Ellen Martins
French Horn
Teaching Philosophy
To me, there is a great balance in being a practitioner of the performance discipline: to always strive to perform better, to understand the music deeper, to become technically more proficient, and to continually challenge myself while also engaging and nurturing the next generation of musicians. This incorporates the same drive: how to inspire my students to improve, to become technically proficient, to understand the music deeper, and to always challenge them. I bring the multiple tools of experience, inspiration, engagement, and knowledge to my teaching.Education
B.M. in Horn Performance, University of Lowell-College of Music; M.M., New England Conservatory under Richard Mackey
Bio
Ellen Martins performs frequently with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, ProArte Chamber Orchestra, Cantata Singers Orchestra, Symphony New Hampshire, Lexington Symphony, and Orchestra of Indian Hill. She has been a regular performer with Alea III, Portland Symphony, Springfield Symphony, and Rhode Island Philharmonic, and was a founding member of the CommonWealth Winds (an acclaimed woodwind quintet) and HarmonieMusik (resident Wind Octet at UMass Lowell in 1988–1994). As a recitalist, she has performed in Iraklion, Crete, in the International Contemporary Music Festival and in contemporary chamber music concerts in Athens and St. Petersburg, Russia. Ellen is a horn professor at Gordon College and University of Massachusetts-Lowell. She is also Wind Chair of New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School and Continuing Education Division. She can be heard in orchestral and chamber music recordings on the Koch International, CRI, Titanic, and Albany labels.