Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog » opera

HOW TO CONDUCT Lesson 1: “Ring of the Nibelungen” – YouTube

Jason — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:48:02 +0000

This video (featuring Mark Gould, Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) cracked me up in a serious way. Talk about someone who has spent his fair share of time in front of “maestros” of all sorts!

HOW TO CONDUCT Lesson 1: “Ring of the Nibelungen” – YouTube.

Making opera less ordinary

Jason — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00:51 +0000

I got the following info from some folks at Chicago Opera Theater (I’ve played bass for a bunch of their productions over the years):

Jason,

I wanted to let you know that Chicago Opera Theater is now hosting its second annual YouTube contest “How do YOU make opera less ordinary?”

The details and a kick-off video can be found on our website:
http://www.chicagooperatheater.org/arias/2010youtube.html

Thanks for including last year’s contest on your blog:
http://doublebassblog.org/2009/03/want-free-tickets-to-chicago-opera-theater.html

Here’s the vid with the info:

Academy of Vocal Arts presents Donizetti’s “Lucia Di Lammermoor”

johngrillo — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:18:00 +0000

The Academy of Vocal Arts, located in Philadelphia, Pa, will conclude its 2008-09 season with a production of Donizetti’s most famous opera, Lucia di Lammermoor. Performances are scheduled for May 2, 5, and 7 in the Helen Corning Warden Theater at AVA. May 9 at the Gordon Theater at Rutgers/Camden. May 12 and 14 at Centennial Hall, Haverford, and May 16 at Central Bucks South High School in Warrington. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

Maestro Christofer Macatsoris conducts the AVA Opera Orchestra and award-winning resident artists. Among them are soprano Angela Meade, who made her Metropolitan Opera debut last season in Ernani. Tenor Michael Fabiano, who debuted at La Scala Milan last spring, will make his Metropolitan Opera debut next season in Verdi’s Stiffelio. Joshua Major is the stage director for this production. For more information about The Academy of Vocal Arts click here.

To read more about about Donizetti and Lucia di Lammermoor click here.

CBC 108: Dan Krekeler interview part 2

Jason — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:00:39 +0000

We’re concluding our interview (check out part 1 here) with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra bassist Dan Krekeler this week on the podcast. John Grillo of classicalmusicnews.tv and I co-interviewed Dan, which was particularly cool since we’ve both known Dan for many years. I played with Dan in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and John went to Indiana University with him as an undergraduate. It’s great to see an old friend have such great professional success, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with Dan and hear about his experiences on the road to a major orchestral position.

In our conversations about audition prep, Dan brings up musician coach Don Greene, and I realized that we’ve never actually talked about Don before on any blog posts or podcasts. This is surprising, since I’m a big fan of Don’s concepts and strategies for successful auditioning, so we’ll have to delve more into that topic at a later date.

If you’re in the mood to learn about the world of opera bass playing, these episodes from our archives would be a good start:

* Opera Excerpts Breakdown with John Grillo

* Jeremy McCoy (asst. principal bass of the Met) interviews

* Greg Sarchet (Lyric Opera of Chicago) interviews

* Andy Anderson (Lyric Opera of Chicago) interviews

CBC 106: Dan Krekeler interview

Jason — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:00:42 +0000

We’re featuring an interview with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra bassist Dan Krekeler this week on the podcast. John Grillo of classicalmusicnews.tv and I co-interviewed Dan, which was particularly cool since we’ve both known Dan for many years. I played with Dan in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and John went to Indiana University with him as an undergraduate. It’s great to see an old friend have such great professional success, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with Dan and hear about his experiences on the road to a major orchestral position.

If you’re in the mood to learn about the world of opera bass playing, these episodes from our archives would be a good start:

CBC 88: Guy Tuneh video episode

Jason — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:00:37 +0000

We’re featuring a video episode of double bassist Guy Tuneh on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. Guy has been featured many times on the podcast in the past, and it’s a real pleasure to hear his fine playing again on the show. This episode is being released in both audio and video versions. You can check out our previous episodes featuring Guy Tuneh in our archives.

