BenjaminBeilman

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  • Violin

About Benjamin

Benjamin Beilman is one of the leading violinists of his generation. He has won international praise for his passionate performances and deep rich tone which The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence”, and the Strad described as “pure poetry.“ Le Monde has described him as “a prodigious artist, who combines the gift of utmost sound perfection and a deep, delicate, intense, simmering sensitivity”.

Benjamin’s 2024/25 season includes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko on tour in the US, as well as returns to the Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and Antwerp Symphony. He also makes his debut with the Belgian National Orchestra performing Stravinsky’s concerto, and with the Tokyo Metropolitain Symphony performing Korngold. In the US, he also embarks on a recital tour with pianist Steven Osborne.

Last season included Benjamin's subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony with Semyon Bychkov, and six weeks of performances in Europe, including concerts with the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart alongside Elim Chan, a return to the Kölner Philharmonie with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, and appearances at the Grafenegg Festival, Festpielhaus St. Pölten, and the Musikverein in Vienna with the Tonkünstler Orchester and Tabita Berglund. He also returned to play-direct the London Chamber Orchestra, and re-united with Ryan Bancroft for his debut with BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Meanwhile, performances in the US included his debut with the St Louis Symphony under Cristian Macelaru, as well as returns to the Minnesota Orchestra with Elim Chan.

In past seasons, Benjamin has performed with many major orchestras worldwide including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, Sydney Symphony, and Houston Symphony. He has also extensively toured Australia in recital under Musica Aviva, and in 2022, became one of the youngest artists to be appointed to the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.


In recent seasons Beilman’s commitment to and passion for contemporary music has led to new works written for him by Frederic Rzewski (commissioned by Music Accord), and Gabriella Smith (commissioned by the Schubert Club in St. Paul, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music). He has also given multiple performances of Jennifer Higdon’s violin concerto, and recorded Thomas Larcher’s concerto with Hannu Lintu and the Tonkünstler Orchester, as well as premiered Chris Rogerson’s Violin Concerto (“The Little Prince”) with the Kansas City Symphony and Gemma New.

Conductors with whom he works include Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Cristian Măcelaru, Lahav Shani, Krzysztof Urbański, Ryan Bancroft, Matthias Pintscher, Gemma New, Karina Canellakis, Jonathon Heyward, Juraj Valčuha, Han-Na Chang, Elim Chan, Roderick Cox, Rafael Payare, Osmo Vänskä, and Giancarlo Guerrero.

Beilman studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank, and with Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy, and has received many prestigious accolades including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a London Music Masters Award. He has also recorded works by Stravinsky, Janáček and Schubert for Warner Classics. He perfoms with the ex-Balaković F. X. Tourte bow (c. 1820), and plays the “Ysaÿe” Guarneri del Gesù from 1740, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

Benjamin is based in New York City

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Contact

Adelaide Docx

Adelaide Docx

Associate Director & Manager, Artists
Katharina Sommer

Katharina Sommer

Assistant Manager: Touring & Artists

Representation

European management with Askonas Holt

Partner Managers:
Opus 3 Artists (general management)

Season Highlights

Oct 2024
Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp
Korngold concerto for violin in D major, Op.35 Roderick Cox (conductor)
Oct 2024
Cincinnati Music Hall
Saint Saens Violin concerto No.3 Ramon Tebar (conductor)
Nov 2024
Berlin Philharmonic, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
Korngold Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 Kirill Petrenko (conductor)
Jan 2025
Laeiszhalle, Hamburg
Bruch Violin concerto No.1 in G minor, Op.26 Ha-Na Chang (conductor)
Mar 2025
Suntory Hall, Tokyo
Korngold Violin concerto in D major, Op.35 Killian Farrel (conductor)
Apr 2025
Henry Le Boeuf Hall, Brussels
Stravinsky Violin concerto Michael Schonwandt (conductor)

