Esteban Batallán belongs to that rare category of musicians whose extraordinary talent becomes immediately apparent upon first encounter. He is not merely a skilled trumpeter; he is one of those trumpeters who, in addition to possessing remarkable technique, natural musicality, and impeccable sound, displays a musical maturity uncommon for his age—undoubtedly a result of the extensive professional experience he has accumulated.
His youth idol: Adolph ‘Bud’ Herseth. His dream: to one day occupy the principal trumpet chair that Herseth held in the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Today, Esteban can proudly assert that he has realized his dream. After auditioning for the orchestra in 2017 and successfully navigating all trials, he secured a contract as a guest soloist for the 2018-2019 season. Subsequently, in June 2019, he definitively clinched the position of principal trumpet. In light of his achievements, we conducted this interview with the intention of inspiring other young trumpeters to pursue their dreams.
Esteban Batallán’s journey began much like any other musician’s. Born in the small municipality of Barro, Pontevedra (Spain), in 1983, to a father—a fervent music lover who, due to life’s circumstances, couldn’t pursue a musical education—he was enrolled in the local school and band by his father. There, he took his initial steps until, at the age of 11, he became a member of the Municipal Band of Pontevedra. Despite being non-professional, the band’s musicians received a small monthly stipend, establishing a work routine with scheduled concerts. Esteban reminisces, “While there, I passed the auditions for the National Youth Orchestra of Spain (JONDE), won the awards of Juventudes Musicales de España and Europe, Yamaha prizes at the national and international levels, performed as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of Spanish Radio and Television, collaborated with other orchestras like the English Chamber, etc.” When asked about his teachers, Esteban fondly mentions Javier Viceiro (professor at the Superior Conservatory of Vigo), “my master and mentor throughout my career, without whose guidance I wouldn’t have become who I am, and thus, I feel that my achievements are also his,” he asserts.
As a trumpeter, Esteban Batallán is extraordinary, but as a person, he is all heart. He is a simple guy: a lover of his land, his culture, and everything that has shaped his personality and his understanding of music. Those who know him have found in him a friend willing to do everything he can for others.
Roberto Bodí (principal trumpet of the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla and León, Spain)
Esteban first heard about the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2000, shortly after joining JONDE. “The first program we were going to play was Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, so I went to a record store to find a recording. The only one available was from a ‘Chicago Symphony Orchestra’ conducted by a certain ‘Klaus Tennstedt,’ so I bought it,” he casually mentions. “When I listened to that colossal recording, I went, amazed, to tell all my friends. Some already knew the Chicago Symphony and had other recordings, so we started sharing them and discussing them enthusiastically. That’s when I truly became aware that I wanted to pursue the orchestral path and that I wanted to sit in Adolph Herseth’s chair someday.”
Those recordings had a profound impact on Esteban. He claims to have ‘learned to listen’—a crucial skill in his profession—by listening to those Chicago Symphony recordings. “I learned to ‘decode’ what was written in the scores by listening to the Chicago recordings while following the trumpet part. Above all, I learned to understand the style and character of each composer, based on the sound of the brass in each work and their way of playing,” he asserts.
While Esteban immersed himself in the discography of the Chicago Symphony, he also developed his professional career. On October 21, 2002 (at the age of 18), he secured the position of assistant soloist in the Orchestra Ciudad de Granada, a position he held for less than a year as the soloist position became vacant, and he filled it through an internal audition. After a couple of years as an interim soloist and after two public auditions, he officially won the position. “I spent sixteen years in the Orchestra Ciudad de Granada. There, I learned to distinguish even more, if possible, the style and ways in which I wanted to make music,” states Batallán, who also achieved other significant successes during this time: 4th prize in the International Maurice André Trumpet Competition in Paris in 2006, guest soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam in 2010 and the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville between 2010 and 2014, collaborations with the Royal Philharmonic and the Basel Symphony Orchestra, contracts with La Scala Theater Orchestra in Milan in 2015 and early 2018…
However, Batallán’s career took a qualitative leap in 2017 when, following Chris Martin’s departure to the New York Philharmonic, auditions were announced for the principal trumpet position in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “I told myself, ‘Esteban, you can’t miss this opportunity.’ And I started preparing diligently, like never before, with the utmost motivation,” he explains. He reveals that although he was summoned for the first round of auditions on June 15, and the final was on June 19, he booked the outbound flight for two days before the first round, “to adapt to the time zone and be well-rested,” and took the risk of buying the return flight for the day after the final. This gives an indication of the level of confidence he had. A well-founded confidence, as out of the 28 candidates in the first round, only he advanced to the final. “When I did the first audition and they told me I made it to the final, I couldn’t believe it. When I arrived at the hotel, I celebrated with my wife and started preparing for the final immediately,” he recalls. “On the day of the final, they informed me that there would be three other candidates invited by Maestro Riccardo Muti, who would audition with me—two on the same day as me and the remaining one the following week. I was number 2. In this audition, there was no screen, and I could see many people sitting and listening, among whom I distinctly remember Muti sitting in the fourth row, with a fixed gaze, and behind him the rest of the tribunal members and other orchestra musicians who had come to listen to the candidates. At the end of the morning, after 45 minutes of waiting, they announced, ‘Pending the audition of one final candidate, the tribunal has decided that number 2 has received the necessary votes.’ And I, naturally, was flooded with joy. The other two colleagues congratulated me, and then orchestra musicians and tribunal members—those people I had been watching in videos and listening to on records for so many years, whose names I already knew—came to congratulate me. I will never forget that moment,” he says, with a twinkle in his eyes.
