Eugene Ball
Trumpet
Eugene (12/10/72) is a highly active musician, composer, arranger and educator in Australia and internationally. He is a committed member of many contemporary Melbourne ensembles, including The Hoodangers, Ish Ish, the Ball, Magnusson, Talia Trio, Allan Browne’s Rascals, the (ARIA award winning) Andrea Keller Quintet and the Bennett’s Lane Big Band. Eugene has toured throughout Russia, Scandinavia, Europe, the U.K., Canada, New Zealand, the U.S.A, India and the Pacific Islands as well as performed with Australian and international artists including Paul Grabowsky, Gordon Brixter, Mike Nock, and Graham Lyall.
In addition to composing and arranging extensively for his own ensembles, Eugene has received commissions from Eltham High School, Blackburn High School and Balwyn Secondary College. He has also composed and arranged commercially for Bob Valentine, Julie O’Hara, Nina Ferro and the multi-award winning Australian television series Seachange.
Since 1998 Eugene has taught improvisation and directed the award wining Senior Jazz Ensemble at Eltham High School, and also holds positions at the Victorian College of the Arts (Sessional Staff Member – Improvisation Department) and Monash University (Sessional Staff Member).
In 2003 Eugene was awarded 2nd place at the Wangarratta Jazz Awards, and was a finalist in the prestigious Freedman Jazz Fellowship. He has recently completed a Masters in Music Performance / Composition at the Victorian College of the Arts (first class honours), where he was awarded the Isobel Thomas Estate Encouragement Award, and a Melbourne Research Scholarship.
PRESS
Ball strikes sparks at every appearance, his rich urgent sound occasionally carrying flashes of the brilliance of the great Booker Little or the wicked humor of Lester Bowie.
John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald, 23-24 Feb 2002
The Band
- Stephen Magnusson
- Carl Dewhurst
- Alex Pertout
- Adrian Sherriff
- Lachlan Davidson
- Julien Wilson
- James Greening
- John O'Donnell
- John Rodgers
- Niko Schauble
- Paul Cutlan
- Paul Grabowsky
- Elliott Dalgleish
- Philip Rex
- Phillip Slater
- Sandy Evans
- Scott Tinkler
- Vanessa Tomlinson
- Simon Barker
- Alister Spence
- Tony Hicks
- Eugene Ball
- Erkki Veltheim
