About
‘Classical music doesn't get better than this’ — The New York Times.
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 2024-2025 include Hochman conducting the Szeged Philharmonic in Hungary and the Orlando Philharmonic in Florida. He appears as piano soloist in Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Rheinische Staatsphilharmonie conducted by Benjamin Shwartz in Germany and Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with the South Florida Philharmonic conducted by Sebrina Alfonso.
His most recent album, Resonance, was released by Avie Records in November 2024 to critical acclaim. It includes Beethoven Piano Sonatas Op. 109 and 110, George Benjamin’s Shadowlines, and works by Josquin de Prez and John Dowland. Gramophone wrote: "Hochman stands out for both the acuity of his programming and (…) these scrupulously careful interpretations, which make the most of his subtle timbral palette and keen ear for texture. He artfully brings out the aesthetic overlaps among these works." Album release recitals took place in Berlin, Bard College New York, and Tel Aviv.
Recent and forthcoming chamber music collaborations take him to Berlin, Budapest, Tanglewood, Vancouver, and Brown University. He continues to serve as Artistic Director of the annual 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.
Pianist on the international stage.
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.
The conductor emerges.
In 2015, Hochman develops an auto-immune condition affecting his left hand. He decides to pursue his longstanding interest in conducting, studying with Alan Gilbert at Juilliard where he is granted the Bruno Walter Scholarship and the Charles Schiff Award. He assists Louis Langrée, Paavo Järvi, and Edo De Waart and creates the Roosevelt Island Orchestra, consisting of some of New York’s finest orchestral and chamber musicians alongside promising young talent from top conservatories. Invitations to conduct the orchestras of Santa Fe Pro Musica, Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Orlando, and The Orchestra Now at Bard New York follow.
Recordings and recent projects.
Fully recovered, Hochman re-emerges as pianist in 2018. He records Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 17 and 24, playing and directing the English Chamber Orchestra (Avie Records). He presents the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas at the Israel Conservatory in Tel Aviv, performs Beethoven sonatas for Daniel Barenboim as part of a filmed workshop at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, and plays both Beethoven and Kurtág for Kurtág himself at the Budapest Music Centre.
Hochman is a Steinway Artist. He resides in Berlin, where he is a Lecturer at Bard College Berlin.
June 2025