London Chamber Orchestra with Benjamin Beilman (violin)

We thought about calling this concert ‘The ‘Monstrously Talented’ Mr Beilman’, not because it relates to a Patricia Highsmith novel, (though there’ll be plenty of slaying by Benjamin on his “Ysaÿe” Guarneri del Gesù violin from 1740), but so we could use one of our favourite quotes about this amazing violinist.

We first collaborated with Ben back in 2016 and we’re happy to be back together for a concert that he’ll direct and perform the solo in Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major. The concert starts with Entr’acte by the American composer Caroline Shaw, who moves between musical genres, winning awards and accolades left, right and centre. The larger than life Igor Stravinsky wrote his concerto for strings after moving to Hollywood in the golden age of the 1940s. Meanwhile, over on the East Coast, Aaron Copland was writing Appalachian Spring which went on to earn him a Pulitzer Prize for music.