NACO presents exhibit of photo portraits by NAC Orchestra violinist Lev Berenshteyn

NAC presents exhibit of photo portraits by NAC Orchestra violinist Lev Berenshteyn in Southam Hall Foyer

Ottawa, Canada – The National Arts Centre is presenting an exhibit of portrait photographs of musicians and members of the music community taken by longtime NAC Orchestra violinist Lev Berenshteyn. The exhibit entitled “Conversations with Lev” can be found on display in the Foyer of Southam Hall at the NAC.

Berenshteyn became seriously involved in photography four years ago, and takes photos at the NAC, on tour with the Orchestra and on his summer vacations in picturesque parts of Canada. For over a year he has been collecting portraits of visiting artists, musicians of the orchestra, NAC staff, and members of the Ottawa music community. A selection of 19 of these make up the current exhibit “Conversations with Lev”.

“I am very fortunate to have met these entirely different people who all share the same passion: music! They love music in its different forms and fashions, and we discuss and argue about it all the time. With these portraits I hope to say something about them, their personalities, and their stories.”

Lev Berenshteyn was born and educated in Russia, starting violin lessons at the age of seven. He began his professional career there, playing in a number of different orchestras before emigrating with his wife in 1979. After a brief stay in Vienna and a year in Rome he came to Canada, joining the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in 1980. He became a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in 1984. He is also a long-time member of the NAC “Musicians in the Schools” String Quintet, with whom he has given hundreds of performances in schools including on tour across Canada and in Israel, the U.S., and Mexico.

An earlier photo exhibit entitled “Skyscapes and Flowers” was presented by the NAC in 2007. Berenshteyn has also had his photos on exhibit at Cube Gallery, and this month at Santé Gallery, both in Ottawa.

“Conversations with Lev” will be on display in the Southam Hall Foyer for the winter.