A native of Moncofa, Spain, clarinetist José Franch-Ballester joined the roster of Astral Artistic Services as a winner of its 2004 National Auditions. Born into a family of musicians, including clarinetists and Zarzuela singers, he began clarinet lessons at the age of nine and went on to study at the Conservatorio Superior de Musica Joaquín Rodrigo de Valencia; upon completion of his studies at the Conservatorio he entered the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Donald Montanaro. A first-prize winner of the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including first prize in Spain’s First Clarinet Competition Allegro and in the IV Competition of Interpretive Soloists Francisco Hernandez Guirado. He was also a prizewinner at the competition of the Consellería de Cultura de la Generalitat Valencia in the years 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In the 2004-2005 season Mr. Franch-Ballester made several important debuts; he appeared in recital at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in New York at the 92nd Street Y, and in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He also gave the world-première performance of Jake Heggie’s Winter Roses with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and Santa Barbara’s Camerata Pacifica, and premièred Kenji Bunch’s Cookbook for Clarinet and Piano at the Kennedy Center. He concertized in Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Massachusetts, Florida, and New York, participated in Germany’s Usedomer Musikfestival, and performed for the La Jolla Music Society.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Franch-Ballester is a member of Chamber Music Society Two of Lincoln Center and has participated in the Music from Angel Fire Festival and Switzerland’s Verbier Festival and Academy. He recently performed Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston with Arnold Steinhardt, violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet. He is a member of the Astral Winds (Astral woodwind quintet), and studies chamber music with violinist Pamela Frank.
Mr. Franch-Ballester has performed under the batons of Otto Werner Mueller, Sir Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yuri Temirkanov, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman, and Hans Vonk. He has given his recital debut at Florida’s Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and performed Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with Spain’s Musica de Vall de Uxo Orchestra. He toured with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and was a member of the Haddonfield Symphony.
Mr. Franch-Ballester’s upcoming engagements include performances of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto at both the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the new Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, an appearance with the Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, and a chamber music performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall under Astral’s auspices. José Franch-Ballester is a Carole Haas Gravagno & Emilio Gravagno Artist. |
