About

‘Narayanan’s and Franks’s collaboration is pure magic… Beyond Breath is musically speaking, by far their greatest achievement to date. There is nothing remotely quite like it’

BackSeat Mafia

Balladeste are paving the way for an emerging new genre of Contemporary Classical meets Folk in its broadest form ‘Indo-Baroque meets alt-folk minimalism’

A collaboration between violinist Preetha Narayanan and cellist Tara Franks - an ever evolving musical partnership and deep friendship forged over ten years, Balladeste have developed a unique way of writing, weaving in and out of each other’s voices as performer-composers. Exploring the versatility and sound potential of just two string instruments. Balladeste creates a musical narrative that is both ancient yet contemporary, devotional whilst pastoral, writing original compositions that are vibrant, experimental, melodic and contemplative in quality - Songs without words with contemporary alt-folk twist.

Drawing on influences as far ranging as the singular melodies of visionary Hildegard of Bingham, the modal minimalism of Arvo Pärt, harmonic palette of Purcell via the minimalism of Philip Glass, Balladeste's musical breadth is equally akin to the likes of Caroline Shaw and Liam Byrne as the Madras String quartet and Silk Road Ensemble.

As a duo they enjoy experimenting with varied performance sets from fully improvised gigs to sets that incorporate a collection of their original repertoire from both albums ‘Relic’ (2017), ‘Beyond Breath’ (2021).

  ‘an extraordinary and beautiful listening experience’ Folk Radio UK

Since the success of their 2nd acclaimed album ‘Beyond Breath’ (4* Songlines), they have been interviewed on BBC Radio 3 InTune, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, Soho Radio with Max Reinhardt aswell as had tracks featured on BBC Radio 3 Night Tracks, Late Junction, Saturday morning with Elizabeth Alker and theme music BBC Radio 4 ‘Book of the week’

In July 2022 they released a Beyond Breath re-work EP featuring the work of revered artists from the contemporary & jazz music scene; Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, Midori Hirano, The Vernon Spring & Anna Phoebe.

In 2023 they released their 3rd full album ‘Conversations in Ritual’ a new depature for the duo, an entirely improvised musical journey recorded live at Snape Maltings, Suffolk with support from Britten Pears Arts & Help Musicians UK.

’showcasing the improvisational talents of this winning string duo, these nine ambient folk pieces act like a warm summer breeze, occasionally drifting towards jazz styles’ The Musician

Workshops and sharing practice:

As experienced workshop leaders Balladeste are advocates for sharing & exploring their innovative creative practice with musicians of all ages and stages. They have particular interest as a duo in working with young string players from diverse backgrounds to promote embodied musicianship skills, new approaches to string playing, ways into improvisation and group composition.  They have led workshops with organisations including KACES, South Korea, AYM Britten Peers Arts, Music Masters, SoundsCreative Projects, Dartington Arts, Saffron Waldon Hall, Ochestras for all,  and are currently devising a course for aspiring string players wanting to broaden their skills, musicianship and connection to their instrument through improvisation, voice, body and yoga.