BALLATORI, CRISTINA

Cristina Ballatori has performed across the United States, Europe, England, and Latin America as a recitalist, soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. Recent performance highlights include concerts in such venues as the World Flutes Festival in Mendoza, Argentina, Atelier Concert Series in Paris, France, “Live from Hochstein” Series public radio WXXI in Rochester, New York, and artist residencies in Spain, Costa Rica, and Mexico. As a chamber musician, Ballatori is a member of the Semplice Duo with pianist Kevin Chance, Duo Sacromonte with guitarist Jonathan Dotson, and the Whitewater Chamber Players. Ballatori regularly appears as a guest artist and has been a featured performer, clinician, and adjudicator at many festivals, universities, and conferences including those of the National Flute Association, Music Teachers National Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and Florida Flute Association among others. Ballatori has been a prizewinner in several competitions including the Flute Society of Washington, D.C.’s Young Artist Competition, the Bruce Ekstrand Competition, and the George Mason University Concerto Competition.

Ballatori joined the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater music faculty as Assistant Professor of Flute in Fall 2016. The recipient of the University of Texas System’s Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, she previously served as Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).  Her students have been named winners and finalists in local, state, regional, and national competitions, including those sponsored by the National Flute Association and Texas Association of Music Schools, and have been accepted into top summer festivals and graduate programs. Under Ballatori's direction, the UTRGV Flute Choir and Flautarra Ensemble enjoyed the university's first invitations to appear as featured performers at the National Flute Association Convention (2015, 2014, 2013), Texas Music Educators Association Convention (2016, 2014), and Texas Flute Festival (2012).

A winner of the National Flute Association’s Graduate Research Competition, Ballatori’s doctoral thesis, “Suite Paysanne Hongroise for Flute and Piano by Béla Bartók/Arr. Paul Arma: A Performer’s Guide,” was recognized for its outstanding contribution to flute research. Her articles have been published in American Music Teacher, Flute Talk, and Flutist Quarterly. Ballatori has served as co-director of the Frontera Chamber Music Society, a non-profit organization she co-founded in 2012, and as co-director and co-founder of the South Texas Flute & Clarinet Festival. She joined the Board of the National Flute Association in November 2016, and previously served the organization as coordinator of the NFA High School Soloist Competition from 2009-2014.

Ballatori completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Flute Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The recipient of a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship, she received a postgraduate diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England where she studied with Peter Lloyd, retired principal flutist of the London Symphony Orchestra. She earned performance degrees at Louisiana State University (M.M.) and George Mason University (B.M.). Her major teachers include Alexa Still, Katherine Kemler, Judith Lapple, and Diane Smith.

Visit www.cristinaballatori.com