Balladeste string duo - Preetha Narayanan & Tara Franks
"absolutely stunning" - Anita Rani BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour
“defies easy definition … very very special indeed” Katie Derham BBC Radio 3 In Tune
“…an extraordinary and beautiful listening experience…” Folk Radio UK
Workshops & 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.
Further Links to Preetha and Tara’s work:
BIO & career highlights:
Paving the way for an emerging new genre of Contemporary Classical meets Folk in its broadest form ‘Indo-Baroque meets alt-folk minimalism’ Balladeste is 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.
Since the success of their second album Beyond Breath (4* Songlines), they have been interviewed on BBC Radio 3 In Tune and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, Soho Radio with Max Reinhardt as well as tracks featured on BBC Radio 3 Night Tracks, Late Junction, Saturday morning with Elizabeth Alker, BBC Radio 4 ‘Book of the week’.
In July 2022 they released a BB re-work EP collaborting with revered artists from the contemporary & jazz music scene; Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, Midori Hirano, The Vernon Spring and Anna Phoebe.
Last Summer 2024 they released their 3rd full album - an entirely improvised music journey recorded live with Alex Bonney at Snape Maltings, Suffolk supported by Britten Pears Arts & Help Musicians UK.
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). There performing life has taken them around the UK and beyond, from concert halls to intimate grass roots venues, out door events to international festivals - hightlights incl. Art Night Dundee & Bright Festival 2023 curated by Nabihah Iqbal, El Chopo Mexico City (2023), Isole Che Parlano Festival, Italy (2019), supporting OAE @ Night Shift London, Cafe Otto, Non Classical -London & Snape Maltings Festival of the New (2022).
