Acclaimed Violinist Benjamin Baker Performs Recital in Malibu

Violinist Benjamin Baker comes to Pepperdine University's Raitt Recital Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, 2022 as the final performer of the 2021-2022 Recital Series.

Tickets, priced at $28 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting the event page. More information about Baker available at benjamin-baker.com.

Baker's program includes Reena Esmail's Darshan, Claude Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor, Lili Boulanger's D'un matin de printemps, Augusta Read Thomas' Pulsar, Boulanger's Nocturne and Cortège, and Edwar Elgar's Violin Sonata in E Minor, Opus 82.

Since winning First Prize at the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and 3rd Prize at the Michael Hill Competition in New Zealand in 2017, Benjamin Baker has established a strong international presence.

Described by the New York Times as bringing "virtuosity, refinement and youthful exuberance" to his debut at Merkin Concert Hall, he is sought after as soloist and chamber musician.

Recent highlights include regular appearances at Wigmore Hall (live-streamed and on BBC Radio 3), his debut with Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the East Neuk Festival and with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in NZ, alongside solo recordings with the BBC Concert and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.

He recorded live concerts commissioned for release online by the Vancouver Recital Society and Banquo de la Republica in Colombia and in 2021, Delphian Records released his album 1942 with pianist Daniel Lebhardt to critical acclaim. His recording "The Last Rose of Summer" on Champs Hill Records was featured on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, and reached #22 on the charts the first week of release.

The opening of the 2021/22 season saw the launch of his festival in Queenstown, New Zealand-At the World's Edge-and solo appearances with the Auckland Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras.

By popular demand, Baker has returned to New Zealand to play concerts and appear on radio and television broadcasts. For his devotion to charities for children, he is grateful to be an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Port Nicholson. An ambassador for London Music Masters, he created and led a special project for young violinists with dancer Cheryl McChesney, which explored the connection between music and movement.

Baker has toured widely in the US, Colombia, China, and Argentina and taken part in the Al Bustan Festival in Lebanon and the Sanguine Estate Music Festival in Australia. His 2022 US tour appearances this season include the Ravinia Festival, Washington Performing Arts, Pepperdine University, and Buffalo Chamber Music Society, alongside concerto appearances with Fort Worth, Charleston, Long Bay, and Bucks County Symphony Orchestras.

Solo appearances in recent seasons include the Philharmonia, Auckland Philharmonia, RTE Concert Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Simón Bolívar of Venezuela, Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic, Albanian Radio Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Long Bay Symphony, National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain, Sinfonia Cymru, Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese L'Aquila, and Maui Pops Orchestras. In 2017 he collaborated as a soloist with the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company.

Born in New Zealand, Baker studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and with Natasha Boyarsky and Felix Andrievsky at the Royal College of Music where he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Rose Bowl. He was a prize-winner at the 2013 YCAT International Auditions in London and a Fellow at the Ravinia Festival's Steans Music Institute in Chicago in 2016 and 2017.

Baker plays on a Giovanni Grancino from 1694 on generous loan from a charitable trust.

Baker is represented by Young Concert Artists.

To post a comment, you must register and login.