We’re also featuring listener feedback, bass news, a link of the week, and much more. Enjoy!

Video not working? Click here to view it or download it.

Guy Tuneh bio:

Guy Tuneh has been studying in Germany and performing internationally. He is noted for his intense musical involvement and phenomenal performances, combining virtuosity and musicality. Mr. Tuneh has been active as a solo performer, chamber musician, orchestra and opera bassist. Having begun as a violin student at the age of 6, he was drawn to the tone color of the double bass, joining Prof. Michael Klinghoffer’s bass studio at the S. Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. Later, he continued his bass studies under Prof. Barbara Sanderling at the Hochschule Für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, he is now working towards a Solo Artist Diploma with Prof. Wolfgang Güttler at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel. Additionally, he took master classes with Yoan Goilav, Gary Karr and Miloslav Gajdos. His orchestra performances included engagements as a principle bassist with the Berliner Kammeroper, Ensemble “Echo” in the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Theater Erfurt, and most recently with the Solistes Européens Luxembourg. As an orchestra bassist Mr. Tuneh performed under such distinguished conductors as Kurt Sanderling, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Nicolas Harnoncourt and Christian Thielemann. Winner of a Villa Musica Scholarship, Guy Tuneh has performed all over Germany as a chamber musician and a soloist to great acclaim, and participated in chamber music and solo performances recorded by the SWR (Southwest German Radio). These performances included collaborations with Ulf Rodenhäuser, Guy Braunstein, Christian Altenburger, Wen-Sinn Yang, Martin Ostertag, Hermann Bäumer, and other distinguished musicians.The “Allgemeine Zeitung” described his performance as youthful and exuberant.

Link of the Week:

www.guytuneh.com

Music Provided by:

Eric Hochberg -www.erichochberg.com

Guy Tuneh – www.guytuneh.com

Special thanks to Daniel Chmielinski for technical assistance – www.carsleuth.net

Show Notes:

Release Date: 7/19/08

Length:13:27

listen by phone: +1 (360) 227-5632

call our comment line (24 hour voice mail): +1 (206) 666-6509

Website: www.contrabassconversations.com

E-mail: feedback@contrabassconversations.com

Blog: www.doublebassblog.org

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17621298264

Theme song by Eric Hochberg:www.erichochberg.com

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How do you like your Handel?

Jason — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:00:41 +0000

This is a guest post from early music specialist and Ars Antigua director Jerry Fuller.

____________

I’m really looking forward to this coming week. I will be performing concerts with Chicago’s Baroque Band that will use period instruments on June 4, 5 and 11. During the same week I will be playing with an orchestra using modern instruments for Chicago Opera Theater’s new production of Handel’s opera “Orlando” on June 3, 6, and 8. It will be interesting to perform back to back concerts using modern instruments for one and period instruments for the other to see what the musical impact is in each situation. I invite you to attend a performance of each and let me know if you prefer the use of modern instruments or period instruments and why.

In the meantime check out the free music downloads available at ArsAntiguaPresents.com. This month we are featuring Elizabethan Delites and in June you will hear music of the Scottish Baroque.

Mac versus PC for bloggers part 2: blog software and workflow

Jason — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:00:38 +0000

Check out part 1 of this series here.

One of the main tasks I use my laptop for is blogging, and the workflow on the Mac was of primary importance to me. Though I spent the first few years of my blog ging career on a PC, I knew that over 50% of all bloggers use a Mac, and therefore I figured that there had to be some benefit.

I’ve found the transition from the PC to the Mac to be an overall positive experience, though there are a few things that I miss from the PC. I am not interested in running Windows on this Mac in any form (whether through Boot Camp or Parallels), so though I know that I could install Windows and get these programs, I’m trying to find a suitable Mac replacement for these components of my blogging experience.

