Efe Baltacıgil & Benjamin Hochman in Recital

Johann Sebastian Bach — Viola da Gamba Sonata No. 1 in G major, BWV 1027
Antonio Vivaldi — Cello Sonata in A minor RV 43
Johann Sebastian Bach — Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007

Efe Baltacıgil, cello
Benjamin Hochman, piano

J.S. Bach – Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
Vivaldi – Cello Sonata in A minor, RV 43
J.S. Bach – Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G major, BWV 1027

Efe Baltacıgil, Seattle Symphony principal cellist, and Benjamin Hochman, Steinway artist, present a recital of Bach and Vivaldi.

Efe Baltacigil is Principal Cello for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and former Associate Principle Cello, Philadelphia Orchestra. Recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2006, Mr. Baltacigil has been a featured soloist under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle with the Berliner Philarmoniker; performed in sextet with ltzhak Perlman, Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, and Jessica Thompson at Carnegie Hall; and was named String Player of the Year in Turkey, 2013. Baltacigil has also received the Peter Jay Sharp Prize, the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, and first prize in concerto competitions of Istanbul and New York, as well as the Allentown Schadt String Competition, and was winner of the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Mr. Baltacigil performs internationally as soloist and chamber musician.

Described by The New York Times as a "gifted, fast-rising artist," Benjamin Hochman, winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2011, made his New York recital debut in 2006 and has since performed with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Houston, Seattle, and San Francisco Symphonies; the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics; the New York String Orchestra; Prague Philharmonia; Istanbul State Orchestra; and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada. He has released recordings on the Artek, Bridge, and Avie labels and is a sought-after collaborator and festival performer. Mr. Hochman is a Steinway Artist based in New York City.

Tickets: $30 ($15 youth/student)

About Highlands Concert Series

https://www.thehighlandsseattle.org/concert-series

About Efe Baltacıgil

Principal Cello of the Grammy-winning Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Turkey’s String Player of the Year, 2013, and awardee of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Baltacıgil is lauded for his risk-taking, passionate performances that immediately capture the heart and imagination.

Recipient of the Peter Jay Sharp Prize, the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, and first prize in concerto competitions of Istanbul, New York, and the Allentown, Pennsylvania Schadt String Competition, Baltacıgil experienced early acclaim as winner of the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Recipient of a bachelor’s degree from the Mimar Sinan University Conservatory in Istanbul and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, Efe began his professional career in the United States as Associate Principal Cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra before joining the Seattle Symphony as Principal Cello in 2011.

https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/about/artists/strings/efe-baltacigil/

About Benjamin Hochman

Pianist and conductor Benjamin Hochman’s most recent recording for Avie Records, in which he performs and conducts the Mozart piano concerti no.s 17 and 24 with the English Chamber Orchestra, exemplifies the elegance and musical sensitivity which has propelled his career as a concerto soloist, recording artist, chamber collaborator, recitalist, and conductor across Europe and the United States. Winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Hochman is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, among them the Partosh Prize by the Israeli Minister of Culture, the Outstanding Pianist citation at the Verbier Academy, and the Festorazzi Award from the Curtis Institute of Music. His recording Variations with Avie Records was selected by The New York Times as one of the best recordings of 2015.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut with the Israel Philharmonic, Hochman has enjoyed an international performing career, appearing as soloist with the New York, Los Angeles, and Prague Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Chicago, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestras under conductors such as Gianandrea Noseda, Trevor Pinnock, John Storgårds, and Joshua Weilerstein. His performance venues include Konzerthaus Wien; Berlin Konzerthaus; Amsterdam Concertgebouw; the Louvre, Paris; Liszt Academy, Budapest; Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg; New York’s 92nd Street Y; and Suntory Hall, Tokyo. Festival highlights include IMS Prussia Cove, Israel Festival, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Lucerne, Santa Fe, Spoleto, and Verbier.

Hochman is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Claude Frank, and the Mannes College of Music, where he studied with Richard Goode. A graduate of The Juilliard School’s conducting program where he received the Bruno Walter Scholarship and the Charles Schiff Award, Hochman trained under Alan Gilbert from 2016-2018. Conducting highlights include the English Chamber Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, The Orchestra Now at Bard Music Festival, and the Florida and Juilliard Orchestras. Mr. Hochman is a Steinway artist.

https://www.benjaminhochman.com/