Benjamin Beck

he will take up the same position with the Vienna State Opera/ Vienna Philharmonic. Benjamin has toured worldwide and performed solo and chamber music in venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, Paris Salle Pleyel, Munich National Theatre, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Geneva Victoria Hall, and Tokyo Yamaha Hall. He plays at prestigious festivals, including the Bayreuth Festival and Verbier Festival, and has collaborated with inspiring artists such as Christian Tetzlaff and Midori. Benjamin is regularly invited as principal viola of major European orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester, NDR Elbphilharmonie, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, and Staatsoper Stuttgart, thanks to his earlier experience serving as principal viola at Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich and his two years of playing at Berlin Philharmonic as a scholarship holder of the Karajan Academy. He played under the baton of the most celebrated conductors, Zubin Mehta, Ivor Bolton, and Kazushi Ono have praised his performance. Born in the Basque Country of France, Benjamin started to learn the viola at the age of seven. At 14, he went to Paris to pursuit his study and was soon admitted to the Paris Conservatory (CNSM). He graduated from the CNSM and the New England Conservatory in Boston in the class of Kim Kashkashian and Jean Sulem. He receives regular advice from Diemut Po**en. With a passion for academic studies, Benjamin also holds a Musicology degree from Sorbonne University in Paris. At 16, Benjamin participated in his first international competition and won both 1st and special prizes in the Llanes International String Competition. Since then, he has won numerous awards in international competitions, such as Forbesfest International Competition and the Beethoven Hradec Competition. He is a grant holder of the Fondation Safran pour la musique, the fondation vocation and the l’Or du Rhin foundation. In 2015, Benjamin released his first solo album, “Les voix de l’alto”. He has participated in the production of more than 10 CDs, among which the complete Sibelius’ symphonies with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. In April 2023, his second album, “Love beyond Death” will be released by German label GENUIN classics, which features works including Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and Britten’s Lachrymae, etc. As an arranger, Benjamin completed and recorded his first work when he was 18: His transcription of Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise for viola, harp, and the narrator was released by E-label Les Belles Ecouteuses in 2009. His arrangement of the Czech composer Janacek’s masterpiece – The Cunning Little Vixen, into an innovative form for viola, piano, and actor was funded by the French Ministry of Culture in 2019. Benjamin Beck’s most recent project is his arrangement of Wagner’s opera “Lohengrin” for string sextet, which premiered in the Richard Wagner Museum Bayreuth on 28 August 2020 – the 170th birthday of the original opera. This work includes Lohengrin’s most beautiful and impressive moments in a chamber music format. Benjamin engages in various activities to share music with those who have difficulty accessing it. With the Créations en Cours program, he explored music education with children in a rural area of France. With the ICEP/ Music Sharing association, he joined violinist Midori’s string quartet for two extensive tours to perform for the underprivileged in India and hospitalized children in Japan. International presses describe his performance as:

“Benjamin Beck, with his impetuous and magical playing … beautiful phrasing and elegant interpretation … provoked tears of his Basque audience and a standing ovation”— Sud-Ouest, France

“…wonderfully touching and expressive interpretation…a flexibility and soloistic virtuosity making a long-lasting impression…”— Volksfreund, Germany

“…a young musician with a generous and profound sound, powerfully embedding plentiful warmth and roundness…”— 新潟日報モア, Japan