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The Israeli pianist, Benjamin Hochman, began studies with Esther Narkiss at the Conservatory of the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem and Emanuel Krasovsky in Tel Aviv. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music where his principal teachers were Claude Frank and Richard Goode. His studies were supported by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. He has been honored with such awards as the “Outstanding Pianist” citation at the Verbier Academy, the Festorazzi Award given by the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, second prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the “Partosh Prize” awarded by the Israeli Minister of Culture for best performance of an Israeli work, and first prize at the National Piano Competition of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem.
Benjamin Hochman has achieved widespread acclaim for his performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. After his successful recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he became a presence in New York through concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra, his Carnegie Hall debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and appearances at the 92nd Street Y. Hochman has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Portland Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada under eminent conductors such as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Leon Botstein, Nir Kabaretti, Jaime Laredo, Jun Märkl, Arthur Post, Lucas Richman, Bramwell Tovey and Pinchas Zukerman. He has appeared in his native Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Raanana and Jerusalem Symphonies, and has joined conductor Pinchas Zukerman and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a W.A. Mozart Piano Concerto project with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Past festival highlights include Ravinia, Caramoor, Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bard, Bridgehampton, Gilmore, Vail and Vancouver in North America, as well as international festivals at Lucerne, Spoleto, Verbier, Ruhr, and Prussia Cove. International performances have been presented at such major halls as the Concertgebouw, the Louvre, Tivoli Theatre, l’Auditori de Barcelona, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. Benjamin Hochman has collaborated with the Tokyo, Mendelssohn, Casals, Prazak and Daedalus Quartets, the Zukerman Chamber Players, members of the Guarneri and Orion Quartets, Miklós Perényi, Ralph Kirshbaum, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Cho-Liang Lin and Ani Kavafian. A committed advocate for contemporary music, he has performed works by György Kurtág, Carter, Henri Dutilleux, and Andriessen, and has worked closely with Krzysztof Penderecki, Philippe Hurel, Osvaldo Golijov and Tania Leon, among others.
Benjamin Hochman has participated in three prestigious residencies: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Isaac Stern’s International Chamber Music Encounters in Israel, and Carnegie Hall’s Professional Training Workshops with Osvaldo Golijov and Dawn Upshaw.
Benjamin Hochman’s 2010-2011 season began with his San Francisco Symphony Orchestra debut, followed by festival appearances at Ravinia, Charlottesville, Salt Bay and Appalachian Summer. Other season highlights include a solo recital at New York’s 92nd Street Y of works by W.A. Mozart, Debussy, Frédéric Chopin and the world premiere of a new commission by David Ludwig. He performs with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, San Juan Symphony (Colorado), Tel Aviv Soloists, and New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Chamber music projects with esteemed colleagues take place at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Philadelphia and Boston Chamber Music Societies, and East Carolina University - where he was recently appointed to the piano faculty - among others. He joins flutist Marina Piccinini and cellist Efe Baltacigil for duo recitals in Philadelphia, and Concertante in works by Robert Schumann and F. Chopin in New York, Baltimore, Harrisburg and Alaska. Internationally, Hochman performs throughout Israel, tours Spain with the Prague Philharmonic and travels to Istanbul to perform the complete cycle of L.v. Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Baltacigil.
His performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio’s Young Artist Showcase and Performance Today, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), Radio France, and Israel’s Voice of Music radio station, as well as on the European television network, Mezzo. In 2009 he released his first album on Artek, featuring J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D and Partita No. 6 in E minor, Alban Berg’s Sonata, Op. 1 and Anton Webern’s Variations Op. 27.
Benjamin Hochman is a Steinway Artist. |
