RR_S08E07 - Live Connections - Xavier Foley
LiveConnections presents two emerging composers and recent grads of the Curtis Institute of Music, collaborating around their love of video games and their serious classical chops. Soprano Elizabeth Zharoff, in addition to performing opera, is an award-winning game audio designer and composes music for film and TV. Double bassist Xavier Foley shares his love of video game music in his own compositions and performances. LiveConnections has commissioned both artists to write new game-inspired works, to be premiered as part of a lively and eclectic program spanning new music, art songs, opera and classical bass. They will be joined by pianist Michelle Cann, also a Curtis alum, along with Fourte, a student string quartet from All-City Orchestra.
"These aren't your typical collaborations. LiveConnections creates synergy between … unlikely bedfellows" (Philly Mag Ticket). The LiveConnections Presents concert series features six curated concerts annually, showcasing adventurous collaborations, new commissions and world premieres, and the best boundary-crossing music around. LiveConnections is a nonprofit in residence at World Cafe Live.
XAVIER FOLEY. From Marietta, Georgia, double bassist Xavier Foley was the First Prize winner of the 2014 Sphinx Competition. As such, he has appeared as soloist with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony and Brevard Concert Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall solo debut with the Sphinx Virtuosi in October 2014. He recently toured with the Sphinx Virtuosi 2014, where he was featured as soloist on the U.S. East and West coasts. Mr. Foley was also the First Prize winner of both the 2009 (Junior Division) and 2011 (Senior Division) International Society Bassist Competition, and a prizewinner in the Eastern Music Festival Concerto Competition. A winner of Astral’s 2014 National Auditions, he has performed in Carnegie Hall as principal bassist of the New York String Seminar Orchestra, under the baton of Jaime Laredo. He has also appeared on NPR’s “From the Top.” As a chamber musician, he has appeared at Marlboro Music and the Delaware Chamber Music Festival. Also a composer, Mr. Foley studied composition with Eric Sessler and Edgar Meyer at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he recently completed a Bachelor of Music degree under Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. He studied previously with Douglas Sommer, and has trained as part of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program. Mr. Foley’s double bass was crafted by Rumano Solano. Learn more at http://www.astralartists.org/artist/xavier-foley-2.
