Gloria Justen

Gloria Justen, Violinist and Composer, is both a passionate performer of the classics and an innovative artist trying new approaches to music. Ms. Justen grew up in Houston, Texas, and from 1984-1990 she attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her principal violin teachers were Fredell Lack and Szymon Goldberg. Currently residing in San Francisco, Gloria is dividing her time between East Coast and West Coast. Ms. Justen has played with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia since 1985, serving as Concertmaster since 2004. From 1990 to 2008 she performed and toured internationally with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a substitute violinist. She is associated with groups in Philadelphia and San Francisco such as Network for New Music, Orchestra 2001, the Relache Ensemble, the Empyrean Ensemble, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and the magic*magic orchestra, and she has premiered and recorded many works by living composers. She has toured with the Philip Glass Ensemble for the Book of Longing project. Ms. Justen has enjoyed collaborations with musicians from diverse backgrounds, modern dancers and visual artists. Improvisation in various genres spurred her to create her own compositions. Some of these are written in the traditional manner for acoustic instruments, and others are digital sound collages incorporating electronics, field recordings, and surround sound concepts. Her first CD of original music, Four-Stringed Voice, is a collection of pieces for solo violin. Most recently her composition “Not Created or Destroyed” was performed by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.