Artists are kind of divos, but we need to be to protect ourselves.

The figure of the teacher is very important because teachers are the ones who, without having the knowledge or the means to see the way, guide you.

Esteban Batallán Cons (Barro, 1983) got his start in the world of music thanks to his father’s enthusiasm. It was with his father that he went to a store to choose which instrument he should play, and the sales clerk was sure of it: the trumpet. From that moment on, he practiced nonstop until he achieved his dream: being part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Yesterday, the Galician trumpeter delighted the audience in Merza at the Galaico Brass Festival

–How did you get started in the world of music?

–My father is a huge music fan, a great lover of music, and in 1989, the first music school was created in Barro, and I started studying there. He had tried before to get my two older brothers to study, but neither of them went that route. I started when I was six and a half years old, and a few months later, I started taking trumpet classes with Javier Viceiro.

–You mention that your brothers didn’t want to continue, but you did. Why?

–Honestly, I have no idea. I think they weren’t really drawn to music as much, and somehow it had more draw for me.

–And of all instruments, you choose the trumpet. Why?

–I’m always asking myself that question. I have no idea. I guess because you get fixated on something. Like, when you’re a child and one day you see a trumpet and it catches your attention. The day we went to buy a trumpet, I tried other instruments, and when I got to the trumpet, as soon as I put it to my mouth, it made a sound. Then the sales clerk said: “I think the trumpet is going to be his thing. He looks like a trumpeter.” Besides, I loved it.

–Tell me what a trumpeter looks like.

–Within the brass family, the trumpet is the most dominant instrument, the leader. Sometimes you choose the instrument, but the instrument chooses you too. The trumpet is an instrument that, so to speak, and without sounding boastful, requires a little more arrogance and requires a little more personality.

–Once the instrument was chosen, your training began.

–At first, I got started in the music school band purely for entertainment, and little by little I went from band to band, until one day I was doing something more serious. I won the Spanish Musical Youth competition when I was 15 years old. At 16, I joined the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, and there you’re already approaching things in a more professional and serious way.

–When did it go from being entertainment to being a profession?

–I think that, from a very early age, maybe 10 or 11 years old, when I joined the Pontevedra Municipal Band, it was already something more constant, with rehearsals and concerts. Everyone who plays an instrument at a very early age professionalizes in it, because it requires hours of study, of practice, and although in the long run they don’t focus on music when they are students, they are becoming professionals in it. For me, the click was when, as a teenager, I decided I wanted to play trumpet for a living.

–Your motto has always been work, effort and humility.

–It’s a matter of personality. Where you come from helps. I come from a very normal, humble family, from the north of Spain, from a small village. I was born in the 80s, when things weren’t as crazy as they are today with all the screens. As for work, if you don’t practice, study, or apply yourself, it’s complicated. You have to make an effort because sometimes there are many obstacles in your path. Humility, for me, has always been a mainstay, because there is nothing more beautiful than setting the artist part aside. Artists are sometimes kind of divos, but we need to be to protect ourselves in some way from the moments when you’re playing. If you don’t have a means of protection, where you believe it, out of arrogance, maybe the presence of the audience could eat you up or affect you. So you have to have that side, but as soon as you get off stage you’re a normal person like anyone else. You are no more or less than anyone else. I always try to approach all aspects of my career, both personal and professional, with the deepest humility and with a smile.

–You mentioned Javier Viceiro earlier, whom you consider your mentor. What impact did he have on your career?

–For me, Javi represents a lot. Not only on a professional level, but on a personal level. I think the figure of the teacher is very important because teachers are the ones who, without having the knowledge or the means to see the way, guide you. If the teacher is very good, you have a higher likelihood of success. I started taking classes from him 34 years ago. Since then, hardly a day goes by that we’re not talking, seeing each other, chatting, and although over time the conversations have changed – because before I was the one asking questions, and now he’s the one asking me – we still have that beautiful relationship. He’s still my mentor.

–In 2000 you joined the Spanish National Youth Orchestra. How did you go about joining?

–I entered through a Spain-wide audition, which was held in 2000. There were four positions available, and I was one of those selected, and, coincidentally, I was one of the youngest selected in the history of the orchestra. Because until 2004, people under 18 could audition, but not anymore. I remember that I joined when I was 15, along with another classmate, and we shared the stage with kids who were 10 years older than us.

–When you were with the City of Granada Orchestra, to prepare for a performance, you bought a recording of the Chicago Symphony. Did you already know of the orchestra before joining it?

–I didn’t even know where Chicago was at that time. I bought the recording because it was the only one in the store, but I wasn’t at all familiar with the orchestra. Since I needed to listen to that recording to know what the piece was like, I took it home a little disappointed. My surprise came when I put on the CD and started listening. It was stunning. And after that moment, all I wanted to listen to was that orchestra.

–After that moment, it became your dream to join that orchestra, and you achieved it.

–I wanted to be in that principal trumpet chair, and when the person who had it retired in 2003, I showed up at the auditions in Chicago. Obviously, I was very young and immature for a position of such magnitude. Many years later, everything fell into place. Although when I was first accepted in 2017, my visa application was not approved, so I missed that opportunity. Until in 2018, they thought of me again, because they never got my name out of their heads. That time I was able to go.

–After fulfilling your greatest dream, do you have any other dreams left to achieve?

–They ask me that question a lot, but I really don’t need anything else. I am already where I want to be. To me, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra represents the pinnacle of symphonic music in the world. Obviously, like all the arts, it is very ambiguous, and what some people like, others don’t like. I still have ambition, but to persevere where I am and to impact the next generation, in the same way that I had the opportunity to be impacted by this orchestra. For me, leaving a legacy or having a legacy is very important, and it’s a responsibility that I take very seriously.