About
Biography
Xavier Foley, bassist, was First Prize winner of the 2014 Sphinx Competition, the Young Concert Artists Auditions 2016, and a winner of the Astral Artists National Auditions 2014. As such, he has appeared as soloist with the Sphinx and Atlanta symphony orchestras, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Nashville Symphony. He made his Carnegie Hall solo debut with the Sphinx Virtuosi, with which he was also soloist on East and West coast tours. This season he appears in several concerts with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, the Impromptu concert series, and the St. Vincent College concert series. The First Prize winner of the 2009 (Junior Division) and 2011 (Senior Division) International Society Bassist Competition, he performed in Carnegie Hall as principal bass of the New York String Seminar Orchestra.
Also a composer, he is a 2016 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied both composition and performance with Edgar Meyer and Hal Robinson. Xavier Foley strives to become a world artist on the double bass as he continues to incorporate all styles of music, whether it be cultural, national, or folk music.
Reviews
“The double-bass world could use Xavier Foley. At 21, he’s a standout player.... But he’s also a right spark of a composer, and, to judge from the premiere of his “Zalistar” Trio, a musician who hears borders between styles as limitation best ignored.— Peter Dobrin,The Philadelphia Inquirer
“…graced the audience with a superbly executed performance of John B. Hedges’ Raise Him, Praise Shout... I look forward to future performances and compositions from this young artist.”— Emily Dalton, Splash Magazines
“Foley fit deftly into the music, the bass a bedrock with rich overtones...The bass plays many roles – singer, near comic, supporting actor, star – and Foley used them all.”—Daniel Webster, For The Inquirer
"Unforgettable was double bassist Xavier Foley’s wrenching solo, which barreled with cadenza-like vitality into a ferocious finish." — Tyran Grillo, The Cornell Daily Sun