The pain of not having Windows Live Writer on the Mac

One of the other biggest reasons for my delay in switching over to the Mac was my reliance on Windows Live Writer, the excellent blogging software that I have used since it launched with the Windows Live software suite. I can’t recommend this program highly enough–it makes blogging a breeze, and I know all the ins and outs of this program after writing several hundred posts with it.

Live Writer certainly has some downsides, like:

somewhat bloated
quirky user interface (lots of redirection of the cursor, often in unexpected ways)
system resources hog – really slows down workflow
frequent crashing
alters embed code if switching between rich text and code editors (very annoying, though the WordPress tiny MCE editor does the same thing)
weird time stamping issues–I always had to post, then pull the post back, do the date again, and re-post; otherwise my post would come out 6 hours later that I marked–I spent hours trying to fix this on the WordPress and WLW sides, and finally gave up – it has never been a problem in ecto!

The drawback, however, are vastly overshadowed by the tremendous benefits, including:

blog styles and formatting downloaded and used for rich text editor – you can see exactly how your post will look on your blog
download any old post (that you’ve written on WLW) for editing purposes
save drafts

Searching for a suitable Mac replacement blogging application

I quickly realized that the Mac offline blogging software applications were not free, and just not quite up to par with WLW. A little poking around quickly revealed the two most popular choices:

MarsEdit ($30)
ecto ($18)

I settled on ecto, mainly because of its visual blogging layout. While I can blog with straight markup code (your only option with MarsEdit), it’s too much of a hassle for a quasi-techie like me. The experience on ecto is very appealing, and after a day or two I was quite comfortable with this software.

Liking ecto more and more

Ecto is a much lighter application, using far fewer system resources than Windows Live Writer. Most of the features outlined for WLW can be done on ecto… it just takes a little more work. After several weeks of blogging exclusively with ecto, I now actually prefer it to WLW, though I wonder how much of that is just my preference for working on the Mac rather than the PC!

Editing pages in WordPress is a snap on ecto, a feature that is not included (at least, not to my knowledge) with WLW. I’ve found that having offline access to my pages is a major benefit for my blogging workflow, though this not be as big a factor for many bloggers. I have an Articles page that I frequently reference for links to my more significant posts, and having that at my fingertips offline saves me a ton of time.

I tend to work offline a lot when blogging (I actually get more done when I don’t have access to the Internet–all the various online distractions suck my attention away from writing!), so an offline editor is crucial for me. Though newbie bloggers may not see a reason to have an offline editor (preferring to either compose posts with the online editor or using Word or another word processing program), folks like me who blog every day save hours each week with the use of an offline editor.

Other Mac software that helps me blog

1. Yojimbo – This application (from Bare Bones Software) is completely awesome for a blogger. My wife has used it fo r quite some time and highly recommended it, and after a little period of adjustment, I quickly realized what a powerful organizational tool it is for the kind of work I do. It’s kind of like a set of digital junk drawers where you can put related notes, PDFs, images, web clips, and the like, then tag and organize them in useful ways. Every single person probably has his or her own unique way of using Yojimbo-truly a powerful product, and one that is hard to describe. Check it out at www.yojimbo.com ($40 from Bare Bones Software).

2. NetNewsWire – This application (now a free download from NewsGator) allows for desktop RSS feed reading, a critical thing for my blogging since I spend so much time offline. I tend to be online for certain periods of the day but in transit or in a location without wi-fi for the bulk of my time, and downloading my feeds when I am online for perusal during the rest of the day makes a lot of sense. I do the same thing with my e-mail using Apple Mail, and I find that this workflow works very well for me. Check it out here.

3. Photo Booth – I’ve had digital cameras for quite some time, and I wouldn’t think of using my built in iSightfor doing any high-quality photography (besides, carting around a laptop to take pictures is not a graceful solution!). When I just need a quick & dirty photo for the blog, however, being able to take a shot, move it into ecto, and upload it right to my blog really simplifies the process.

4. Comic Life Magiq – THis program is loads of fun and a great way to make some lighthearted graphic art for blog posts. Though I’m probably going overboard with it at the moment (I always o this whenever I get a cool new digital toy), I think that it really adds a lot to the whole blogging experience. Available for $39.95 from plasq.com.

