3 questions to Benjamin Beilman
What role does music play in your life?
At the risk of sounding blunt or trite, music is everything in my life. I first picked up the violin at the age of 5 and even before then, I heard my older sister practicing violin. I can’t remember a time when music was not in some way a facet of my day.
What does the Mozart concerto mean to, which you are going to play with the Guerzenich-Orchestra?
This Mozart concerto is an old friend. I first fell in love with the work 15 years ago and performed it soon afterward. Violinists are not as lucky as pianists, but we are fortunate to have these 5 violin concertos by Mozart. This one is by far his most magnificent and the one I most enjoy performing.
In music sometimes private or intimate themes are dealt with in public. How private or how public is musicmaking in a concert for you?
Ideally it should be both and that’s what I find so appealing. Of course it’s obvious that in a concert hall there are 50 to 100 people on stage and far more in the audience. Sharing in an ephemeral experience with several thousand other people is meaningful and comforting. What I find most gratifying, though, is the dialogue we have with just one other. I mentioned this connection to past selves, distant composers, and faded memories earlier; personal reflection is a precious thing which we could all afford to do more.
Benjamin Beilman will play the concerto for violin and orchestra No. 5 in A-Flat by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on November 10/11/12, 2019.
