Program will include Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” and Olga Neuwirth’s Masaot/Clocks without Hands
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (September 29, 2022) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will welcome conductor Matthias Pintscher to Orchestra Hall on October 21-23 for three concerts on the PVS Classical Series. The program will highlight major orchestral works, including Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor with featured violinist Benjamin Beilman, who has been praised by The New York Times for his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence.” Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is one of the most popular works in the repertoire for its melodic richness.
Opening the program is Masaot/Clocks without Hands by composer Olga Neuwirth. The piece was inspired by her grandfather’s Eastern European Jewish musical heritage and reflects on how her complex family history informs her identity. Also on the program is Beethoven’s “Eroica,” a stirring musical depiction of a heroic figure. The composer famously rededicated it to “the memory of a great man” after its original dedicatee, Napoleon Bonaparte, proved to be a tyrant like any other.
2022-2023 SEASON DSO SAFETY POLICIES: The DSO no longer requires audiences to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend performances. Masks are optional although strongly recommended at DSO performances, particularly when Wayne County and surrounding communities are in the high or "red" category as defined by the CDC. The DSO asks audience members to do their part to create a safe environment for everyone and encourages those who are not feeling well to stay home. For those who are unable to attend, the DSO offers ticket donations, exchanges, and credit for future performances this season.
Beethoven’s Eroica & Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto will take place Friday, October 21 at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 22 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 23 at 3 p.m. at Orchestra Hall.
The October 22 performance will also be webcast for free at dso.org and via Facebook Live as part of the DSO’s Live from Orchestra Hall series.
Tickets for these performances start at $15 and can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The title sponsor of the DSO’s Classical Series is PVS Chemicals, Inc. DSO Live is presented by Ford Motor Company Fund and made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Digital programming is produced from the Al Glancy Control Room. The William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series is made possible by a generous grant from the William Davidson Foundation. WRCJ 90.9 FM also supports the Series.
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BEETHOVEN’S EROICA & MENDELSSOHN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO
PVS Classical Series
Friday, October 21 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 22 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, October 23 at 3 p.m.
Matthias Pintscher, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 remains one of the most popular works in the repertoire for its melodic richness, and is played here by Benjamin Beilman, whom The New York Times has praised for his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence.” Beethoven’s Eroica is a stirring musical depiction of a heroic figure. The composer famously rededicated it to “the memory of a great man” after its original dedicatee, Napoleon Bonaparte, proved to be a tyrant like any other. The piece by Olga Neuwirth that opens this program was inspired by her grandfather’s Eastern European Jewish musical heritage and reflects on how her complex family history informs her identity.
OLGA NEUWIRTH Masaot/Clocks without Hands
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"
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About Matthias Pintscher
Matthias Pintscher is the Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. In 2020-2021, Pintscher also began a three-season appointment as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s new Creative Partner. Known equally as one of today’s foremost composers, Pintscher’s works are frequently commissioned and performed by major international orchestras.
Matthias Pintscher opened his 2021-2022 season as the “Theme Composer” of Suntory Hall’s 2021 festival, including the world premiere of his work neharot which he conducted with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In January 2022, his violin concerto written for Leila Josefowicz, Assonanza II, was premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony under Pintscher’s baton. He made debuts in 2021-2022 with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, Lahti Symphony, and Musikkollegium Winterthur. He also returned to the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romance, Barcelona Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Holland Festival, Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Boulez Ensemble. In recent seasons, Pintscher has begun to conduct staged operas, and in 2021-2022 returned to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin to lead Lohengrin, for which he gave the production’s premiere the prior season.
Pintscher has held many titled positions, most recently as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Artist-in-Association for nine seasons. In 2018-2019, he served as the Season Creative Chair for the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, as well as Artist-in-Residence at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He was Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra from 2016-2018.
Pintscher began his musical training in conducting, studying with Pierre Boulez and Peter Eötvös in his early twenties, during which time composing soon took a more prominent role in his life. Pintscher's music is championed by some of today's finest performing artists, orchestras, and conductors. His works have been performed by such orchestras as the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris, among many others. He is published exclusively by Bärenreiter. Pintscher has been on the composition faculty of the Juilliard School since 2014.
About Benjamin Beilman
Benjamin Beilman has won international praise both for his passionate performances and deep rich tone which the Washington Post called “mightily impressive,” and The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence.” The Times has also praised his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence,” and The Strad described his playing as “pure poetry.” A 2018 feature in The Boston Globe remarked that Beilman’s “playing already has its own sure balance of technical command, intensity, and interpretive finesse.”
Highlights of Beilman’s 2021-2022 season included performances of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Concerto with the Indianapolis, Toledo, and Charlotte Symphonies, as well as the premiere a new Violin Concerto by Chris Rogerson with the Kansas City Symphony and Gemma New. In Europe, highlights included performances with the Swedish Radio Symphony and Elim Chan, the Antwerp Symphony and Krzysztof Urbański, the Toulouse Symphony and Tugan Sokhiev, and the Trondheim Symphony and Han-Na Chan. He also returned to the BBC Scottish Symphony, and the Tonkünstler Orchestra, with whom he has recorded a concerto by Thomas Larcher.
Planned engagements for the 2020-2021 season included the San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and San Antonio Symphony; debuts with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Basel Symphony and Staatskapelle Weimar, as well as a return to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Highlights in recent seasons include debuts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra as soloist in the Beethoven Concerto, conducted by Janowski; return engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, both at home, and at Carnegie Hall; and his return to the London Chamber Orchestra to play-direct.
In past seasons, Beilman has performed with many major orchestras worldwide including the Chicago Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, Sydney Symphony, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra, Conductors with whom he works include Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Cristian Măcelaru, Lahav Shani, Karina Canellakis, Edward Gardner, Juraj Valčuha, Han-Na Chang, Elim Chan, Osmo Vänskä, and Giancarlo Guerrero.
In recital and chamber music, Beilman performs regularly at the major halls across the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kölner Philharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Louvre (Paris), and Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo). Festival appearances include Verbier, Aix-en-Provence Easter, Prague Dvorak, Robeco Summer Concerts (Amsterdam), Music@Menlo, Marlboro, and Seattle Chamber Music, among others. In early 2018, he premiered a new work dedicated to the political activist Angela Davis written by Frederic Rzewski and commissioned by Music Accord which he has performed extensively across the US.
Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and 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 an exclusive recording contract with Warner Classics and released his first disc Spectrum for the label in 2016, featuring works by Stravinsky, Janáček, and Schubert. Beilman plays the "Engleman" Stradivarius from 1709 generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
About the DSO
The most accessible orchestra on the planet, the acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. As a community-supported orchestra, generous giving by individuals and institutions at all levels drives the continued success and growth of the organization. In January 2020, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini was named the DSO’s next music director to commence with the 2020-2021 season. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while Oscar-nominated trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard holds the Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair.
Making its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the DSO offers a performance schedule that features PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. One of the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrated its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in seven metro area venues, as well as a robust schedule of eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings.
A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.