Classical music artist Xavier Foley will perform Wednesday, Feb. 7, in a free recital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Foley is known for communicating his virtuosity and passion for music on the double bass, which is rarely presented as a solo instrument. The free 7 p.m. performance is part of the UAB Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center’s Young Concert Artists Series. Tickets are free with registration. Register for tickets online.
Foley will also perform a free lunchtime concert for patients, staff and visitors at noon, Thursday Feb. 8, in the UAB Wallace Tumor Institute.
Foley strives to be a world artist on the double bass as he continues to incorporate all styles of music, whether it be cultural, national or folk music. He is a first-prize winner of the 2016 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, winner of the 2014 Sphinx Competition and a 2018 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
An avid chamber musician, Foley has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Marlboro Music Festival, Tippet Rise Music Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and Skaneateles Festival.
Foley’s composition “For Justice and Peace” was premiered by the Sphinx Organization at Carnegie Hall in October 2019, after being co-commissioned by both organizations. It has since been performed by such orchestras as the Atlanta Symphony, New West Symphony, Oregon Symphony and Saint Paul Chamber. Foley’s bass concerto, “Soul Bass,” was commissioned and premiered by the Atlanta Symphony, with subsequent performances with the Baltimore Symphony under New Music Director Jonathon Heyward and with the Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern.
Upcoming and recent commissions for Foley include Santa Fe Pro Musica, The Cabrillo Festival in conjunction with the Mahler Foundation, Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW (curated by Jessie Montgomery) and the Oregon Symphony, where he has been named artist-in-residence for the next three seasons.
Foley is touring extensively throughout North America with the Sphinx Virtuosi playing his new concerto, “Galaxy” Concertante, for two double basses, commissioned by Sphinx Virtuosi, New World Symphony and Carnegie Hall, and will also make concerto appearances performing his own works. He will also tour with the Ying Quartet performing a new bass quintet and will appear in recital.
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Foley is an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program, and earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music working with Edgar Meyer and Hal Robinson. His double bass was crafted by Rumano Solano.