Submitted photo by I-Jung Huang American cellist Zlatomir Fung set for Thomasville recital on Tuesday evening

Thomasville Entertainment Foundation’s 2021-22 concert series opens Tuesday, when acclaimed cellist Zlatomir Fung takes the stage at the Thomasville Center for the Arts.

Fung catapulted to worldwide renown in 2019 as the youngest musician ever and the first American in four decades to win first prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition’s cello division. Now just 22 years old, he is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of his generation, said TEF Executive and Artistic Director Rick Ivey.

“We are particularly excited to be able — at last — to introduce Zlatomir Fung to our regional audience, seven days before he makes his highly anticipated Carnegie Hall recital debut,” Ivey said. “TEF presented Yo-Yo Ma when he was just 24, and we believe this young cellist will take his place along Ma in the pantheon of legendary music masters.”

Fung was originally slated to open TEF’s 2020-21 season, an engagement that was postponed due to COVID-19.

A 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fung is lauded by critics for his impeccable technique demonstrating a mastery of the canon and an exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire. He is a 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant.

The October 12 concert is a program of works by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, César Franck and Antonín Dvorak and also features pianist Benjamin Hochman.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, Hochman has enjoyed an international performing career as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and conductor and is himself a winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Single tickets are $38 for adults or $15 for students. A limited number of free student tickets are also available through TEF’s innovative Tickets for Teens program, made possible in part by a grant from the Thomasville Antiques Show Foundation and an anonymous gift to TEF’s Education Fund.

Established in 1937, Thomasville Entertainment Foundation is a volunteer-powered, non-profit organization celebrating 84 years of entertaining and engaging the community. In addition to presenting concerts by acclaimed artists, TEF offers a dedicated family series of performances geared to families and younger children, provides educational outreach programs for students and awards performing arts scholarships and grants to promising young artists.

For more information on the concert or other programs of Thomasville Entertainment Foundation, visit www.TEFconcerts.com or call 229-226-7404.