Benjamin Beilman, violin

Benjamin Beilman is recognized as one of the fastest rising stars of his generation, winning praise both for his passionate performances and deep rich tone which the Washington Post called “mightily impressive,” and The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence.” The Times also praised his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence which showed why he has come so far so fast.” Following his First Prize win at the Montreal Competition, the Strad described his performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto as “pure poetry.”

Highlights of Mr. Beilman’s 2017-18 season include performances with the Houston Symphony, Oregon Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Orchestra St. Luke’s, as well as a multi-city tour of California play-directing the New Century Chamber Orchestra in a program including Bach, Stravinsky, and Andrew Norman. In recital, he will premiere a new work written for him by Frederic Rzewski and commissioned by Music Accord, presented by Boston Celebrity Series and Shriver Hall, and on tour throughout the US in the 17-18 and 18-19 seasons. Abroad, Mr. Beilman will make his Australian concerto debut with the Sydney Symphony where he will perform Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto, and debuts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Trondheim Symphony. He will also perform the European premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s new work at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, and return to the Wigmore Hall in recital.

In the 16-17 season, Mr. Beilman returned to the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin in subscription, and on tour with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He also premiered a new work by Elizabeth Oganek as soloist on the Chicago Symphony’s new music series, and returned to the San Francisco Symphony with Juraj Valčuha. He performed with the Symphony orchestras of Detroit, San Diego, Atlanta, and Grand Rapids, as well as making recital debuts in San Francisco and Vancouver. In Europe, Mr. Beilman has performed with many of the major orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Zurich Tonhalle, and in 16-17 made his debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Krzysztof Urbański, the City of Birmingham Symphony and Vassily Sinaisky, and the Orchestre National de Capitole de Toulouse and Rafael Payare. He also appeared in recital on a ten-city tour of Australia – including debut appearances in Sydney and Melbourne.

In recent seasons, Mr. Beilman has appeared in subscription with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and returned to play with them at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival, and Saratoga. He also made his recital debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie, and at Carnegie Hall, in a program that included the premiere of a new work by David Ludwig commissioned for him by Carnegie Hall. Further recital appearances include performances at the Verbier Festival, Heidelberg Spring Festival, Louvre, Tonhalle Zürich, Wigmore Hall, and Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Mr. Beilman has also previously performed with Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and Sir Neville Marriner, l’Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Malaysian Philharmonic and Hans Graf.

Mr. Beilman has received several prestigious awards including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a London Music Masters Award. In 2010 he won the First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and as First Prize Winner of the 2010 Montréal International Musical Competition and winner of the People’s Choice Award, Beilman recorded Prokofiev’s complete sonatas for violin on the Analekta label in 2011. In 2016 he released his first disc for Warner Classics titled Spectrum, featuring works by Stravinsky, Janacek and Schubert.

Mr. Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy. Mr. Beilman plays the “Engleman” Stradivarius from 1709 generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.