Chicago Symphony (Officially) Picks New Principal Trumpet

So much has happened in Chicago this year. After the long, painful strike in early spring of 2019, much love from around the world was brought to this mighty orchestra. Shortly after negotiations were resolved, the Symphony named David Cooper as their new Principal Horn.

On June 24th, an audition took place with many superior finalists who, beforehand, had performed as guest Principal Trumpet with the CSO. After a three-year vacancy with multiple audition dates, Chicago has named Esteban Batallán as the winner of the Principal Trumpet audition. Born in Spain, Battallán previously was the Principal Trumpet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and has performed with orchestras such as Teatro alla Scala, Filarmonica della Scala, the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra. Prior to his position in Hong Kong, Batallán was the Principal Trumpet with the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada from 2002 until September 2018.

Click here to read the official press release

Editor’s Note: This article was originally posted on June 25, 2019. While Esteban Batallán did win the audition in June, a trial period still had to take place. Therefore to not lead to any hint of chance, this post was temporarily taken down until the CSO had officially named Esteban as Principal Trumpet. Sometimes, news can travel too fast, and I apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused when this article was originally posted. Congratulations to Esteban! The brass (and music world) is excited to hear even more of your playing in years to come. – Jeremy