 2016-2022. She is the founder and co-artistic director of the Sarasota-based new music collective, ensembleNEWSRQ.
Ding began his studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music before moving to the US, where he studied with cellist Ko Iwasaki and Andres Diaz, followed by further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. He is a recent graduate of Southern Methodist University, and has been a prizewinner at numerous competitions.
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