Welcome to the official website of violist Benjamin Beck

An award-winning musician, Benjamin Beck performs as a soloist and principal viola in renowned orchestras, and teaches as a professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. He is an exceptionally versatile and explorative musician, which he expresses through his innovative arrangements and research projects to explore connections between classical music and various other art forms.

International Press:

“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

Benjamin has toured across the world 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, New York Carnegie Hall, and Tokyo Yamaha Hall. He plays at prestigious festivals including the Bayreuth Festival and Verbier Festival, and has collaborated with the most inspiring artists of the time, such as violinists Christian Tetzlaff and Midori.

Apart from his soloist career, 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, Cornelius Mayer, and Bertrand de Billy have praised his performance.

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. The concert tour of this project has already received praise from the audience and presses in various cities of southern Germany. Another recent work is his arrangement of Janacek's masterpiece - "The Cunning Little Vixen" into an innovative art form named by him as a "musical tale", which was funded by the French Ministry of Culture in the year 2019.

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Benjamin Beck, musician

Playing music is an immense privilege and joy. It can speak directly to the heart of each person: music does not need words. I seek the most sincere and direct routes to express its unspeakable emotions and feelings and to communicate with the audience in the voice of music.

To fulfill this passion and making my viola a voice of its own, I am continually exploring new experiences and possibilities in performing, creating and sharing.”

Benjamin Beck

Performing, creating and sharing
classical music to more ...

 

Benjamin Beck is actively creating new content and looking for innovative ways to engage with his audience. This rich perspective is a great way to define his musical identity. It consists of many projects, researches and collaborations, which transform his interactions with the public into intense and personal moments. Through the years, Benjamin developed various projects, keeping a clear focus on expression and narration.

viola, music
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musician, viola, Benjamin Beck, CD
CD release

Featured Gyorgy Kurtag, Franz Schubert, Paul Hindemith, Johannes Brahms, Bernd Aloïs Zimmermann, Franck Bridge

The CD is an exploration of the relationship between the viola and voice. Benjamin attempted with the purpose to answer the questions “what makes the viola such a close instrument to the human voice?”, and “How to tell a story only with music?”

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Janacek, the cunning little vixen
Projects

Wagner, Lohengrin
Beethoven, Beethoven Himself
Janacek, The Cunning Little Vixen
Schubert, Winterreise
Fairy Stories and Love Tales

Benjamin Beck’s transcription works turn into the dreamlike performance that blurs the boundaries of the musical genre, where sublime music and fantastical storytelling at times follow one another, and at other times intertwine.

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Listen to Benjamin Beck online

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Contact us

Contact Benjamin Beck for concerts, projects, and educational programs here.

Contact Benjamin Beck