Ball made his professional debut in London on 4 June 1974 at the Wigmore Hall, playing Clementi, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy and Prokofiev.
[3] After studying the sonatas of Michael Tippett with the composer he frequently performed the works as a complete cycle.
[5] Other works in his repertoire included Sofia Gubaidulina's Piano Sonata (British premiere at the Bath Festival in 1987)[6] and Olivier Messiaen's Couleurs de la Cite Celeste at the BBC Proms in 1995.
[8] Ball played chamber music with the Villiers Quartet, the London Sinfonietta and the Nash Ensemble, and also for many years as a duo with violinist Madeleine Mitchell.
[12] His 2010 album Out of the Cool with flautist Susan Milan featured music by British composers, including Richard Rodney Bennett, Arthur Butterworth, David Heath, Cecilia McDowall and Robert Saxton.