Meet our conductor: Ben Bolt-Martin

Ben Bolt-Martin has been the principal conductor of the Waterloo Chamber Players since the 2012 – 2013 season.

Bolt-Martin is known in the area primarily as a cellist, having performed for 15 seasons with the Stratford Festival.   Also very active in chamber music, he is currently the cellist in the Stratford-based Factory Arts Quartet with violinists Julie Baumgartel and Andrew Chung and violist Josh Greenlaw. His interest in new composition has led to participation in the performance and recording of new works by Timothy Corlis, Heather Taves and Leonard Enns, among others.

Recently Bolt-Martin has branched out into composition, including wonderful orchestral arrangements for the Celtic band Rant Maggie Rant and a suite for cello and orchestra based on the songs of Edith Piaf. He also has a strong interest in music education and is Music Director of the Mississauga and the Stratford-Perth Youth Orchestras and director of Instrumental Chamber Music at Conrad Grebel College.

Bolt-Martin brings to the podium wonderful musicianship, great excitement, and a superb ability to communicate his musical vision to the players through words, gestures and images. Plus, he truly enjoys conducting. “The opportunity to present to a group of musicians a musical concept and to work towards the realization of that concept brings a great sense of accomplishment and reward for the conductor,” says Bolt-Martin.