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Rising Star Ben Beilman wins first prize in the YCA International Auditions |
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Home > What's New > Caramoor Blog > Rising Star Ben Beilman wins first prize in the YCA International Auditions
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November 17, 2010
Violinist Ben Beilman participated in the Rising Stars program this October and has since won first prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Below is an interview with him regarding this prestigious accomplishment.
What was the audition process for YCA, and where was your audition held? How long did you prepare for this specific audition?
Young Concert Artists (YCA) holds three rounds of auditions before naming their first prize winners. After performing in the semifinals, advancing to the finals, and performing again in the finals, I was thrilled to hear my name announced as one of three artists accepted onto the YCA roster.
I prepared for the YCA audition for over a year. Back in May 2009, Ida Kavafian (my teacher at Curtis and a YCA alumna), helped me choose a few competitions and auditions that would propel me into the next stage of my musical development. We compared repertoire requirements of all the various competitions and came up with a list of pieces that could work across the board. As a result of this careful planning, I played the pieces from my YCA audition at the Montreal International Musical Competition in May and the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in September.
What are some of the things that YCA offers that weren’t readily available to you before?
Unlike most competitions which offer prize money and acclaim to their winners, YCA goes a step further and provides professional management and career guidance. This means that I now have the YCA team actively working to get me concert experience (concerto, recital, and chamber) as well as handling my day-to-day obligations (biographies, contracts, flights, hotel reservations, etc.) It's such a relief to know that I now have professional guardians ensuring that I am well represented as I venture into the professional world.
Do you feel any sort of pressure now that you’ve been added to this incredibly prestigious roster?
Absolutely- when you look at the level of artists who have graduated from the YCA roster in the past 50 years, you can't help but feel a certain amount of pressure to measure up. It's a relief knowing that the same people who managed the great artists I admire are now looking out for me too.
What are some of the musical goals that you’re hoping to achieve in the next year?
I'm recording my debut album in January so I'm hoping that will be a success. It's a CD comprised of works by Prokofiev that cover an exceptionally broad range of emotions and atmospheres. The F minor sonata for violin and piano op. 80 is a bone-chilling work that conjures up images of agony and death while the other violin sonata, op. 94a in D major, is gentler, more joyous and rustic. The last work on the CD, the solo violin sonata op. 115, is a work not played as often as the other sonatas but one I just love to play. I have some recitals and performances with orchestra that I want to go well, but all I really can hope for is to become a better musician in the next year.
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