May 10-12, 2009

Benjamin Hochman, piano

Born in Jerusalem in 1980, pianist Benjamin Hochman graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Mannes College of Music in New York where his principal teachers were Claude Frank and Richard Goode. His studies were supported by the America Israel Cultural Foundation.

Benjamin Hochman is achieving widespread acclaim for his performances as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Though only in his mid-twenties, he is an imaginatively mature artist with an innate ability to combine beauty of line within the overall shape of a piece. The Washington Post praised his "flowing artistry" in a recital at the National Gallery of Art and The Cincinnati Post wrote that he "shone in his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut" and had "a crystal clear tone and articulation to match" performing Mozart's Piano Concerto, K. 271 under Jaime Laredo. After hearing Benjamin Hochman at the Marlboro Festival, pianist Mitsuko Uchida recommended him to conductor Zubin Mehta, resulting in his first orchestral engagement with the Israel Philharmonic two seasons ago and an immediate re-engagement with the orchestra for his Carnegie Hall debut. Pinchas Zukerman has additionally invited him to perform and tour with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers.

In the 2007-2008 season Benjamin Hochman appeared with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Portland Symphony. He collaborates with the Daedalus Quartet at Lincoln Center, and performs at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and New York Society for Ethical Culture. Mr. Hochman's guest appearances included chamber music with the New York Philharmonic; Bravo! Vail, where he performed Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals with the New York Philharmonic under Bramwell Tovey; and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. He returned to his native Israel and performed with the Raanana Symphonette and the Jerusalem Symphony under Leon Botstein. In 2008 he returned to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival to perform the Bach Goldberg Variations.