Amber Walton-Amar

Amber Walton-Amar is a Canadian cellist whose career spans performance, education, and community initiatives. She has appeared in concert halls across Canada, the United States, Europe, and China, including Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Amsterdam’s Paradiso, and Berlin’s Kesselhaus.

Amber’s performance work includes a national tour and recording project at Glenn Gould Studio with the Thin Edge New Music Collective, her own original solo cello soundscapes Echoes from the North (a project supported by the Ontario Arts Council), and collaborations spanning multiple genres. She has toured Europe with SYML, appeared on stage with Kygo and Shawn Mendes, and performed for audiences including prime ministers, presidents, and film industry leaders. She has also contributed to cultural events such as TIFF and TEDx, and performed aboard VIA Rail from coast to coast across Canada. Amber performs and records on a commissioned cello by renowned luthier David Wiebe, as well as electric and carbon-fiber instruments. As a session musician she has recorded for Do Make Say Think, In the City, the Filmpac Sound Library, and countless other projects ranging from metal bands to singer-songwriters.

As an educator, Amber has held teaching positions at Columbia College Chicago, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the North York Suzuki Conservatory, as well as at summer programs including Music at Port Milford in Ontario and Valparaiso University in Indiana. She has also served as an adjudicator for the Indiana State School Music Association and Kiwanis Provincials. She is co-founder of Quintissimo, an El Sistema–inspired after-school music program serving Prince Edward and Hastings Counties, dedicated to expanding access to music education for youth in the region.

She also leads creative projects such as CELLA, Bowed Arts, County Strings, Muse & Mate, and L’eau de Cello. Currently, she is collaborating with Dr. Tanya Carey and artist Maureen Walton on a forthcoming illustrated children’s guide to cello playing.

Amber earned her Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto and her Master of Music in Performance from DePaul University in Chicago. She completed Suzuki teacher training with Dr. Tanya Carey in Illinois. Her principal mentors include Dr. Tanya Carey, Stephen Balderston, Hans Jensen, Simon Fryer, and Daniel Morganstern. Based in Eastern Ontario, where she began cello at the age of three, Amber continues to balance a vibrant performing career with her work in education and community building.