Marlene Ballena
Cello
Peruvian cellist Marlene Ballena began playing the cello at age seven in her hometown of Lima. She served as a member of the Peruvian National Symphony and as principal cellist of the Piura Symphony Orchestra.
In 2003, she was awarded a performance scholarship at the University of Louisville, where she earned her Bachelor's degree. Later, she continued her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Stephen Geber. During her time at CIM, she joined the Matisse String Quartet and participated in the Intensive String Quartet Seminar, working with members of the Cleveland, Cavani, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Juilliard, and Takács quartets. After graduating, Ballena joined the graduate string quartet in residence at Kent State University, working under the tutelage of the Miami String Quartet. Ballena also served as a member of the Akron and Canton Symphony Orchestras.
In 2011, Ballena was accepted into the performance residency program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where she worked with Anne Williams and David Premo. She also served as a substitute player for the Pittsburgh Symphony and joined the Starling Honors Quartet at CMU. The quartet represented Carnegie Mellon through various performances in Pittsburgh, New York, Canada, and Qatar. In 2014, they were selected to attend the chamber music residence at the Banff Centre in Canada.
Ballena has been a member of the Charlotte Symphony since September 2014.
