The Seattle Series: Efe Baltacigil & Anna Polonsky
$55 ($40 ages 25 & under), $65 reserved seating; subscriptions available.
- Efe Baltacıgil, cello
- Anna Polonsky, piano
World-class cellist Efe Baltacıgil, whose most recent recital with the Seattle Chamber Music Society sold out in only eight hours, has invited his friend and former touring partner, Anna Polonsky, piano, to join him for a magical evening of music-making in the intimate Grand Ballroom of the Women's University Club, Seattle.
Join Efe and Anna for the inaugural performance of The Seattle Series, for which outstanding Seattle-based artists are given the opportunity to invite their colleagues from around the nation and globe to join them for a unique collaboration unavailable elsewhere.
COVID-19 Protocol: In addition to masks secured over the nose and mouth, proof of full vaccination OR proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 48 hours of the event OR proof of a negative antigen test taken within the last 24 hours will be required for admittance. Requirements are subject to change. More information here: https://theseattleseries.org/information/
About The Seattle Series
The Seattle Series is a chamber-festival-meets-recital series, featuring ad hoc combinations of awe-inspiring artists who perform together for one evening to create a magical moment in time. Outstanding Seattle artists are given the opportunity to invite their colleagues from around the nation and globe to join them for a unique collaboration, unavailable elsewhere.
http://theseattleseries.orgAbout Efe Baltacıgil, cello
Principal Cello of the Grammy-winning Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Turkey’s String Player of the Year, 2013, and awardee of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Baltacıgil is lauded for his risk-taking, passionate performances that immediately capture the heart and imagination.
Recipient of the Peter Jay Sharp Prize, the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, and first prize in concerto competitions of Istanbul, New York, and the Allentown, Pennsylvania Schadt String Competition, Baltacıgil experienced early acclaim as winner of the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Recipient of a bachelor’s degree from the Mimar Sinan University Conservatory in Istanbul and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, Efe began his professional career in the United States as Associate Principal Cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra before joining the Seattle Symphony as Principal Cello in 2011.
https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/about/artists/strings/efe-baltacigil/About Anna Polonsky, piano
Anna Polonsky, in high demand as a soloist and chamber musician, has appeared with the Moscow Virtuosi, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and has collaborated with the Guarneri, Orion, Daedalus, and Shanghai Quartets, and with such musicians as Mitsuko Uchida, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Arnold Steinhardt, as well as clarinetist David Shifrin and cellist Peter Wiley with whom she also performs as a trio. Her chamber festival appearances include Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, Seattle, Music@Menlo, Cartagena, Bard, and Caramoor, as well as at Bargemusic in New York City, and her concert appearances have occurred in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall’s Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls. Ms. Polonsky has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Anna has been a member of the Chamber Music Society Two as a frequent guest at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, taken part in the European Broadcasting Union’s 2006 project to record and broadcast all of Mozart’s keyboard sonatas, and in the spring of 2007, inaugurated the Emerson Quartet’s Perspectives Series with a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. She is a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award.
Ms. Polonsky made her solo piano debut at the age of seven at the Special Central Music School in Moscow, Russia, emigrated to the United States in 1990, and attended high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Music diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of the renowned pianist Peter Serkin and continued her studies with Jerome Lowenthal, earning her Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School. In addition to performing, Ms. Polonsky is a piano faculty member at Vassar College and the Marlboro and Kneisel Hall chamber music festivals.
http://www.annapolonsky.com/