Alexander Velinzon, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s newly named first associate concertmaster, tunes up with the BSO. Photo by Robert Torres.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has appointed Alexander Velinzon as first associate concertmaster and as concertmaster of the Boston Pops. A BSO member since 2000, Velinzon became assistant concertmaster in 2005 and associate concertmaster in 2015. Appointed by the BSO’s late Music Director Seiji Ozawa, Velinzon has also performed with the BSO on international tours and at Carnegie Hall. He has appeared as guest concertmaster with the London Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Germany’s WDR Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh Symphony and served as concertmaster of Seattle Symphony from 2012 until 2015. As a chamber musician, Velinzon has been heard in Europe, Japan, and the United States. He made his debut in London’s Wigmore Hall with Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010. Velinzon has appeared with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players including their European tours and performed with the Seattle Chamber Music Society. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Velinzon graduated from the Leningrad School for Gifted Children. In the U.S., he studied at the Manhattan School of Music and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. He made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as a winner of the Artist International Young Artists Auditions.
