BY SOPHIA STURGEON
Each July through August, Blaine County locals and visitors gather on the Sun Valley Pavilion lawn—picnic blankets, coolers, and folding chairs in hand—to post up, sit back, and enjoy free live music from world-class musicians. The Sun Valley Music Festival summer season is one of the Wood River Valley’s favorite longstanding events, but many people don’t realize there is a Sun Valley Music Festival winter season, as well. There is no need to wait four months to enjoy music from Sun Valley’s Festival Orchestra musicians; they will perform alongside guest curator and violinist Benjamin Beilman on Thursday through Saturday, March 19, 20 and 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.
March temperatures make the Pavilion a far less suitable venue; thus, the concerts will take place at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum. The lobby doors will open at 6 p.m., the theater doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the shows will begin at 7 p.m. The concerts will last around two hours, including intermission. Just like the summer concerts, admission is free, but unlike the summer series, reservations are required.
Beilman is a critically acclaimed American violinist; The Washington Post and The New York Times have both sung his praises, deeming his deep, rich tone as “mightily impressive,” and “muscular with a glint of violence,” respectively. Beilman studied with Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, a prestigious conservatory in Philadelphia, founded in 1924. The institute has a very small student body of around 150-175 musicians who train for professional careers. Due to the competitive application process, Curtis only accepts the best of the best, and provides merit-based, full-tuition scholarships to every one of its students.
Beilman also studied at the Kronberg Academy with Christian Tetzlaff. The Kronberg Academy is another highly acclaimed institution founded in 1933 in Tanus, Germany. It aimed to train exceptionally gifted young string musicians for solo careers—specifically, violinists, violists, cellists, and pianists.
After his extensive schooling, Beilman has performed worldwide with many acclaimed orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, Sydney Symphony, and Houston Symphony. In 2022, he became one of the youngest artists to be appointed to the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Reservations are limited to two reservations per household for only one of the three concerts. Reservations began in February, and while tickets may sell out, a waitlist is open until the day of the event.
For more information, visit svmusicfestival.org.
