Grammy-Winning Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Performs with Rising-Star Violinist Benjamin Beilman

Aliso Viejo, CA – The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arvo Volmer and featuring violinist Benjamin Beilman, performs at Soka Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, February 7, 2018, at 8:00 p.m.

With its origins as a small radio orchestra in 1926, ENSO has become Estonia’s representative orchestra over the years, powerfully increasing its international scope through recent tours. Led by Music Director Neeme Järvi, the orchestra has won numerous awards for its quality recordings, including a Grammy for its album of Sibelius’s cantatas. The program will include Eller’s Homeland Tune; Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64; and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70.

Estonian conductor Arvo Volmer is widely commended for his powerful performances in both opera and concert. Volmer also held the position of Music Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra which he led on tours to Los Angeles and New York’s Carnegie Hall and in projects such as the highly acclaimed, five-year Mahler cycle.

Twenty-seven-year-old American violinist Benjamin Beilman is recognized as one of the fastest rising stars of his generation, becoming known in North America and Europe for his passionate performances and deep rich tone. Critics describe his playing as “mightily impressive” (Washington Post) and declare that his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence showed why he has come so far so fast” (New York Times). Beilman is the recipient of the prestigious 2014 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a 2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a 2012 London Music Masters Award. In 2010, he won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and First Prize in the 2010 Montréal International Musical Competition.