Braxton Ballew

Applied Lecturer, Bass

Contact
Department of Performing Arts
Email: cballew@clemson.edu

Bassist Braxton Ballew has been a member of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra double bass section since 2003. From 2007 to 2021, he served as the GSO Education Director, overseeing music education programming for all ages that enriches the quality of life throughout the Upstate. He’s also performed with the Charleston Symphony, Asheville Symphony, and the Spartanburg Philharmonic, among others An eclectic performer, he’s performed at venues ranging from the Peace Center to the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival in Baltimore. As bass soloist and composer (co-composing with his wife, Sarah Black), his work has been heard in theater productions by Greenville’s Warehouse Theater, Centre Stage Theater, and Furman University. Braxton’s music focuses on dark ambient soundscapes: solo bass compositions featuring live improvisation, live electronics processing, and looping. A project featuring this work, All My Nights Were Trances, will be completed in 2023 with support by Greenville’s Metropolitan Arts Council. Braxton earned his Bachelor’s degree from Valdosta (GA) State University, his Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia. His major teachers include James Barket, Doug Sommer, Albert Laszlo, and Milton Masciadri. His composition teachers include Henry Gwiazda and Leonard V. Ball, Jr. His research interests include electro-acoustic compositions for solo double bass, interactive music, improvisation, and electronic composition.