From Arizona State University bass professor Patrick Neher:

The Arizona Bass Players Festival and Workshop and competition will occur March 5-8, 2009 at Arizona State University. The competition is open, in two categories, to double bass and electric bass(es) now, for players 15-22 years. The Festival will feature John Clayton Thierry Barbé, Catalin Rotaru, Joel DiBartolo (who recently had a heart attack so we are praying he’ll be okay by March), myself, and a yet-to-be-announced electric player. There will be master classes, performances, workshops, a teacher session, and a jam.

Learn more about it at www.arizonabassplayers.org

About Patrick Neher:

Patrick Neher, Professor of Music, is recognized as one of the world’s leading double bass soloists and composers of music for double bass. He received his Master of Music Degree with Honors from the Juilliard School of Music in 1981, under the esteemed tutelage of the late David Walter. In 1996 he received the coveted Diplôme from the Intl. Rabbath Institute, Paris, France. He has been with the faculty of the University of Arizona since1984. He founded the Arizona Double Bass Symposium in1988 and the Arizona Bass Players Festival and Workshop in 2005. He is a former member of the San Diego Symphony, the New Mexico Symphony, the American Philharmonic, the New Orleans Symphony, the New 20th Century Players, and for ten years he was Principal Bassist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. For eighteen years he performed as Principal Bassist with the Orchestra of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra. Prof. Neher’s solo concert career has recently taken him to New Zealand and Australia, England, Scotland, France, Canada, East and West Germany, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and throughout the USA. As an active chamber musician, he has performed with numerous festivals, including: the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Sedona Chamber Music Festival, the Grand Canyon Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the California New Music Festival, the CalArts Contemporary Music Festival, the Green Umbrella Series, the Santa Fe Opera, and the New Orleans and Phoenix symphonies’ summer festivals. Mr Neher is a founding member of Crossing Barriers Group a multi-media, multi-genre, collaborative ensemble that performs regularly in Tucson with guest artists from around the country.