Benjamin Beilman

Benjamin Beilman 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”. Celebrated for his instinctive sense of form and color, Beilman brings a balance of elegance and surprise to his playing—uncovering new depths in familiar works and expanding the violin’s expressive range through his commitment to contemporary music.

Benjamin’s 2025/26 season highlights include appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra performing Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Dresden Philharmonic performing Mozart No. 5, Antwerp Symphony performing Saariaho’s Graal théâtre, Solistes Européens Luxembourg performing Beethoven, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne performing Berg, and the Nashville Symphony performing Britten. He will also curate, stage, and lead two chamber music programs at Sun Valley Music Festival, and continue his ongoing recital partnership with pianist Steven Osborne. In the Summer, he embarks on a month-long tour of Australasia, including appearances with the Sydney Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony with Tabitha Berglund, West Australian Symphony with Anja Bihlmaier, and the Auckland Philharmonia with Giordano Bellincampi.

Last season saw Benjamin’s debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko on tour in the US, as well as returns to the Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, and Antwerp Symphony. He also made his debut with the Belgian National Orchestra in a performance of Stravinsky’s concerto, and with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony performing Korngold.

In past seasons, Benjamin has performed with many major orchestras worldwide including the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago 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 has worked include Elim Chan, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Cristian Măcelaru, Lahav Shani, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Semyon Bychkov, Krzysztof Urbański, Ryan Bancroft, Gemma New, Karina Canellakis, Jonathon Heyward, Juraj Valčuha, Han-Na Chang, 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 performs 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.

You can see Benjamin Beilman live with the Auckland Philharmonia on Thursday 16 July at Mendelssohn’s Violin and Thursday 30 July at Mozart 39.