Tara Franks

Balladeste(The Strings of Quest Ensemble)

Balladeste - an ongoing collaboration with acclaimed violinist Preetha Narayanan - who came together through an understanding of their parallel paths from a classical background to their current practice of collaboration, research, and improvisation.  Having developed a duo identity born out of their trio Quest Ensemble, they have created a unique sound of their own and way of working with mutual resonance.  Writing through playing, improvising, and finding a shared language without notation, the duo explore the versatility and sound potential of just two string instruments as a band.  They merge their varied musical experiences to create compositions that are vibrant and experimental yet melodic and filmic in quality.

Having integrated their duo repertoire into Quest Ensemble performances at venues including Wilton’s Music Hall, Vortex Jazz Club, Southbank and Union Chapel, the duo have received high praise from listeners for their engaging interaction.

 With a collective array of collaborations and commissions including working with visual artist/dancers; Lucy Steggals,  Somang Lee,  Ruth Pethybridge,  and renowned UK artists  Oi Va Voi, Talvin  Singh, Bernhard Schimpelsberger,  Shammi Pithia and Kate Tempest, their varied work and love of collaboratively creating feeds into their process and performance dynamic as a duo

Upcoming performances and info on the soon to be released debut album on facebook