Biography

Esteban Batallán was appointed principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2019 by Music Director Riccardo Muti. He was previously the principal trumpet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic during the 2018-19 season and for the Granada City Orchestra from 2002 to 2018. He also served as guest principal trumpet with the Royal Orchestra of Seville from 2010 to 2014 and with the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala and the Filarmonica della Scala in 2015 and 2018.

Batallán has also appeared with distinguished symphonic orchestras around the world including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Houston Symphony, and the Symphony Orchestra of India, among others.

During this time, he worked under esteemed conductors including Jaap van Zweden, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Michael Tilson Thomas, Christian Thielemann, Klaus Mäkelä, Jakub Hrusa, Paavo Järvi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Riccardo Chailly, Alan Gilbert, Fabio Luisi, Charles Dutoit, Lahav Shani, and Giancarlo Guerrero.

He has also appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Granada City Orchestra, the Spanish Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic of Galicia, the National Youth Orchestra of Spain, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the Geneva Camerata, the Symphony Orchestra of India, and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra in a large variety of works, including concerts written for him, in addition to performing his own compositions. In 2021, Batallán premiered a piece composed by and dedicated to him by his friend and renowned trumpet player, Arturo Sandoval, titled “Mr. Batallán.”

Batallán is the winner of several prestigious competitions, including the Jeunesses Musicales of Spain Competition (2001), Yamaha Xeno National Competition (2002), Jeunesses Musicales of Europe Competition (2003) and the Yamaha International Competition (2003). He was also a prizewinner at the 2006 Maurice André International Trumpet Competition.

A native of the town of Barro in Galicia, Spain, Batallán began his musical studies at the age of seven at the school of music in his hometown. He continued his training at the Pontevedra Music Conservatory and the Vigo Music Conservatory under the supervision of Maestro Javier Viceiro. In 1999, he entered the School of Musical Studies of Galicia, where he participated in masterclasses with Javier Simó. In 2000, he was selected to be a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain (JONDE).

Batallán served as coach with the Youth Academy of the Granada City Orchestra for sixteen years and has led masterclasses at the Colburn School, the New England Conservatory, the Conservatory of Paris, Vanderbilt University, University of Illinois, Rice University, Curtis Institute of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Houston, and groups from the National Youth Orchestra of Spain, the Youth Orchestra of Andalusia, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the Taipei Music Academy & Festival, as well as other brass festivals around the world. He was a member of the Trumpet Faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University from 2020 until 2022.

Currently, Esteban is a member of the Trumpet Faculty of DePaul University and coach of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.