The TREETOPS CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY kicks off its fifth season on September 19 with Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Cellist Efe Baltacigil and highly acclaimed pianist Benjamin Hochman, performing Beethoven’s Variations on "Ein madchen oder weibchen" Op. 66; Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2; and Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69. The concert is at the newly air-conditioned Treetops Studio, where a one-day art exhibit by Kevin Ford will be on display. The concert season continues with the Lincoln Center CMS Daedalus String Quartet, Musicians from Ravinia, harpist Lisa Tannebaum with Duo Stromeaux, the 2010 Arriaga Competition Winners, and the Newman Trio.
“I am very proud to see how far Treetops CMS has come in just five years,” says Oskar Espina Ruiz, who, in addition to being artistic and executive director of Treetops Chamber Music Society and clarinet professor at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, keeps a very busy concert schedule himself. “I spend a bit too much time at 30,000 feet, but every time I come to Treetops and am part of the Treetops experience I feel energized. The spirited Beethoven cello sonatas for the upcoming Opening Night are groundbreaking music, giving the cello the kind of independence no one could have even imagined at the time.”
“Music-Art-Nature” continues to be the theme of this concert series at the historic Treetops estate, which is located just 45 minutes north of New York City in the Greenwich-Stamford area of Connecticut. Treetops CMS, its stage the former art studio of American artist Louis Schanker, is a unique place to experience chamber music, offering outstanding performances by world-class musicians in an intimate setting.
The musical experience at Treetops is further enhanced by one-day art exhibits and installations, featuring a different artist at each concert, as well as by the beautiful landscape of the Treetops estate and surrounding Mianus River Park, which evolves from month to month, and from concert to concert.
THE PERFORMING ARTISTS
Cellist Efe Baltacigil and pianist Benjamin Hochman are returning to Treetops CMS after an outstanding trio performance at Treetops CMS last season. Efe Baltacigil has been awarded a 2006 Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has also been selected as a member of the European Concert Hall Association’s (ECHO) Rising Stars program and has toured Europe, including concerts at the Barbican in London, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Brussels Palaix des Beaux Arts, Athens Concert Hall, Stockholm Konzerthuset. In 2006-2007, Mr. Baltacigil made his Carnegie Hall concerto debut, performing Tchakovsky’s Rococo Variations with the New York Youth Symphony, and appeared at Carnegie’s Weill Hall.
Mr. Baltacigil has performed the Brahms Sextet with Pinchas Zukerman and Yo-Yo Ma at Carnegie Hall, and participated in Mr. Ma’s Silk Road Project. He has toured with “Musicians from Marlboro” and appeared in Richard Goode’s Perspectives Series at Carnegie Hall.
In February 2005, Mr. Baltacigil came to the attention of the musical world when he and pianist Emanuel Ax performed a Beethoven Cello Sonata at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert with only 10 minutes of rehearsal. Mr. Baltacigil, the Orchestra’s Associate Principal Cellist, and Mr. Ax, the evening’s soloist, were called upon when a winter snowstorm prevented most of the Orchestra from reaching the concert hall. After that performance, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, “Baltacigil is a highly individualized solo artist. His gorgeous sound, strong personality, and expressive depth suggest an artist about to have a major career.”
Pianist Benjamin Hochman has achieved widespread acclaim for his performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He has performed with the New York and Israel Philharmonics; the Chicago, Pittsburgh, American and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, Seattle, Vancouver, New Jersey and Portland Symphonies; 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. Mr. Hochman has collaborated with the Mendelssohn, Casals, Prazak and Daedalus Quartets; the Zukerman ChamberPlayers; members of the Guarneri and Orion Quartets; and with Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Cho-Liang Lin, Ani Kavafian, and Ralph Kirshbaum.
During the 2009-2010 season Benjamin Hochman released his first album on Artek, featuring Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D and Partita No. 6 in E minor, Berg’s Sonata, Op. 1 and Webern’s Variations Op. 27. 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. He has performed 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.
ART AT TREETOPS
The third year of art shows at Treetops CMS begins with the work of Kevin Ford, who takes his materials from the hobby shops and sporting goods stores of his native suburban Connecticut. “I take my methods from the crafting housewives and the harmlessly delinquent preadolescents I grew up with, says Mr. Ford. “BB guns, hockey pucks, tennis balls, and crafting materials are stripped of their intended function as outlets for neutered violence and directed creativity and given new purpose. I glue gun, shoot, and burn material to create highly formal objects nostalgic for a suburban America that may or may not have existed.”
Mr. Ford received his BFA in Painting from Boston University in 1997 and his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University in 1999. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in New York and elsewhere. He had his first solo exhibition at MARCH New York, NY in 2007. His work has been featured in V magazine and reviewed in The New York Times, among many other publications.
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW THE PERFORMANCE
A free reception will follow the concert, allowing concertgoers to enjoy Kevin Ford’s artwork and to meet the artists.
Concert at 4:00 PM on Sunday, September 19, 2010, at The Treetops Studio, 359 Merriebrook Ln. (off Westover Rd.), in Stamford, CT. Tickets are $25 for subscribers; single tickets are $40; discounts for students and families are available. For more information, call (203) 979-6052, or log on to www.treetopscms.org.
