Edward Bale   M.Mus. (RCM), B.Sc. (Joint Hons.), ARCS.

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Orchestral Experience

1st Violin section member with the Orchestra of English National Opera since August 2001.

English Chamber Orchestra regular 1st & 2nd violin since July 2002, including tours to France (Festival La Roque d’Antheron) Poland, Spain & Asia/Far East 2003.

Guest work & Trial periods with City of Birmingham Symphony, Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Concert, Apollo Chamber Orchestra and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Guest Leader, Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and leader, Chandos Symphony Orchestra, Malvern.

Solo

Concertos: Shostakovich (A minor), Mendelssohn (E minor & D minor), Bruch (G minor & Scottish Fantasy), Mozart (G major) and Vivaldi (Four Seasons) with the Chandos Symphony Orchestra, Malvern, Colchester Bach Orchestra, Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra and Imperial College Symphony Orchestra.

Contemporary Consort: Concerts at Purcell Room Park Lane Group series, Cheltenham International Festival, British Music Information Centre, Royal College of Music.

Duo and Chamber Music: Recitals at North East Essex Arts & Literary Society, St Bride’s Fleet Street,  St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Durham, Essex and Imperial College Universities, Ongar Music Club.

Commonwealth Sinfonietta: Contemporary music at Conway Hall, London, The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, St James Piccadilly, London. Premières of works by Marc Yeats.

Violin Teaching

Junior Fellowship Royal College of Music. (1998-2000)

Private Teaching Practice - Assistant to Rodney Friend and private students from all levels.

Colchester County High School - Orchestral Coaching and A level Music Composition Workshops.

Contemporary Consort and Commonwealth Sinfonietta - Education projects in secondary schools.

Professional Training

1998 to 2000

Royal College of Music

Junior Fellowship (Phoebe Benham).

1997 to 1998

Royal College of Music

MMus degree in Performance Studies, Advanced Performance Pathway, with a Scholarship from the Constant & Kit Lambert Trust.

1993 to 1997

Royal College of Music & Imperial College, London

B.Sc. (Joint Hons), ARCS in Physics with Studies in Musical Performance    Degree Class: II (ii) Violin professor Rodney Friend.

1995 to 1999

Masterclasses with Ruggiero Ricci and Dong Suk Kang at Dartington International Summer School (Scholarship) and Academie Musicale Internationale, Courchevel.

Secondary Education

1987-1992

Eton College

A Levels Maths (B), Music (B), Physics (A)

GCSE’s 4 grades A, 4 grades B

 

Violin studies with Krzysztof Smietana, Lionel Bentley and Felix Andrievsky.

Referees

Rodney Friend, Professor and Consultant, Royal College of Music; Michael Lloyd, Senior Resident Conductor, English National Opera; Jeremy Cox, Deputy Director, Royal College of Music.

Personal Information

Date of Birth

28th September 1973

Nationality

British

Age

35

 

 

Biography

Edward Bale was a Music Scholar at Eton College, and studied the violin with Professor Rodney Friend at the Royal College of Music. He won an award from the Constant & Kit Lambert trust for his Masters Degree, and went on to be the Phoebe Benham Junior Fellow for Strings at the Royal College of Music for two years. He has also studied the violin with Krzysztof Smietana, Dong Suk Kang, Felix Andrievsky and Ruggiero Ricci.

He appears regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra, with whom he will tour in Asia and the Far East in December 2003. He also works with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Edward has led the Chandos Symphony Orchestra (Malvern) since 1997, and last season was guest leader of the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra.

Committed to contemporary music, he appears with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the Contemporary Consort with whom he has previously appeared at the Cheltenham Festival and the Purcell Room Park Lane Group series, and the Commonwealth Sinfonietta. He has worked with such composers as George Benjamin, David Sawyer, Marc Yeats, Richard Causton and Huw Watkins. In January 2002 he gave the opening concert at the Purcell Room Park Lane Group series with the Contemporary Consort, playing works by Adès, Poole, Stout and Powers.

Edward is currently a 1st violin with the Orchestra of English National Opera, and works regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra. He plays a violin by Emilio Celani, dated 1887.

Press Reviews

Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult Hall, Strauss ‘Ein Heldenleben’.

 “..Edward Bale accomplished a tour-de-force - sparkling solo pyrotechnics counterbalancing exquisite dialogue with the orchestra...”   Birmingham Post, June 2001

 

Chandos Symphony Orchestra, Malvern, Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1

“..a thought provoking interpretation..exquisite melody..The Passacaglia Andante - Cadenza revealed the superb Bale in wonderful song”   Malvern Gazette, November 2001

 

Contemporary Consort, Purcell Room Park Lane Group series - violin, cello, clarinet and piano Quartet

“..consummate performances of works by Thomas Adès - his perennially entertaining Catch - Geoffrey Poole and Anthony Powers, the ensemble gave the world premiere of all isles excelling by Alastair Stout... The intriguing sounds were tapped with sensitivity and wit by the young musicians.” The Daily Telegraph, January 2002

 

 

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