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World Renowned Solo Double Bassist

February 11, 2022

Well known in the classical music scene for communicating his emotions through his performances, Xavier Foley, a concerto soloist on the double bass, is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He was recognized on New York WQXR’s "19 for 19" Artists to Watch list and featured on PBS Thirteen’s NYC-ARTs.

He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Sphinx Symphony and Sphinx Virtuosi at Carnegie Hall. Foley was co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Sphinx Organization for a new work entitled “For Justice and Peace” for Violin, Bass, and String Orchestra, which was recently performed at venues including Carnegie Hall as part of a program designed to promote social justice.

Foley’s passion for music started at an early age. He grew up in Marietta, Georgia, a small suburb outside of Atlanta. The city of Marietta is rich in history, culture and music.

“I started piano when I was eight and that was my first instrument. I ended up switching to bass during middle school, I just thought it was something I could show off to my friends, you know, big instrument and all that,” said Xavier Foley, Double Bassist.

A competitive kid (he loved having video game tournaments with his friend), Foley decided to audition for scholarships and honors programs. He developed a love of performing while playing bass for schools, community groups and small concerts around town.

“Up until then I didn’t know who or what I was or wanted to be but getting out in the community, learning more about the people who lived in it. It was just a bonus to what I was doing and I just became a music kind of person, I guess you would say,” said Foley.

At 16, Foley’s passion became almost a full-time job, focus, determined and doing nothing but practicing his bass.

“I was competing a lot and trying to hone my skills. There's a lot of great nonprofit organizations that help promote classical music to different communities like mine. You know, obviously at the time, there wasn't really many African American or just minorities in a classical music scene. It wasn't quite as diverse as it is nowadays. The people I met and the community groups, the scholarships, they made it possible for me to go to camps and get private lessons and helped me understand what classical was and how cool of a genre it is,” said Foley.

Those community connections introduced Foley to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he got a chance to work with one of his idols.

“My idol was Edgar Meyer, who was a crossover bass player soloist and he's played with Yo Yo Ma, featuring goat rodeo sessions and all that stuff. He really taught me to look at all genres of music and to appreciate and get inspired but anything that is unique. I’ve had several other musicians who have influenced my work to take it outside the box. I like to be creative and not just stay in a little box if you will,” said Foley.

Foley is an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program and earned his Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, working with Edgar Meyer and Hal Robinson. His double bass was crafted by Rumano Solano.

“When someone comes to a performance of mine, I hope they hear the training, the studying, the experiences and influences I’ve had in my time as a musician. That they experience the different styles I weave through out my pieces. When someone listens, at least there's one section in the piece that they can relate to. There's always something nice about being able to be taken back to the old days, to your childhood to a memory of a time that you were happy,” said Foley.

Foley hopes his story, journey and experiences will inspire the next generation of great classical music composers, musicians and teachers.

“I get asked this question a lot: What do you do or what do you say to younger musicians to inspire them? It comes back to this, I think it’s really finding a core purpose, knowing your goals and your passions. Have a mission statement, write it down. Discover who you are and what you believe in and how you can express that through music,” said Foley.

Currently Foley is writing a new bass concerto for the Atlanta Symphony which will be performed on March 24, 2022.

“It's going to feature everything from Soul to Classical to a little bit romantic style and that's my chance to really show the world what I stand for, which is taking from everything around you and making it into something and not just being in one style. That's kind of what the “For Justice and Peace” concerto I wrote previously is all about. It is a combination of different periods of Classical, Modern, R & B and Gospel music combined into one,” said Foley.

For more on Xavier Foley, follow him at xavierfoley.com.