The candidate scheduled for the following week also received the necessary votes, prompting the orchestra to decide to listen to both. Thus, on June 28, Esteban received his first formal invitation from the Chicago Symphony and Riccardo Muti for a contract spanning several weeks.
However, not all was rosy. After several days of processing the necessary bureaucratic arrangements, Batallán’s visa to work in the United States was denied, preventing him from commencing his contract with Chicago. “At that moment, I went through a tough time,” he admits.
The orchestra was able to hear the other finalist, and after some time, they contacted Esteban again to offer him another contract, this time for three weeks (in June 2018). “Fortunately, my visa was approved this time,” he says with satisfaction. So, finally, our friend could sit in Adolph Herseth’s coveted chair. “That first three-week contract went really well. I was super excited, filled with happiness. At the end of it, Maestro Muti offered me additional weeks with the orchestra, including concerts at the Symphony Ball during the 2018-2019 season, a tour of Asia, another tour of Florida… Between one thing and another, I was a guest soloist with the Chicago Symphony until March 2019.”
Between June 2018 and March 2019, Esteban had the opportunity to get to know his revered Chicago Symphony and its conductor more intimately. “My interaction with Maestro Muti and the orchestra was wonderful from the beginning, establishing a very good relationship with all colleagues in the brass section, but also with those in the woodwinds, percussion, and strings. The CSO is a very friendly orchestra,” he comments. About the conductor, he adds, “Specifically with Muti, I maintain a very cordial relationship. It’s fantastic to work with him. He is a great conductor; his way of conveying Italian music, especially Verdi, is fascinating.”
The level of professional solidity in this young man is evident in that, parallel to his adventure with the admired Chicago Symphony, in early 2018—while contracted at La Scala in Milan—he was invited to play for a couple of weeks and audition at the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Afterward, Maestro Jaap van Zweden proposed him to occupy the soloist position in the Asian orchestra. “I made it clear that my goal was the Chicago Symphony, but I didn’t know the status of my contract with them at that time, so in Hong Kong, they decided to offer me the position, allowing me to be free on the dates when I had to fulfill my commitments in Chicago,” he says simply.
We wonder what trumpets a trumpeter with such an orchestral profile and clear ideas like Esteban would use in his daily life. “I play with a Weimann Passion trumpet in C, gold-plated. As an instrument, we can say that its quality is extremely high: from the materials it is made of, its construction, its finish…,” he explains, subsequently describing some tricks: “I use two different leadpipes, which I alternate depending on the repertoire. For example, the leadpipe with the C and A keys, I use for Beethoven, for its deeper and darker color; the leadpipe without keys, for Bruckner, Brahms, Wagner… (more powerful repertoire, with a broader sound and greater projection). I also have five or six different mouthpieces, with various dimensions that provide different sound qualities, regardless of how the trumpet is configured, so I can play with many different colors and adapt to the needs of the repertoire and the sound conditions of the orchestra and the hall where I am.” We explored the website of this German manufacturer, and it seems that indeed their product is quite interesting, with completely artisan trumpets and flugelhorns.
So, before landing in Chicago, Esteban Batallán was the principal trumpet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic after having been with the Orchestra Ciudad de Granada for sixteen years. “I left my position in Granada because I felt it was an orchestra without the desire to prosper. I experienced glorious moments there, especially during Josep Pons’ tenure as chief conductor, but after that, the orchestra suffered both artistically and economically, causing it to stagnate in a pit from which, without the involvement of its members and institutions, I hardly saw it emerging. Nevertheless, I still have great friends there. But the artistic situation was unsustainable, and the step I took by leaving for an orchestra like the Hong Kong Philharmonic was undoubtedly for the best,” he confesses.
Finally, in 2019, the Chicago Symphony announced new auditions for the principal trumpet position, a position Esteban Batallán definitively conquered.
“I was invited to go directly to the final on June 24. I approached the audition with the same seriousness as the previous one, but with even more enthusiasm, if possible, because my feelings with the musicians of the CSO were wonderful after having worked with them for months,” the Spanish trumpeter states. And he concludes emphatically: “I always dreamed of playing in the Chicago Symphony, and now that I am living that dream, I don’t want to wake up. It’s simply wonderful.”
Congratulations, Esteban, on everything you have achieved and undoubtedly have yet to achieve.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Esteban Batallán’s journey from a small municipality in Spain to the prestigious position of principal trumpet in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is nothing short of a remarkable musical odyssey. His story embodies the fusion of talent, dedication, and unwavering passion for his craft. From his early exposure to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s recordings, Batallán not only developed into an extraordinary trumpeter but also nurtured a lifelong dream of joining the illustrious ensemble.
Through years of professional growth, he faced challenges, achieved significant milestones, and, in 2019, realized his dream of becoming a permanent member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The orchestral landscape, enriched by Batallán’s exceptional musicianship, reflects the culmination of years of hard work, perseverance, and a deep appreciation for the art of orchestral performance.
As a testament to his musical prowess, Esteban Batallán’s narrative serves as an inspiration for aspiring musicians, reminding them that dreams can indeed materialize through talent, dedication, and a resolute pursuit of one’s goals. His association with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Muti underscores not only his professional achievement but also the harmonious collaboration within the orchestra—a testament to the transformative power of music.
In capturing the essence of Batallán’s journey, we witness the confluence of passion, skill, and opportunity, illustrating the timeless truth that the pursuit of dreams, no matter how audacious, can lead to extraordinary accomplishments. Esteban Batallán’s musical voyage stands as a testament to the enduring allure of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the profound impact that one musician can have on the world of classical music.
