Bass blog and Contrabass Conversations regular contributor John Grillo recently wrote a post on his new blog project ClassicalMusicNews.tv about the New World Symphony’s Oktoberfest a tradition that he created when he was a fellow there. John writes:

A long standing tradition has been brewing at the New World Symphony for 8 consecutive years. On Oct 20, 2007 the New World Symphony held its 8th Annual Oktoberfest. I founded this tradition 8 years ago and I am so proud to see that it has continued to this day. The first Oktoberfest was held on Oct. 15, 2000. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we all had a wonderful time. We gorged on over a dozen entrees and sidedishes, then washed it down with 3 Kegs of some great Oktoberfest beer.

The summer prior to the event, about 12 of us from New World attended the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Sapporo is one of the premier beer cities in the world and we were fortunate to be able to experience the amazing beers that they produce. To kick the whole experience to another level, many players from the Vienna Philharmonic were playing and teaching at the festival. We enjoyed many nights at the various Beer gardens of Sapporo with the Vienna Philharmonic. All of us there will never forget the night when they took the whole PMF orchestra to the Sapporo Beer Garden and paid for all of us. We were singing and cheering all night long having an amazing time. It was so amazing being around these musicians from one of the worlds most famous orchestras. Upon returning to the Miami, I wanted to recreate those amazing times we had with our friends from the Vienna Philharmonic. I do think this was one of the motivating factors in starting this tradition.

Read the complete post here.

My favorite line from John’s post is about how “like milk and cookies, beer and music are intrinsically linked”!

Calgary Philharmonic bassist and blogger Matt Heller also has a post from 2005 documenting the festivities from that year. Check it out!

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