Eugene Levinson

BASS

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, to a musical family, at age nine Eugene Levinson was struck by the sound of the bass at an orchestral concert in a park. Also inspired by his two older brothers – a violinist and a cellist – he was admitted to the Leningrad Conservatory, from which he received his doctorate. Even before graduating he had joined the Leningrad Philharmonic. He soon became principal bass of the Leningrad Chamber Orchestra and a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory.

In the late 1970s Mr. Levinson, feeling creatively constrained by the Communist regime, decided to emigrate. He traveled to Austria and to Rome, encountering Zubin Mehta, who offered him a position in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1977 he auditioned for the Minnesota Orchestra: the day after he arrived in Minneapolis, he auditioned on a borrowed instrument and was named principal. In 1984 he was approached by Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory, and so the dedicated pedagogue was again associated with a leading conservatory.

Eugene Levinson became Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic in 1985. He recalls: “Right after I began, [then Music Director] Zubin Mehta had me join the European tour as the new Principal Bass. I was happy, but also shocked – I’d not been in any pre-tour rehearsals! But Zubin believed in my talent as a bass soloist and ability as the leader of the section.”

Mr. Levinson was also appointed to The Juilliard School faculty in 1985, and he spent the next 26 years acting on his complementary passions for performance and instruction. “I enjoy working with my talented students,” he says, “and raising a new generation of orchestral players, chamber musicians, soloists, and bass teachers.”

His Philharmonic tenure has been rich with solo and chamber concerts, and he recalls the three “M” Music Directors he has worked with – Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, and Lorin Maazel. He also remembers collaborating with “Lenny Bernstein, and also Ricardo Muti, especially playing the bass obbligato in a Mozart aria with Thomas Quasthoff on a nationally televised concert. I also enjoyed playing bass solos in three Haydn symphonies conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen this past March. I fell lucky to have carried the torch of two musical cultures: the Russian and the American.”

“I’m happy to leave the Philharmonic at the highest level of my ability,” Mr. Levinson says, “but now I’m going to concentrate on working with Juilliard’s students and for bass forums worldwide. I also will be a juror at international bass competitions and write more method books. And, of course, I look forward to spending more time with my lovely wife, Gina, my son, Gary, and my grandson, Mitchell.”

Retired Associate Principal Bass Jon Deak says of his stand partner of 25 years: “Bassists around the world knew about the great Eugene Levinson, so when he became the Philharmonic’s Principal it was regarded as a grand coup. Among the very many things I learned from him, the first was friendship – respectful, warm, and lasting.”