Chantal Leverton

Chantal Leverton plays the viola in eletric string quartet band eScala
Personal life
Leverton plays viola. She was born in London and started to learn the violin at seven years old. After violin lessons as school she studied at the Trinity College of Music in Greenwich for five years, where at thirteen years old she won the "Henry Wood Prize for most promising string player". When she was fourteen she played at Wigmore Hall, London in a masterclass with the Vienna Piano Trio.
Before joining Escala, she was a member of Wild with Izzy Johnston in 2005.
Background
Two of the four members of Escala, Izzy Johnston and Chantal Leverton, were part of Wild, a similar five-piece classical group who were signed to EMI and released an album with the label in 2005. The four members of the group met in 2005 when they were part of the string section on an arena tour with McFly.
In the final, they once again performed "Palladio", but didn't get enough public votes to make the top three acts and the show was won by street dancer George Sampson.
Controversy
The four members of Escala are professional musicians who have had experience of performing in orchestras and on tour. However, with Britain's Got Talent being a competition for "undiscovered talent", their experience was said to run counter to the spirit of the show, which Escala refuted, with Izzy Johnston saying, "It’s supposed to be open to everyone, professional and amateur alike."
The members of Escala denied that they played at the X Factor wrap party, with Izzy Johnston saying that she had played as part of a string section backing for Michael Bublé in his appearances as a guest on the show.
Name change
The quartet changed their name from Scala to Escala during Britain's Got Talent after it was discovered that there was already a Belgian choir using the name Scala - Scala & Kolacny Brothers. They changed the name to Escala after EMI threatened to sue, despite having used the name Scala for two years. After the show they put a lower case 'e' on the beginning to eScala but have since then reverted to Escala.
After Britain's Got Talent
On 6 June 2008 Escala performed at the first night of the nationwide Britain's Got Talent tour in London and on 8 June it was revealed that they had signed a £1.5million contract deal with Sony BMG.
In July 2008 they were signed to perform as part of a new promotional campaign for Sky Sports coverage of the 2008-09 football season. The high profile campaign began airing on 19 July with Escala performing "Palladio", was filmed at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London and featured them performing with clips from football matches. The promotion campaign was also used to promote other upcoming sports events on the channel.
Escala performed at the 2008 FA Community Shield on 11 August at Wembley Stadium, and accompanied Hayley Westenra when she sang the national anthem.
On 20 September 2008, Escala performed at the rugby union challenge match at Twickenham Stadium, London in aid of wounded British servicemen and women. On May 11, 2009, Escala made their American debut on The Oprah Winfrey Show as part of her World's Got Talent show with Simon Cowell.
On 25 May 2009, Escala performed as guests, non-competitively, on the second semi-final of the third series of Britain's Got Talent. They performed Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."
Debut album
Escala revealed their debut album, Escala, to an audience of about 400 media at Whitheall Palace, London on 23 September 2008. Produced by Trevor Horn, it was set for release on 25 May 2009. On 29 October 2008 they performed the soundtrack for the premiere of the James Bond film Quantum of Solace at the Odeon Leicester Square during the London Film Festival.
In late March and April 2009, Escala began a regional promotional tour of the United Kingdom. In March 2009, it was also revealed that Escala were to collaborate with Slash on a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" for their album; previously, bond had covered the song in a similar style for their Shine album. Other songs on the album included covers of Robert Miles's "Children" and Wings' "Live and Let Die".<ref name="guardian"/>

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