Courtesy photo.
Fung is the youngest musician ever to win the Cello Division of the International Tchaikovsky Competition
SUMMARY
- UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Zlatomir Fung, cello
- Sun, Jan 28 | 4 p.m. | Hahn Hall
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- The acclaimed cellist Zlatomir Fung and pianist Benjamin Hochman make their Santa Barbara debut in a program that includes works by Robert Schumann, Benjamin Britten, Marshall Estrin and Sulkhan Tsintsadze
- Hear & Now series subscriptions still available (4 concerts for $120)
- $40 / $10 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
- Tickets & Info: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
“One of those rare musicians with a Midas touch: he quickly envelopes every score he plays in an almost palpable golden aura.” Bachtrack
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Zlatomir Fung and Benjamin Hochman on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. at Hahn Hall. The youngest musician ever to win First Prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 24-year-old has already proven himself a star among the next generation of world-class musicians. Fung teams up with acclaimed pianist and conductor Benjamin Hochman for a breakout recital that promises to be a season highlight.
Program
Schumann: Five Pieces in Folk Style, op. 102
Marshall Estrin: Cinematheque
Britten: Cello Sonata, op. 65
Tsintsadze: Five Pieces on Folk Themes
Zlatomir Fung, cellist | Fauré: Après un rêve
ABOUT ZLATOMIR FUNG
The youngest cellist ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 24-year-old has already proven himself a star among the next generation of world-class musicians.
As Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2023-2024 season, Fung appears at London’s Cadogan Hall and tours the UK with the orchestra. In North America, he debuts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Springs Philharmonic (performing Anna Clyne’s Dance for Cello and Orchestra), Sarasota Orchestra and Winnipeg Symphony. He also debuts at the Rhode Island and Sacramento Philharmonics and returns to the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, he tours Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Japan; he performs the UK premiere of Katherine Balch’s whisper concerto with the BBC Philharmonic and appears with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra in the Canary Islands.
Recent concerto highlights include his debuts with the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, and BBC Philharmonic, as well as Detroit, Seattle, Milwaukee, Utah, Rochester and Kansas City Symphonies.
Fung made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2021 and was described by Bachtrack as “one of those rare musicians with a Midas touch: he quickly envelopes every score he plays in an almost palpable golden aura.” Other recent highlights include returns to the Wigmore Hall and appearances at the Verbier, Dresden, Janacek May and Tsinandali Festivals, Cello Biennale, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, ChamberFest Cleveland and the Aspen Music Festival.
Alongside demonstrating a mastery of the canon with his impeccable technique, Fung brings exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire, championing composers such as Unsuk Chin, Katherine Balch and Anna Clyne. In 2023, under the baton of Gemma New and with the Dallas Symphony, Fung gave the world premiere of Katherine Balch’s whisper concerto with “jaw-dropping brilliance” (Dallas Morning News) as the dedicatee of the work.
A winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, Fung has taken the top prizes at the 2018 Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, the 2016 George Enescu International Cello Competition and the 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, among others. He was selected as a 2016 US Presidential Scholar for the Arts and was awarded the 2016 Landgrave von Hesse Prize at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses.
Fung was announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022 and awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2020. He was named to WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab in 2023. Fung has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and has appeared six times on NPR’s From the Top. He plays a 1717 cello by David Tecchler of Rome, kindly loaned to him through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous benefactor.
Of Bulgarian and Chinese heritage, Zlatomir Fung was born into a family of mathematicians and began playing cello at age three. Fung studied at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy, where he was a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. Outside of music, his interests include chess, cinema and creative writing.
Most recently, Zlatomir Fung wrote a Christmas audio play for the WQXR Audio Propulsion Lab. The piece, titled The Elves and the Cello Maker, is based on a Brothers Grimm fairytale and features some remarkable performances, both musical and dramatic.
Listen to The Elves and the Cello Maker.
ABOUT BENJAMIN HOCHMAN
In all roles, from orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician to conductor, Benjamin Hochman regards music as vital and essential. Composers, fellow musicians, orchestras and audiences recognize his deep commitment to insightful programming and performances of quality.
Highlights of 2023-2024 include Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Boston Philharmonic conducted by Benjamin Zander and solo recitals in Jerusalem, Brattleboro and on Chicago’s Live from WFMT. His chamber music collaborations take him to Carnegie Hall, People’s Symphony Concerts, Kronberg Festival in Germany and Krzyzowa Music in Poland. He conducts the premiere of Gilad Cohen’s Concerto for Harp, Strings and Horn, tours the US with cellist Zlatomir Fung, and curates the Kurtág Festival at Bard College New York.
Born in Jerusalem in 1980, Hochman’s musical foundation is laid in his teenage years. Claude Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music and Richard Goode at the Mannes School of Music prove defining influences. At the invitation of Mitsuko Uchida, he spends three formative summers at the Marlboro Music Festival.
At 24, Hochman debuts as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall conducted by Pinchas Zukerman. Orchestral appearances follow with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago and Pittsburgh Symphonies and Prague Philharmonia under conductors including Gianandrea Noseda, Trevor Pinnock, David Robertson, and John Storgårds.
A winner of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant, Hochman performs at venues and festivals across the globe, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Germany’s Klavierfestival Ruhr and Lucerne and Verbier festivals in Switzerland.
Hochman is a Steinway Artist and a Lecturer at Bard College Berlin.
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Zlatomir Fung is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures.
Tickets are $40 / $10 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2023-2024 season.