Ricardo Morales (clarinet), Natalie Zhu (piano) w/ Efe Baltacigil (cello) December 1, 2008

Program TBA

"The aura of delicacy was reinforced by Ms. Zhu, a pianist with wonderful technique and musical instincts who evidently has never heard a piano tone that she could not make more beautiful" (The New York Times on Natalie Zhu)

Hailed by the New York Times as having “… utterly natural musical grace and the lyricism and breath control of a fine opera singer,” Ricardo Morales joins PCMS on Monday, December 1 at 8PM. Beginning studies at the Escuela Libra de Musica in his native Puerto Rico, Morales was appointed principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at the age of 21 - a position which he now holds in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Described as "exquisite" by the New York Times review, Morales has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Accompanying Morales are pianist Natalie Zhu and cellist Efe Baltacigil. Zhu, who began performing as a child in her native China, is a frequent soloist at the Amelia Island Festival, in addition to appearances at the Marlboro Music and Tanglewood Festivals. Thoughtful, intelligent, and graceful in her playing, Zhu joined the Curtis faculty as staff pianist in 2001 and in 2003 received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award. Efe Baltacigil has been noted by The Philadelphia Inquirer as "a highly individualized solo artist," with "gorgeous sound - refined, but with glints of strong personality." Playing the cello with imagination and an alert sensitivity, Baltacigil has been selected as a member of the European Concert Hall Association's (ECHO) Rising Stars program, performing at the Barbican in London, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Brussels Palaix des Beaux Arts, Athens Concert Hall, Stockholm Konzerthuset, and Carnegie Hall in New York.

For more information on these musicians, please visit:
Ricardo Morales: http://www.philorch.org/styles/poa02e/www/bios.php?page=moralesricardo
Natalie Zhu: www.nataliezhu.com
Efe Baltacigil: http://www.chambermusicsociety.org/artistDetail/44/artistID=408

Buy Tickets!
www.pcmsconcerts.org or 215.569.8080
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Get to Know Natalie Zhu & Efe Baltacigil!

Watch: See photos of pianist Natalie Zhu and violinist Hilary Hahn as they play Mozart's Sonata No. 21 in E-minor, K. 304:


Listen and Connect: Get to know Efe Baltacigil: listen to a clip of Baltacigil playing a Beethoven Sonata, and browse photos and a full biography:
http://www.yca.org/Baltacigil.html