Boris Davidovich Belkin (russian: Борис Давидович Белкин; born 26 January 1948) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

-born violin virtuoso.

Teachers

He was taught by

Yuri Yankelevich Yuri Yankelevich (Russian: Юрий Исаевич Янкелевич) (7 March 1909 – 22 September 1973) was a Soviet violin pedagogue who taught many internationally known virtuosos during his long tenure at the Moscow Conservatory. Life an ...

and Isaac Stern.

Early years

As a child prodigy he began studying the violin at the age of six, and made his first public appearance with Kirill Kondrašin when he was seven. He studied at the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory with Professors

Felix Andrievsky Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, S ...

and Isaac Stern. While still a student he played all over the Soviet Union with leading national orchestras, and in 1973 won first prize at the Soviet National competition for Violinists. However, he was not granted a visa to participate in the 1971 nor 1973

Paganini Competition The Paganini Competition (aka Premio Paganini or Paganini Concore) is an international violin competition named after the famed virtuoso and founder of contemporary violin technique Niccolò Paganini. Created in 1954 it has been carried out ever ...

s in Italy, and he decided to emigrate to Israel in 1974. He moved on to London, Paris and back to London. He met his Belgian wife at a Yehudi Menuhin festival in Switzerland and settled in Liège. By 1990 he had become a Belgian citizen.

Career

In 1974 he emigrated to the west and since then has performed all over the world with many of the leading orchestras including the Boston Symphony,

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Seve ...

, Berlin Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic,

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscripti ...

, Pittsburgh Symphony,

Montreal Symphony The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only ...

, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and all major British Orchestras. Boris Belkin has been featured in many television productions: a film biography of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, performing the Sibelius Concerto with the

Swedish Radio Orchestra The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The o ...

and Ashkenazy, with Bernstein and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto, with Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France playing Ravel's Tzigane, and with

Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lon ...

and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra playing

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and Paganini violin concerto No.1. Conductors with whom he has collaborated, include Bernstein, Ashkenazy, Mehta, Maazel, Muti, Ozawa, Sanderling, Rudolf Barshai,

Temirkanov Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (russian: Ю́рий Хату́евич Темирка́нов; kbd, Темыркъан Хьэту и къуэ Юрий; born December 10, 1938) is a Russian conductor of Circassian ( Kabardian) origin. Early life ...

, Dohnányi, Dutoit, Gelmetti, Herbig, Tennstedt,

Rattle Rattle may refer to: Instruments * Crotalus (liturgy), a liturgical percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion instrument), a type of percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion beater), a part of some percussion instruments * Ratchet (instrume ...

Berglund Berglund is a surname of Swedish origin. It means 'mountain grove' (''berg'' means 'mountain' or 'hill', and ''lund'' means 'grove of trees', derived from the Old Norse ''lundr'').Mata, Chung, Hirokami, Fedoseyev, Ahronovich, Groves, Leinsdorf,

Steinberg Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops music writing, recording, arranging, and editing software, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It als ...

, Welser-Möst, Lazarev, Doron Salomon,

Simonov Simonov (russian: Си́монов), or Simonova (feminine; Си́монова), is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andrey Simonov (born 1966), a Russian major general *Andrey Simonov (born 1971), a Russian aviation his ...

and many others. In 1997 Isaac Stern invited Mr. Belkin to perform with him at the Miyazaki Festival. Boris Belkin also dedicates himself to chamber music, performing with artists such as Yuri Bashmet,

Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky ( lv, Miša Maiskis, he, מישה מייסקי, russian: Миша Майский; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, ha ...

and many others. Highlights of the 2007–2008 season include a tour with

St. Petersburg Philharmonic The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...

and conductor

, a tour in South America, concerts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and performing the Sibelius Concerto with Sydney Symphony and Ashkenazy, concerts in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome. Since 1987 Boris Belkin has held master classes at the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Clas ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, Italy, and since 1997 he is a faculty member at the

Maastricht Academy of Music The Maastricht Academy of Music, Dutch: ''Conservatorium Maastricht'', located in the city of Maastricht, is one of nine music academies in the Netherlands. The academy is a faculty of the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Zuyd i ...

in the Netherlands.Boris Belkin
at the Accademia Muiscale Chigiana website Janine Jansen was one of his students.

Discography

* Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Israel Philharmonic and

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

* Tchaikovsky and Sibelius Violin Concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Ashkenazy, Strauss Violin Concerto with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Ashkenazy * Prokofiev Violin Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Kondrashin * Brahms Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Ivan Fischer * Prokofiev Violin Concertos with the Zurich Tonhalle and

Michael Stern Michael Stern may refer to: * Michael Stern (conductor) (born 1959), American musician * Michael Stern (educator) (1922–2002), founder of the Waterford Kamhlaba United World College * Michael Stern (journalist) (1910–2009), American journalist ...

* Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Glazunov Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Junichi Hirokami * Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic and

* Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 and Sinfonia Concertante, K.364 with the

Salzburg Chamber Soloists Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

* Brahms Violin Sonatas with

Michel Dalberto Michel Dalberto (born 2 June 1955) is a French concert pianist. Biography Dalberto was born in Paris into a non-musical family. He began studying the piano at the age of three and a half. When he was twelve, he was introduced to Vlado Perlemuter ...

References

* David M. Cummings, Dennis K. McIntire (Ed.): ''International who's who in music and musician's directory. In the classical and light classical fields''. Twelfth edition 1990/91. International Who's Who in Music, Cambridge, England 1991. * Alain Pâris: ''Dictionnaire des interpretes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siecle''. Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris 1989.

External links

Harrisonturner Management
(archived)
Biography at Conservatorium Maastricht

Biography at Accademia Musicale Chigiana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belkin, Boris 1948 births Living people Soviet classical violinists 20th-century classical violinists Male classical violinists Belgian classical violinists Moscow Conservatory alumni Academic staff of the Maastricht Academy of Music Soviet emigrants to Belgium Musicians from Yekaterinburg 21st-century classical violinists 20th-century Russian male musicians 21st-century Russian male musicians