Photos

Selected Repertoire

Barber

Violin Concerto, Op.14

Beethoven

Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61

Berg

Violin Concerto

Brahms

Violin Concerto, Op.77   •   Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, Op.102

Britten

Violin Concerto, Op.15

Bruch

Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, Op.26

Dvořák

Violin Concerto, Op.53

Haydn

Violin Concerto in C Major, Hob.VIIa:1

Higdon

Violin Concerto

Korngold

Violin Concerto, Op.35

Larcher

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Martin

Polyptyque

Mendelssohn

Double Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Strings   •   Violin Concerto, Op.64

Mozart

Violin Concerto No.3 in G major, K.216   •   Violin Concerto No.5 in A minor, K.219   •   Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major, K.364

Ogonek

In Silence

Prokofiev

Violin Concerto No.1, Op.19

Rogerson

The Little Prince

Saint-Saëns

Violin Concerto No.3, Op.61

Sibelius

Violin Concerto, Op.47

Stravinsky

Violin Concerto K075

Szymanowski

Violin Concerto No.1, Op.35

Tchaikovsky

Violin Concerto, Op.35

Sample Programmes

  • Exploring the influence of instrument on performer (played on the "Ysaye" Guarneri del Gesu)

    Ysaye: Solo Sonata No.3 "Ballade" Tartini arr. Kreisler: Devil's Trill Sonata Paganini: Cantabile Schubert: Rondo Brilliante Intermission Franck: Sonata

  • Clara Schumann: 3 Romances Brahms: G major Sonata Op.78 Intermission Lili Boulanger: 2 Pieces for Violin and Piano Saint Saëns: Violin Sonata No.1 in D minor (or Franck or Faure No.1)

News

Press

  • Chicago Symphony, Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3, Op. 61 conducted by Semyon Bychkov

    Chicago Symphony Hall
    Dec 2023
    • Charm is not a quality in vast supply these days culturally, socially or otherwise. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s penultimate program of the year, led by Semyon Bychkov, had an abundant supply of it, courtesy of Benjamin Beilman.

  • Tonkunstler Orchester, Dvorak Violin Concerto, conducted by Marc Albrecht

    Brucknerhaus Linz, Grosser Saal
    Nov 2023
    • Benjamin Beilman has truly earned the title "Poet among the star violinists". He narrates with a captivating, beguiling tone and stupendous technique, passionately and wholeheartedly

  • Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Saint Saens Violin COncerto No. 3 conducted by Michael Schonwandt

    Congresshalle Saarbrucken
    Nov 2023
    • The young Benjamin Beilman with his Guarneri violin was exactly the right interpreter for Saint-Saëns' third violin concerto. The much-played concerto, written for Sarasate, not only gives the soloist the opportunity to emphasise the themes with a powerful, rich tone, but also to combine vocalism, virtuoso bowing and fingering technique with intense passion. Beilman impressed with his clear and beautiful interpretation.

  • l’Orchestre national de Montpellier, Jennifer Higdon conducted by Roderick Cox

    Opéra Berlioz
    Dec 2023
    • A first-rate performer. His perfect intonation always knows how to be "in the bull's-eye" of the note. He seized the first movement with his luminous sonority… The middle Chaconni was bursting with lyricism, which Beilman served up with effusive, modest poetry. The final movement could go round in vain circles, were it not for the intelligence of a virtuoso and a conductor who, in perfect complicity, metamorphosed its frantic race into a pure - and irresistible! - élan vital.

  • St. Louis Symphony, Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 conducted by Cristian Măcelaru

    Oct 2023
    • The flourishes of dynamic interplay aside, for long stretches of the concerto, it’s a dance song. You could grab your partner and dance to it. Beilman, though not stagey about it, danced throughout the entire performance. I was thinking Beilman danced with his violin more like a village fiddler than a concert violinist. Then, for his encore, he called Macelaru – now toting a fiddle of his own! – back onstage to play two Bella Bartok fiddle duets with him. It was a brilliantly generous and loving idea.