The Bowling Green Philharmonia concert Saturday brings together two top string players to perform a work
that represents Mozart at his peak.
Soloists Noah Bendix-Balgley, concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, and Randolph Kelly, principal
violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, will join the Philharmonia at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall on
the Bowling Green State University campus, to perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for
Violin, Viola and Orchestra.
Emily Freeman Brown, director of orchestral activities at BGSU, said arranging the concert was
"really a matter of the pieces of a puzzle fitting together."
Kelly is a "good family friend" of Brown and her husband composer Samuel Adler. Kelly
commissioned Adler to write a viola concerto for him, and frequently plays other pieces by the
distinguished composer.
Kelly and Bendix-Balgley were scheduled to play the unusual Mozart double concerto later this year with
Pittsburgh, where the violinist was the concertmaster until his Berlin appointment. Kelly told Brown and
Adler he was interested in playing it more than once.
This weekend was already set for a Philharmonia concert and both soloists were available, unusual given
their hectic schedules.
The Sinfonia Concertante, Brown said, comes as Mozart is reaching "his full powers of
expression."
"The range of musical expression from one movement to the next represents Mozart at his
heights," she said.
The composer wrote the piece shortly after his mother’s death, and the composition, especially the middle
movement, "possibly represents his reaction to the loss."
For the members of the orchestra this is an opportunity to work with soloists of the top caliber. All the
musicians "have very high goals for themselves," and Kelly and Bendix-Balgley represent what
they are striving for.
"It’s inspiring to hear people performing at such a high level," the conductor said.
Scheduling the performance did mean moving the concert featuring the winners of the College of Music’s
Competitions in Musical Performance to March 1.
Also featured on Sunday’s program is Carl Maria von Weber’s "Overture to Der Freisch√ºtz" and
Paul Hindemith’s "Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber."
Advance tickets for the performance are $7 and $3 for students and can be purchased by visiting
bgsu.edu/arts or by calling 419-372-8171. All tickets the day of performance are $10.
Bendix-Balgley has appeared internationally as a soloist to great acclaim. In 2011, he became
concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where his debut recital in 2012 was named "Best
Classical Concert of 2012" by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He has also performed his own version of
"The Star-Spangled Banner" for solo violin in front of 39,000 fans at the Pittsburgh Pirates
Opening Day at PNC Park.
A laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Bendix-Balgley won the first prize at the
2011 Vibrarte International Music Competition in Paris and was awarded first prize and a special prize
for best Bach interpretation at the 14th International Violin Competition in Fermo, Italy.
Kelly has enjoyed a distinguished and multifaceted career as principal violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, where he was signed by André Previn in 1976. Previn once wrote that Kelly "transformed
his section into what I believe is the best viola section of any orchestra in America."
One highlight of Kelly’s tenure with the orchestra was performing the world premiere of the concerto
written for him by Adler, commissioned for the 2000-01 season.
In addition to his orchestral career, Kelly’s virtuosity has collaborated with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma
and Pinchas Zukerman.
