Bayla Keyes

Described as "a charismatic soloist of expressive generosity and technical élan" who gives “awe-inspiring performances” displaying “masterful leadership,” violinist Bayla Keyes is an ardent champion for a wide range of classical and contemporary repertoire.   A seasoned performer on the international touring circuit, she played over one thousand concerts as a founding member of the Muir String Quartet, winning the Naumburg and Evian Competitions and two Grand Prix du Disques and performing with notable musicians such as Itzhak Perlman and Benny Goodman in venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and the White House. Ms. Keyes concertizes internationally as recitalist, as soloist with orchestras, and as a member of the acclaimed piano trio, Triple Helix. Highlights in recent years include premieres at the BBC and Kings Place in London as well as Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, appearances on major chamber music series in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., numerous radio broadcasts, solo recitals in Pittsburgh, Boston, and Vermont, the complete Mozart Violin Sonatas and works of Bartók in Serkin Center, and performances with orchestra of concertos by Stravinsky, Chausson, Bartók, Dvorâk, Sibelius, Beethoven, Martinu, Piazzolla, Martin, Brahms and Mozart. She has also given dozens of world premieres with Boston Musica Viva, the Wellesley Composers’ Conference, Winsor Music, and the Fromm Concert Series at Harvard. Her piano trio, Triple Helix, was the Artist Ensemble in Residence at the Rivers School, Project STEP, and Wellesley College, where their series of Beethoven concerts garnered them the accolade of “Musicians of the Year” from the Boston Globe. Their CD "A Sense of Place" was cited as "Best of North America" by Gramophone Magazine.  Ms. Keyes has recorded for Video Artists International, Ecoclassics, CRI, Musical Heritage, EMI-France, Sony, Koch, Bridge, MRS and New World Records. She plays a Gennarius Gagliano made in 1740.

While earning degrees from Curtis Institute and Yale University and attending the Marlboro Music Festival, Ms. Keyes studied with major teachers including Ivan Galamian, Oscar Shumsky, Jascha Brodsky, Felix Galimir, Karen Tuttle, Paul Kling, and Alexander Schneider, and she is committed to passing on their inspirational knowledge; she is Associate Professor of Violin at Boston University and also served on the violin faculty at New England Conservatory 2012-2013. Some of her former students occupy seats in professional orchestras and chamber ensembles, as well as on academic faculties, throughout the world. Former founding director of the String Quartet Institute at Tanglewood, and former director of the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Conference, Bayla has taught at summer festivals such as the Norfolk, Green Mountain, Garth Newel, Taos, Kent-Blossom, and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festivals, as well as the ARIA International Music Academy and the Beijing United States Music School International Festival. Ms. Keyes served as a board member of Chamber Music America from 2003-2009 and has adjudicated at the Singapore, Stulberg, and Fischoff International Competitions.

Learn more about Bayla on her Facebook profile.

B.M., Curtis Institute of Music; MM., Yale University