Ashley Bathgate
cello

American cellist Ashley Bathgate has performed worldwide as both a classical and contemporary musician and has been hailed by critics as a "brilliant, rising star." She has appeared in venues such as Carnegie's Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, (le) Poisson Rouge, BargeMusic, Boston's Symphony Hall, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, the Chan Centre in Vancouver, Seoul Arts Center, Forbidden City Concert Hall and National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing), Shanghai Grand Theater, Teatro Palladium of Rome, the Royal Conservatory of the Hague and the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. Ashley has been a guest artist at several festivals including New York City's Look and Listen, Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN, the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, Bard Summerscape, Romaeuropa, the Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Beijing Music Festival.

As a soloist, Ashley has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Windham Chamber Players, Lake Placid Sinfonietta and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2008 she made her New York debut in Carnegie's Weill Hall with pianist Todd Crow and has been broadcast as a featured artist on WMHT FM, WQXR FM's Young Artist Showcase', NPR's 'Performance Today' and WYNC's New Sounds Live. Ashley recently recorded a collaborative disc featuring music by Martin Bresnick, scheduled for upcoming release on Albany Records.

As a member of the award-winning "Bang on a Can All-Stars" Ashley champions new music across the globe and in many musical genres. She has collaborated with composers and musicians such as John Adams, Martin Bresnick, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Ingram Marshall, Aaron J. Kernis, Terry Riley, Don Byron, David Longstreth, Oscar Bettison, Nik Brtsch, Trio Mediaeval, Windscape, Glenn Kotche, Lee Ranaldo, Chantal Juillet, Pascal Roge, Peter Oundjian and Helmuth Rilling. She is currently embarking on a project called 'Heart On Your Sleeve' with pianist Lisa Moore which will present new commissioned works in different venues throughout New York. Composers involved in this project include Stephen Feigenbaum, Julia Wolfe, Sam Adams, Paul Dresher, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Clyne and Kate Moore, amongst others.

Ashley's awards include a grant from the New York Philharmonic Players Fund, sponsored by Stephen and Elaine Stamas, as well as top prizes at the 1999 and 2001 Lois Lyman Concerto Competition, the 2006 Hugo Kauder Memorial Strings Competition and the 2008 Yale University School of Music Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition. Her newly formed Lorien Trio received the bronze medal at the 2009 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

A native of Saratoga Springs, NY, Ashley began cello studies at the age of 12. She received a Bachelor's degree from Bard College where she studied cello with Luis Garcia-Rnart and composition with Joan Tower. Having received her Master's degree in 2007 from the Yale University School of Music, she was selected for the 'Artist Diploma' program by her teacher, Aldo Parisot, and in that same year received the Aldo Parisot Prize for the cellist showing 'most promise for a concert career'. While at the Yale University School of Music she was a member of the acclaimed "Yale Cellos". She also studied composition with Ezra Laderman and chamber music with Claude Frank, Boris Berman, Peter Frankl, Jesse Levine, Ani Kavafian and the Tokyo String Quartet.