Classically European (Great Falls, VA)

Travel through eighteenth-century Europe with music by three extraordinary composers. Discover the elegant music of Marianna Martines, hear the brilliance of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins featuring Paragon's concertmaster, Diana LeGrand, and associate concertmaster, Stephanie Flack, and enjoy Haydn's Symphony No. 83, affectionately known as "The Hen." This program celebrates music that continues to inspire audiences nearly three centuries later.

Marianna Martines - Sinfonia in C major

Bach - Concerto for Two Violins in D minor

Diana LeGrand and Stephanie Flack, violins

Haydn - Symphony No. 83 in G minor, "La poule"

DIANA LEGRAND (concertmaster) from Assisi, Italy, started her music studies at age two and a half, learning from her mother, a teacher of violin and piano. At age 15, she was accepted to  the North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) where she studied under the late Elaine Richey, first violinist of the Razamousky String Quartet.  

​She received both her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance and continued her studies at UNCSA with Robert Mann, the founding members of the Juilliard String Quartet, and with Nicholas Mann, second violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet. Returning to Italy, Diana continued her music studies at the Conservatory of Modena, receiving with honors her diploma in Violin Performance. Over the years, she has studied with such notable violinists as Vadim Brodski, first prize winner of the Wieniawski and Paganini International competitions, Paola Besutti  from Florence, Italy, and Emanuel Hurwitz, first violinist of the Melos Ensemble and Aeolian String Quartet. Diana is an active performer and teacher. Both have taken her around the  world to Europe, the Americas, and Asia. She was formerly the concertmaster and soloist  of the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, based in Washington DC, and the current violinist of the Tony nominated Broadway show Forever Tango. She is a 2021 Latin Grammy Nominated Artist in the category of Best Tango Album. Her newly released album “Tango without borders” has already received four nominations for the 2023 Gardel Awards in Argentina.

​A review, by the DC Metro Theatre Arts, has said that “Diana LeGrand was able to bring such passion and drive to her performance through her absolutely breathtaking  solos.”

STEPHANIE SIMS FLACK (associate concertmaster), violinist and teacher, enjoys a busy performing schedule as a freelance chamber and orchestral musician in the Washington DC metro area. Stephanie is excited to be serving as Associate Concertmaster and Co-Founder of Paragon Philharmonia. Formerly a first violinist with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra (PASO), she has had the opportunity to travel to the 2018 International Tango Festival in Medellin, Colombia where PASO was the only US orchestra invited.  Orchestral engagements have included the Cambridge (England) Philharmonic, Ely Sinfonia (Leader), Arizona Opera and Baton Rouge Symphony and she has performed with the American Pops Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, Washington National Cathedral Choral Society and Washington Concert Opera among others. 

In demand nationally and internationally as a workshop clinician and performer, Stephanie is former Co-Director of the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute and has taught at the Bristol Suzuki Workshop in England, Phoenix Phest in Michigan, Inside Music Academy, based in Oregon, and Tamarack Arts in New York.  She has directed and performed on tours to England, Italy, Austria and Germany with Washington Preludio and looks forward to continuing to travel, teach and perform overseas in the coming years. Stephanie received her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Louisiana State University and Master of Arts degree from Indiana University with continuing education at the bi-annual Starling-Delay Juilliard Symposium on violin studies in New York. Stephanie maintains a private violin studio at her home in Alexandria, Virginia where she resides with husband, Sean, daughters, Emily and Shannon and their three dogs, Winnie, Bandit, and Pepper.