Violinist BASIL ALTER began violin lessons with his mother at age 3. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he began schooling at University of Memphis’ Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, where he was the violinist of the Contemporary Chamber Players and concertmaster of the schools symphonic and opera orchestras. He later moved to New York to study at Manhattan School of Music, where he led their orchestras on several occasions, performing under the batons of Leonard Slatkin, Kent Tritle, Rob Kapilow, and George Manahan. He appears on the NAXOS recording label’s “Slatkin Conducts Slatkin” with Alec Baldwin, and was privileged to lead a live “What Makes It Great” concert with Rob Kapilow at the Kaufman Center in New York.
Recent highlights include appearing as a concerto soloist, performing the Bruch Violin Concerto with the Germantown Symphony Orchestra, and Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with the Delta Symphony Orchestra. He also had the privilege of embarking on a US tour with pianist Evan Solomon in a series of recitals.
In 2023, Basil founded the All Saints’ Chamber Music Series in Memphis with the mission of bringing high-quality chamber music to diverse audiences across the city, and the KASHA Quartet project, a string quartet dedicated to performing new music across the city to promote classical music engagement.
Presently he is based in London, pursuing an MMus at the Royal Academy of Music.