“To Mr. Lu
with my admiration and gratitude for your artistry and workmanship”
—Ayrton Pinto

Violinist of Boston Symphony Orchestra

 

Biography of Ayrton Pinto

Ayrton Pinto joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a violinist (eventually also assuing duties as a piano and celesta player) in 1959. At various times, he also served as concertmaster of the Boston Opera Symphony Orchestra and of the Newton Chamber Orchestra, as well as of the Symphony Orchestras of Springfield, MA and Portland, ME.

Upon retiring from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and returning to this native Brazil in 1976, Mr. Pinto established himself as one of the country's foremost violin performers and pedagogues. From 1976 to 1988 he was the concertmaster and frequent soloist with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra. A highly sought-after soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, Mr. Pinto recorded the integral of Brahms' Violin Sonatas with pianist Fernando Lopes and Villa-Lobos' Piano Trios as a member of Artistrio. From 1997 to 2001 Mr. Pinto was the Conductor and Artistic Director of the São Paulo State University Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Pinto was a violin faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music (1955 - 1964) and of the Wellesley College (1962 - 1973). From 1974 to 1976 he served as Director of the All-Newton Music School. In Brazil, Mr. Pinto was the Pedagogic Coordinator as well as violin and chamber music faculty at Campos do Jordão Winter Music Festival (1976 - 1993). He was faculty member of the São Paulo State University from 1977 to 2003.

Born in Rio de Janeiro on December 12, 1933, Mr. Pinto studied at the Brazilian Conservatory of Music, obtaining there a Bachelor's Degree in Violin at only 18 years of age. He pursued further studies at the New England Conservatory in boston, where he earned Master of Music (1955) and Artist's Diploma (1957) Degrees. As a Fellow at the Bershire (now Tanglewood) Music Center in 1956, Mr. Pinto won the Koussevitszky Prize, this being the first tie that the award was bestowed on an instrumentalist - until then, it had been given only to conducting fellows.

Mr. Pinto passed away in São Paulo on November 17, 2009, fro complications of an aneurysm. (The same day also marked the fiftieth anniversary of the death of another prominent Brazilian musical figure - composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.)

Critical acclaim for Mr.Pinto:

"Ayrton Pinto - powerful musical talent" - Paul Hume, The Washington Post

"Mr. Pinto has an artistic nature ... he brought out the full measure of emotion ... his musical taste was excellent ... he has that rarer gift, the ability to strike deep into the substance of music." - Harold Rodgers, Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA)

"Notable violin talent ... technically he is well grounded ... his bow is extraordinarily dexterous and posed, the bow of a real musician who proceeds not from note to note, but from phrase to phrase and period to period, all in exact and even rhythm." - Cyrus Durgin, The Boston Globe

"Brazilian duo [Ayrton Pinto, violin and Antonio Barbosa, piano] Superb ... they played with a zest and fire often absent from the concert platform ... they are both musicians of considerable stature, and make good music together." - Wendell Margrave, The Star and News (Washington, DC)

"A. Pinto was the soloist in the Brahms [Violin Concerto] ... the solo violin spun a sound like silk, as though the diabolical double stops were child's play ... everywhere there was a magnificent ease and musical interpretation of the highest order..." - Mary Amlaw, The Arlington Advocate

"The concertmaster of the Newton Chamber Orchestra, Ayrton Pinto, was the soloist of Mozart's Concerto No.2 ... he produces a sweet and penetrating sound ... a violinist we would like to hear more often..." - Arthur Hepner, The Boston Globe

"Pinto played the Brahms [Violin Concerto] in a fantastic manner ... his was a masterly rendition of the intricacies of the composition..." - Ruth L. Curtis, Daily Evening (Boston, MA)