Tara Franks - Portfolio of work

Cellist, Composer,Creative Leader

(Please note this is a portfolio of work holding page with varied examples of my work - My artist page Tarafranks.co.uk is in process of update. My artist page for composition with my duo is found at Balladeste.co.uk)

I specialise in facilitating creativity and bringing people together through musical experiences of all kinds. My creative workshops involve voice, strings , improvisation and collaboartive composition with a strong value placed on embodied aurel collective music making. As a performer/composer I work across genres & art forms, with a focus on projects that have a collaborative approach. There is strong dialogue between my work as a facilitator and performer-composer, both in value to the approach and quality of creative output whatever the context.

Creative Workshops:

“the way you channel your art forms is simply phenomenal and inspiring, thank you for doing what you do” workshop participant testimonial

TotsTunes 'up in the air' - SoundsCreative Projects.jpg

neighbourhood projects - On the Move.jpg

SoundsCreative Ensemble - gathering ideas.png

Creative commissioners incl: Barbican, Aldeburgh Music, Royal Opera House, Music Masters UK, Music First, Turner Contemporary, National Gallery. Internationally - Sunland school of the Arts Mexico, Kobe University Japan, Korean Arts and Culture Services, South Korea

Led multiple largescale community performances at Union Chapel, Royal Albert Hall & Barbican.

Founder of SoundsCreative Projects - Community arts organisation

Watch a film about the ‘neighbourhood projects’ structure (thriving pre-Covid) as founded in Hackney, East London (2014…) - stemming from my flagship project Tots Tunes

Performance and Composition:

Testimonials:

“Tara is an exceptional musician and creator… I have seen first-hand how transformative Tara's work is, and admire her ability to connect to communities in person and online through original music of the highest quality. I am excited to see her extending the project's reach to new locations, and to witness the creative burgeoning of the project to include other brilliant musicians in her planned tour”

Sara Mohr-Pietch - Programmer, Curator, BBC Radio Broadcaster

‘It has been clear to me since their time at Guildhall that Tara (and Preetha) are both exceptionally talented artists. Their work transcends many of the conventional categories, both stylistically and as regards the contexts in which they work. They combine an in-depth knowledge of creative practice, both individually and in collaboration, with a huge range of skills as composers, arrangers, performers, producers and improvisers. There are very few artists who can combine diverse musical systems with the integrity that Balladeste are able to do’

Jan Hendrickse - Lecturer GSMD, Performer, Sound Artist

Balladeste

String duo collaboration with Preetha Narayanan, all original co-composed music

“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 2021

“…powerful and moving. Something more profound is happening in Balladeste’s music” Folk Radio UK 2023

“defies easy definition … very very special indeed” Katie Derham BBC Radio 3 In Tune

"absolutely stunning" - Anita Rani BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour

Quest Ensemble

Contemporary trio, creating all original collaborative written music

“an album’s worth of discovery, optimism and inspiration to savour” Trebuchet (about ‘The Other Side 2020’)

I have also collaborated on an array of publicly funded performance & cross-arts projects with artist incl: Kae Tempest, Jocelyn Pook, Jasdeep Singh Degun & Imogen Butler-Cole & Emily Levy.

Further cross-arts composition commissions:

Two lockdown Projects

Composition commission - piano & cello

A community opera commission, turned interactive sound installation, to finally an online participation project with and final sound piece/animation….