Cellist Victoria Bass is quickly establishing herself as a strong voice for new music. As a soloist Victoria has been featured by Bargemusic, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), The Stone, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, the Foundation for Modern Music, and the Music in Time series at Spoleto Festival USA, among others. She has also performed concerti with the Millennium Chamber Players, Ensemble 212, the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, and the Capistrano Valley Symphony. In 2007-08 she gave the Texas, Maine, and Louisiana premieres of the Berio Sequenza XIV. She has also given masterclasses and lectures at the University of Chicago, Louisiana State University, and Texas State University.
This season Victoria will appear with the Bang on a Can All-Stars in a tour of Europe. She will also continue to perform with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) who she has already joined at Miller Theater, Merkin Hall, the Morgan Library, and other venues across the US. From 2004- 2007 she was the cellist of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, a group with who she appeared in both the US and Canada, and performed a dozen commissioned world premieres. Victoria has also appeared in live and televised performances of chamber music presented by MOMA, the New York Art Ensemble, Roulette, and with the Lucerne Festival Academy Ensemble conducted by Pierre Boulez. Other chamber music performances have been presented by the Klangspuren Schwaz (Austria), the Neon Festival, the American Composer’s Forum, the National Arts Center (Canada), New Music @ the Chelsea Art Museum, the Greenwich Music Festival, and Syzygy: New Music at Rice.
Also trained as a vocalist Victoria commissions works that require the cellist to sing while playing. In 2008 she gave the world premiere performance of a single person simultaneously performing Aria (voice) and Concert (solo cello) by John Cage. Future projects include works for singing cellist and live electronics, a one-person opera, and collaborations with installation and video artist Andrew Zientek.
Victoria was the winner of the Leonard Rose scholarship at the Juilliard School where she studied with Darrett Adkins and received her Master of Music degree. She received her Bachelor of Music degree (cum laude) from Rice University where she was a student of Norman Fischer. Victoria is also an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy.