Classical Music Discoveries

Beth Levin is an acclaimed recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician
and recording artist. A pianist of rare qualities and the highest
professional caliber,˛ states pianist Paul Badura-Skoda of Levin, and
throughout her celebrated career she has approached both the Romantic
repertoire and contemporary composers with equal facility and grace.

At age 12, Levin made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and soon
after was selected to study with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of
Music. Mr. Serkin was an inspiration the moment he walked into a room,˛
Levin recalls, a single word evoking the eloquence of a poem.˛

Levin made her New York solo recital debut in 1982 at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. In 2007 she performed Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg
Variations at Steinway Hall in New York City, a return for her to a composer
in the first repertoire I had studied as a child.˛

As a concerto soloist, Levin has appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra,
the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Boston Civic Symphony, the Seattle Symphony
Orchestra, and numerous other symphony orchestras throughout the Americas,
working with noted conductors such as William Smith, Arthur Fiedler,
Benjamin Zander, Tonu Kalam, Sidney Rothstein, Milton Katims, Silas Huff and
Joseph Silverstein.

Chamber music festival collaborations brought her to the Marlboro Festival,
Casals Festival, Harvard, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Ankara Music
Festival and the Blue Hill Festival. As a Music From Marlboro˛ artist, she
toured the United States and Canada.

A founding member of the Gramercy Trio, the American Arts Trio and Vista
Lirica, Levin has also collaborated with the Audubon Quartet, the Vermeer
Quartet, The Reykjavik Woodwind Quintet, the Daniel Quartet, the Boston
Artists Ensemble and the Saratoga Chamber Players, as well as touring Europe
extensively with Trio Borealis.

In 2004, Levin traveled with Poetica Musica under the auspices of the U.S.
State Department, performing and giving master classes in Croatia, Serbia
and Turkey.

Levin's recordings include Bach's Goldberg Variations, released on Centaur
Records in 2008, as well as Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy˛ and Scott
Wheeler's Artist Proofs, both of which were released for the Taubman
Institute Recordings. For Columbia Masterworks, she recorded the Hummel
Quintet in D Minor.˛ Her performances have been broadcast on National
Public Radio, WGBH (Boston), WFMT (Chicago) and WNYC, WNYE and WQXR (New
York).

As a soloist, chamber musician and interpreter of contemporary music, Levin
performed and recorded works by Alan Campbell, Marc Eychenne, Brian
Fennelly, Steven R. Gerber, Alexander Goretzky, Louis Karchin, Michael Rose,
Allen Shearer, Scott Wheeler and David Del Tredici.

Beth Levin's musical education began with Maryan Filar at the Settlement
Music School in Philadelphia, and in addition to Rudolf Serkin, her teachers
included Leonard Shure at Boston University and Dorothy Taubman in New York
City.

Praise for Beth Levin:
...Ms. Levin kept the ear engaged with boldly inflected readings and an
impressive ability to convey emotion without exhibition. Her technique was
solid, and better still, her organic approach made it feel like an
afterthought.˛ Jeremy Eichler, The New York Times

Over the years, Levin has transformed herself. The flame within still burns
with undimmed intensity, but now there is warmth as well as blinding light.˛
Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

A pianist of rare qualities and the highest professional caliber. I was
deeply impressed and moved by her performance at the last Marlboro
Festival.˛ Paul Badura-Skoda

Works included (in part) in this Podcast:
J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations
Both works included by permission of Beth Levin.

Podcast hostess: Sandy Hedgecock
Mixing/Sound: Ken Hedgecock
Beth Levin interview by Ken Hedgecock

Photo of Beth Levin used by permission.

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