ABOUT QUENTON XAVIER BLACHE

Quenton Xavier Blache is a cellist and composer based in Los Angeles and a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) Thornton School of Music. He has a bachelor's degree in cello performance and composition, and a minor in Chinese. He is a recent graduate of USC's acclaimed master’s program in screen scoring. Quenton has performed in Carnegie Hall, South America, Europe, and Asia as a member of Sphinx Virtuosi, a professional string ensemble of Black and Latinx players, and National Youth Orchestra USA. He soloed the Dvorak Concerto with the Peninsula Symphony in February 2022. In August 2022, he performed in France as a member of the USC Honors Quartet at the Rencontres franco-américaines de Musique de Chambre Festival in collaboration with musicians from the Paris Conservatory. Serving as a cello hand double and background musician actor in the Blumhouse Productions 2020 Amazon Prime movie Nocturne allowed him to merge his love of music and film. He is the 2021 winner of the USC Bach Competition, Undergraduate Division and the 2023 winner of the USC Strings Concerto Competition. He performed Bloch's Schelomo with the Thornton Symphony in October 2023.

As a composer, Quenton has written works for the Little Orchestra Society, North Carolina Chamber Music Institute, MYCO Youth Chamber Orchestra, Sphinx Organization and more. He is the winner of the 2023 WCSMS Promising Young Composer’s Competition, as well as the 2023 NCMTA Young Composers Contest. His most recent string orchestra work Habari Gani is being performed by the Sphinx Virtuosi for their 2023-24 tour, which included a New York premiere in Carnegie Hall in October 2023. Later adapted for full orchestra, the work was premiered in January 2024 by the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra at Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Orchestra Hall. He was recently commissioned by renowned cellist Gautier Capućon to write a piece for his upcoming album, including a premiere of the work at San Francisco Symphony’s Davies Symphony Hall. Quenton is especially passionate about composition for visual media and has scored numerous short films and documentaries. In his spare time, he enjoys playing chess and aspires to be an International Master (IM). Quenton studies cello under accomplished cellist Andrew Shulman, and plays on a modern cello made by Paris-based luthier Michael Fazio.