56 | NOVEMBER 17 • 2022
C
arnegie Hall in New
York City was the
first of five stops for
this season’s American per-
formance tour by the Berlin
Philharmonic, which moves
on to Ann Arbor appearances
Friday-Saturday evenings, Nov.
18-19.
The Michigan visit is host-
ed by the University Musical
Society and features first con-
certmaster and klezmer com-
poser Noah Bendix-Balgley.
The concertmaster, who grew
up in North Carolina and has
been noted for his solo and
chamber music concerts, is
enthusiastic that each Michigan
evening is offering a different
program. Friday has Andrew
Norman’s Unstuck, Mozart’s
Violin Concerto No. 1 and
Erich Korngold’s Symphony
in F-Sharp Major. Saturday is
devoted to Gustav Mahler’s
Symphony No. 7.
“These programs are a real
mix,
” said the violinist, who
tours internationally before
numerous audiences, from
France to China, throughout
Europe and Asia. “Norman is
a young American composer,
and his piece is a nice opener,
an exciting work that takes
everything apart and puts it
together. It is a showpiece for
the orchestra.
“I’m playing the Mozart con-
certo, which is not played very
often. It’s an early work, written
when Mozart was 17. You can
sense all the Mozart trademarks
— beautiful melodies, charac-
ter, operatic contrasts — and it’s
a joy for me to play this.
“The second half of that pro-
gram is the symphony by Erich
Korngold, which is a very chal-
lenging, big piece. Korngold
was an Austrian composer
who immigrated into America
when the Nazis came to power.
He settled in Hollywood and
established movie music, but
his symphony is a very serious,
classical work.
”
On the second evening,
there is only one piece, and it
is described by Bendix-Balgley
as chosen by conductor Kirill
Petrenko, who likes to bring
challenging works to life and
be a champion for them. Every
Mahler symphony, the concert-
master said, is a world of itself
with a pool of orchestral sounds
from humor to tragedy.
The orchestra’s previous
appearance in Ann Arbor was
in 2016, when the musicians
set aside time to work with
University of Michigan instru-
mental students.
“Many of us are doing master
classes,
” Bendix-Balgley said.
“I’ll be doing a master class,
and at least 10 of my colleagues
are doing the same thing. It’s
always nice to have a presence
rather than just playing a con-
cert and leaving the next day.
Last time we were there, we
did the same thing, and we’re
making that more of our tours
moving forward.
”
Looking back at his career,
Bendix-Balgley recalled study-
ing the violin as a 4-year-old
and then dreaming of a per-
formance career by the time he
turned 8. His undergraduate
college studies were at Indiana
University before entering
graduate studies at a Munich
conservatory.
When expressing an inter-
est in joining the Berlin
Philharmonic, he was con-
certmaster for the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra.
“I joined the Berlin
Philharmonic in 2014,
” he
said. “For me, this was a
dream job. I always looked at
the Philharmonic as my ideal
orchestra. When I saw the
chance to audition for concert-
master, I was excited and want-
ed to try.
“Earlier, I spent five years
in Munich. I had the language
and enjoyed the musical life in
Germany. At the time, I was 30
years old and thought why not
give it a shot. It worked out.
“I live in Berlin, but I come
back to the U.S. often. I have
family there.
”
Bendix-Balgley, married to
violinist Shanshan Yao and
the father of a young son, was
introduced to klezmer by his
father, Erik Bendix, a profes-
sional folk dance teacher. The
violinist has gone on to per-
form with klezmer bands and
ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC
NIKOLAJ LUND
University Musical Society
welcomes the Berlin
Philharmonic, featuring
Noah Bendix-Balgley.
Concertmaster
and Klezmer
Composer
SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER