Scott Ballantyne
Meet Scott Ballantyne, The Little Orchestra Society's principal cellist and the epitome of "practice, practice, practice." In addition, he's just a plain old wonderful guy totally dedicated to The Little Orchestra Society! Read on:
Scott Ballantyne, described as a "...consummate artist..." whose playing "...provided a rare moment of musicality and poetry in our concert season" by France's Le Figaro is well known as soloist and chamber musician. While a student of Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, he made his debut as a soloist at age 15 with Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony, playing the Lalo concerto. He became quite active as a solo performer, appearing with orchestras in the U.S., Brazil, Canada and Mexico. Shortly after his graduation he joined the faculty of Juilliard and for many years devoted himself primarily to teaching. His students now populate orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the Seoul, Korea Philharmonic, are members of important chamber music ensembles such as the Lark Quartet and the Carnegie Chamber Players, or are rising soloists (Sun-ju Kim).
In the 1990's he returned to performing and soon became too busy to do much teaching. In 2001 he made the first recording of the Frank Levy and Ernst Levy cello concerti with the National Polish Radio Orchestra, George Maull, conducing (OPUS ONE #185). He also gave the world premiers of both of these works in a sold out concert in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in June 2002 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey and Maestro Maull. In a combined review of both recording and concert, Robert Lenz writes: "...one of the most impressive events I've seen in over 30 years of concert going. The cellist, Scott Ballantyne, possesses a rich full sound that completely filled the hall and a flawless technique. And he played both of these difficult modern works in one night, from memory. It was an amazing feat. The last time I saw anything comparable was many years ago when Rostropovich played a similar concert at Carnegie Hall."
Other appearances in 2002 included the Beethoven Triple with the Atlantic Chamber Symphony with Michael Guttman, violinist and Lukas Foss, conductor, his first performances in Iceland, and return appearances in Europe and Asia. In 2003, in addition to maintaining his busy concert schedule he also gave the first concert performance in New York of Jack Gottlieb's "Fantasy on High Holy Day Themes for solo cello". A passionate devotee of chamber music he has been privileged to work with some of the finest chamber musicians of the day, (such as pianist Claude Frank and violinists Charles Libove, Arturo Delmoni and Arnold Steinhardt), and often appears at such festivals as "Mostly Mozart", The Park City International Festival, The Grand Teton Music Festival and The Music Festival of the Hamptons. The recipient of many awards and prizes, the most recent of which was the $50,000 Morgan Foundation Career development grant.
In addition to his busy career as soloist, he is also a founding member of the Leonore Trio (Steven Masi, piano, Rebekah Johnson, violin). Described as "one of the most exciting new groups on the chamber music scene", the trio tours widely, is heard frequently in the U.S. on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" series and has also been featured in broadcasts in Europe. The Leonore Trio has recorded music of Levy, Schubel, Kauder and Sheng for OPUS ONE.
Mr. Ballantyne is represented by SSR Management: (212) 362-5211: Info@ssr.com.
PRESS QUOTES (2003)
"I'm so happy to see this CD finally released. I was lucky enough to be at the world premieres of these works here in New York City last spring at Alice Tully Hall with these same artists. One of the most impressive events I've seen in over 30 years of concert going. The cellist, Scott Ballantyne, possess a rich full sound that completely filled the hall and a flawless technique. And he played both of these difficult modern works in one night, FROM MEMORY. It was an amazing feat. The last time I saw anything comparable was many years ago when Rostropovich played a similar concert at Carnegie Hall." (Lenz,"Amazon news and reviews")
(2002)
"He (Ballantyne) brought a ravishingly beautiful tone and an impeccable technique to everything he played last evening. One of the most memorable concerts of the season." (Hamptons Star)
"Ballantyne is a simple, honest artist whose playing speaks straight to the heart. He simply plays, with none of the histrionics that are so common on today's concert platforms. In spite of this - or perhaps because of it, his performance of the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations last evening was a virtuoso tour de force that brought the normally staid Rekyavikian concert goers to their feet. His glorious sound, breathtaking technique and insight brought new life to an old concert warhorse." (Rekyavik (Iceland) Daily News)
"His performance in all works was outstanding. In particular, the Beethoven C Major Sonata was the perfect vehicle for him to show off his considerable and impressive talents. He brought out the subtlety, nuances and inner dynamics of this complex work in an interpretation notable for its emotional strength and expressiveness." (E. Reichel, Desert News)
