After a twenty year’s spent as an entrepreneur and corporate leader, Ben Dominitz, whose first career was in music, returned to his roots. “It’s never too late to do what you love best,” he says.
The former founder and chair of Prima Publishing (now a part of Random House,) is active as both violinist and conductor. Commencing with his re-debut in 2002 when he appeared as soloist with the Gold Country Chamber Orchestra, he has been forging an active career as soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and educator.
In 2003 he founded Chamber Music Alive! in partnership with the Sierra College Foundation. This series has been receiving praise for its exciting performances, dynamic guest artists, and relaxed and welcoming ambiance. The Sacramento Bee called it “The best of 2004. A tour de force. “Audience has more than doubled from the first season to the third. Corporate sponsors now include such distinguished firms as Fidelity Investments.
Ben also performs as soloist on a regular basis, playing concertos with orchestras throughout California. In the past few years he has performed works for violin and orchestra by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Williams and Hindemith. In 2005 he made his Mondavi Center debut playing John Williams‘“Schindler‘s List“suite for violin and orchestra. This sold out performance with the Sacramento Youth Symphony under maestro Michael Neumann received extraordinary accolades from the Sacramento Bee and from Israel’s consul general. In November 2005 Ben gave two performances of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with conductor David Amos in San Diego. The reviewer wrote, “Dominitz played with secure technique, a sweet tone and a soaring line. There were many magical moments…”
In addition to playing the violin, Dominitz has renewed his interest in conducting. As word spread about his work with a local college/community orchestra, he was invited by Maestro Michael Morgan, music director of the Sacramento Philharmonic and the Oakland East Bay Symphony, to share the podium with him in all five concerts inaugurating the Sacramento Philharmonic‘s new chamber orchestra series, “Virtuosi.” In April 2006 he will conduct the orchestra in Beethoven’s First Symphony.
Primary violin studies were with Alice Fenyvesz in Israel, Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School, and Walter Levin at the University of Cincinnati. Chamber music mentors studies include members of the LaSalle, Budapest, Cleveland, and Juilliard quartets as well as Alexander Schneider and Leslie Parnas. Conducting studies were with Leonard Slatkin, who took him on as a private student when Ben was fifteen. The latter wrote of Dominitz, “His repertoire is vast. In addition, he is one of the few conductors I know with a fresh approach to the standard repertoire.”
Prizes in include first prizes at both the Herrman and the California Women’s Forum competition. Ben was also a concerto winner with the Sacramento Philharmonia, with which he performed the Bartok Second Violin Concerto.
From 1975 - 1978 Ben was first violinist of the Sacramento Symphony String Quartet under a grant from the NEA. The quartet toured extensively and recorded an hour chamber music recital for public television. Previously, as a student at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, he was concertmaster of the Philharmonia Orchestra and one of the first soloists with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.