Noah Bendix-Balgley joins Annapolis Symphony Orchestra for Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade, February 28-March 1 at Maryland Hall at 7:30 PM and March 2 at Strathmore at 3:00 PM

Press Release – for immediate release

Annapolis, Maryland

January 18, 2025

Noah Bendix-Balgley, First Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the most respected and prestigious orchestras in the world, will reunite with ASO Artistic Director and Conductor José-Luis Novo to play Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade at Maryland Hall and Strathmore, February 28-March 2, 2025. The concert will be preceded by a lecture with WBJC’s Music Director Jonathan Palevsky, who will discuss the social, cultural, and musical highlights of each piece in the repertoire.

Hailed as “the perfect soloist” (Intermusica) whose playing is “warm, focused, agile…and stylish” (The Strad), Bendix-Balgley appears frequently as a soloist with leading international orchestras at the world’s finest concert halls. Recent highlights include his concerto debut at Carnegie Hall as the featured soloist on the Berliner Philharmoniker USA tour under the direction of Kirill Petrenko. Bendix-Balgley was last in the Annapolis area to play Brahms Concerto in 2017.

Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Noah Bendix-Balgley began playing the violin at age four. He attended Cincinnati’s Seven Hills School and was concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he first worked with Maestro Novo. He graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the Munich Hochschule.  He has won several competitions, including the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the 2011 Vibrarte International Music Competition in Paris. From 2011 to 2015, Bendix-Balgley was concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His Pittsburgh debut recital in January 2012 was named the “Best Classical Concert of 2012” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He has been concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2014. In the 23–24 season, he was Artist-in-Residence with his hometown Asheville Symphony, and also returned to the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and made his debuts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. 

“It is always a tremendous pleasure for me to share the stage with Noah Bendix-Balgley,” said ASO Artistic Director and Conductor José-Luis Novo. Not only is he a consummate artist, an exciting performer, and a masterful violinist, but he is also a wonderful human being. I have known Noah since his days as concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, where I had the privilege of serving as music director in the early 2000s. I have followed his stellar career with great admiration and pride, and I am thrilled to once again perform alongside him for our audiences in Annapolis and at Strathmore.”

Serenade – Beethoven, Bernstein, and Bendix-Balgley

Maestro José-Luis Novo will conduct the fourth concert in the Season 63 Masterworks Series February 28-March 1 at Maryland Hall as well as a matinee performance March 2 at Strathmore. As Artistic Director of the ASO, Novo imagined a concert whose theme resonates with the many ideas and definitions of love. “This inspiring concert explores vibrant textures, timeless themes, and breathtaking artistry from Beethoven’s imitations of the metronome to a virtuosic violin solo by Noah Bendix- Balgley, and heavy percussion from Bernstein and Ginastera. The program connects music, history, and humanity in unforgettable ways,” he said. 

Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus is full of energy from beginning to end, unfolding in an exhilarating and vigorous musique parlante – music that speaks eloquently without words. Beethoven’s naturally rebellious spirit can be felt in the music, which was composed in 1801. Today, the work is recognised for paving the way for the Eroica Symphony, No. 3 (1803), his opera Fidelio (1805), and the Violin Concerto (1806). 

Leonard Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra. He was music director of the New York Philharmonic and during his career conducted the world’s major orchestras, generating a legacy of audio and video recordings. A prolific and successful composer across multiple genres, Bernstein valued inclusion across every category of color, ethnicity, gender, and identity. Bernstein composed Serenade after a rereading of Plato’s The Symposium, an ancient text that explores the nature and purpose of love. The music introduces new ideas about love through expansion or refinement of earlier elements in the composition. Also incorporated into Serenade are several quotations from some of Bernstein’s solo piano pieces which he named “Five Anniversaries,” short works dedicated to close friends as birthday gifts or memorial tributes. Weaving these musically intimate compositions into the concerto appropriately showcases Bernstein’s focus on the nature of human relationships.

“I’m thrilled to return to play with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra,” said Bendix-Balgley. “I have fond memories of my previous visit in 2017, when I performed the Brahms Concerto. I also enjoy working with my friend José-Luis Novo, and this time I’m excited to perform the Bernstein Serenade. One of the great American violin concertos, this work has all the unmistakable hallmarks of Leonard Bernstein’s style: jazzy rhythms and the influence of popular music styles, humor, inventive orchestration, and gorgeous melodies and lyricism. I love playing this piece!”

Beethoven’s Eight Symphony is generally light-hearted, with musical jokes running throughout. Beethoven changed the minuet and trio movements common in late eighteenth-century symphonies into scherzos, which became central to the symphonies of later composers. Scherzos are, by definition, humorous. They thwart conventions and are intended to delight the player and the audience. “The explosion of happiness we hear at the very beginning of this piece is a unique way to start a symphony for Beethoven, and it sets the mood for most of the work,” said Novo. “The metronome-like effect in the second movement with the mechanical rhythm suggests the “tick-tock” effect of the first metronomes, recently invented at the time of this composition and used by Beethoven to great effect in later compositions.”

Estancia is an orchestral suite and one-act ballet by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, written when he was twenty-five. References to gaucho literature, rural folk dances, and urban concert music evoke  images of the diverse landscape of the composer’s homeland. The final movement,  “Malambo”, represents a contest amongst the macho gauchos, and takes its title from a dance that has long figured in a competition among Argentine cowboys. As the contest develops, the music becomes increasingly complex, gains momentum, and becomes louder as the constant eighth note, finally ending in a fantastic climax.

Details about the concert, and links for purchasing tickets, can be found at AnnapolisSymphony.org

About the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director José-Luis Novo, comprises 70 professional musicians performing symphonic music for audiences of all ages. The mission of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra is to inspire, educate, and enrich lives near and far by creating extraordinary musical experiences with uncompromising artistic excellence. The non-profit organization provides educational programs through partnerships with local schools and other community outreach efforts. For more information or to purchase tickets or subscriptions, visit annapolissymphony.org or contact the Box Office at 410-263-0907. The Season 63 Masterworks Series at Maryland Hall is made possible by the Brian and Patricia Giese Foundation.

Media Contact: Diana Love, ASO Director of Marketing and Communications, DLove@annapolissymphony.org, 410-267-3631