Meet the Guest Musicians Performing at our November 6th Concert!
The THSO is thrilled to welcome Natania Hoffmam, cello, and Benjamin Hoffman, violin, as guest artists performing Brahms’ excellent Double Concerto for Brahms & Beach on November 6th at 7:30 PM at Tilson Auditorium! Learn all about them by taking a peek below!
Natania Hoffman
Italian-American cellist Natania Hoffman has performed extensively throughout Europe and in Russia, India, China, New Zealand, and the United States. As a soloist, she has collaborated with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, the Namur Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Lakeland Civic Orchestra, among others. Additionally, she premiered Joel Hoffman’s “sizzle” in Beijing, China, with Benjamin Hoffman, Hu Biao, and the Chinese Bamboo Flute Orchestra.
An avid chamber musician, Natania has performed alongside artists such as Augustin Dumay, Joseph Kalichstein, Gilles Apap, Mihaela Martin, and Boris Garlitsky. Additionally, she has participated in festivals such as the Ravinia Steans Institute of Music, the Encuentro de Santander, and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove.
She is a member of Trio Agora, with whom she has performed across Europe, releasing two CDs, “Youth,” in 2017 and “Connecting Identities” in 2020. Trio Agora was the first prize winner of the 2018 Anton Rubinstein competition in Düsseldorf, Germany, and is faculty-in-residence at the NMA Academy in Lithuania.
Natania performs on a J. B. Vuillaume cello, dated ca. 1860, generously on loan from the Ravinia Steans Institute.
Currently based in Berlin, Germany, Natania’s hobbies mostly revolve around words: reading books, writing, studying languages, listening to podcasts, and learning about etymology. Her performance with the Terre Haute Symphony marks her first time back in the United States since the pandemic began. She is delighted with this opportunity to collaborate with her brother.
To watch Natania perform C. P. E. Bach: Concerto in A minor, click here!
Benjamin Hoffman
Violinist Benjamin Hoffman has traveled and performed across Asia, Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader. He has concertized with artists such as Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, Peter Frankl, Wolfram Christ, Jorja Fleezanis, John Adams, and Gary Hoffman at festivals such as Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, Aspen, the Ojai Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West.
While in graduate school at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Benjamin first joined the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra as a section violin member (2009-10), then won the position of Associate Concertmaster, serving in that role from 2011-2013 before heading to Yale University where he earned his doctorate.
He has now performed in many of the premier halls of the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Wiener Konzertverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Seoul Arts Center, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. He has also had the honor of performing before former UN Secretary Ban Ki Moon as a member of Sejong Soloists at the United Nations in New York.
Dr. Hoffman is an enthusiastic, accomplished concertmaster and has led much of the symphonic repertoire both with and without a conductor. He has also been a guest musician with the New York Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony. He performs frequently with pianist Irene Kim as the BrightFeather Duo (brightfeatherduo.com). As a soloist, Benjamin's repertoire spans from the solo violin works of Bach to romantic concertos and contemporary premieres.
Currently based in Los Angeles, Benjamin loves to be out in nature (he recently hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite!), and enjoys cooking with friends, skiing, and getting to know new cultures through traveling.
To watch Benjamin perform Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin & Piano in G Major, op. 30 no. 3, click here!