Image editing and other auxiliary blog tasks

The differences between the Mac and PC blogging experience (besides getting compliments from strangers on my cool computer while in coffeeshops… something that never happened with my Acer!) are small but numerous, and they can be summed up quite easily:

Programs work with each other on the Mac, while they work next to or even against each other on the PC.

This is a massive generalization, I realize, but it’s the best way I can sum up the differences in all the dozens of tasks I do each day, like searching for files, dragging and dropping, backing up, editing images, and the like. There’s a little more intuitiveness to these tasks on the Mac than on the PC, and I find myself working faster and more efficiently, and also getting more creative inspiration on this platform.

Using a Mac inspires creativity

Before you write in calling me a starry-eyes Mac fanboy, let me explain the previous statement! I certainly know that this computer is just a machine, a collection of circuits and chips, and that any inspiration I may have on it is a result of me and not of the computer.

I also know that virtually any task on the Mac can be accomplished with an equivalent program on the PC, like:

image editing
movie editing
audio editing
writing
surfing the web

The way the the Mac operating system combines these tasks into a more streamlined workflow seems to inspire me to do more creative stuff with these program. It’s not like I didn’t do this on the PC (I’ve done over 2000 blog posts and over 100 podcast episodes on the PC, after all)–it’s just that the Mac experience makes me feel like being more creative. Interesting…

Kristin Korb on Contrabass Conversations, plus an Interlochen Arts Academy primer for double bassists

Jason — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:00:56 +0000

One of the cool things about doing a weekly interview podcast is watching this body of work grow over the weeks, months, and years. After 1 1/2 years of doing Contrabass Conversations, we’ve got quite a body of content (approaching 100 interview shows, plus numerous video lessons, all-music shows, and special feature episodes), and this resource will only be growing in value over time.

Just wrapped a great interview with Kristin Korb

I had a wonderful chat with the extremely talented vocalist and bassist Kristin Korb Monday night. Folks who haven’t heard this great musician perform are really missing out!

About Kristin:

Born and raised in Montana, Kristin grew up in a musical family and often presented concerts with her three younger brothers. Her passion for music eventually led to a bachelor’s degree in music education from Eastern Montana College. In 1992, she moved to San Diego to hone her bass skills with bass professor Bertram Turetzky, earned a master’s degree from the University of California (San Diego), and became one of the busiest bassists in San Diego. Kristin had a brief stint as director of jazz studies at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. After two years of teaching, she decided to follow her dreams and relocated to focus on her performing career based out of Los Angeles. She hasn’t looked back since.

Her debut CD, Introducing Kristin Korb, was on the Telarc label and featured bassist Ray Brown (Kristin’s main musical influence), pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Guest artists included Conte Candoli, Plas Johnson and Oscar Castro-Neves.

Kristin tours internationally as both an artist and educator. Recent performances include concerts at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Conference (2004), the 2005 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Rose Bowl, the West Coast Jazz Party and Bass Encounters conference in Vienna, Austria. She was a featured performer and clinician at the International Society of Bassists Conference (2005) and is a member of their Board of Directors.

In addition to Ray Brown and Benny Green, Kristin has appeared with such artists as Bill Mays, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Alan Pasqua, Carl Allen, Joe LaBarbera, Tamir Hendelman and Mike Wofford. Her own trio features Llew Matthews (former musical director for Nancy Wilson and Lena Horne) on piano.

Kristin singing and playing the bass

Check out the following video of Kristin, and stay tuned for this weekend’s Contrabass Conversations episode–we’ll be featuring this interview plus a track with Kristin doing her own unique take on the Ellington classic “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”

Kristin live performing Lined Up With A Groove at Vienna’s famed jazz club Porgy and Bess

Learn more about Kristin at her website www.kristinkorb.com.

Chatting with the Interlochen Arts Academy double bass faculty

We had the opportunity to do interviews with both Lawrence Hurst (Indiana University) and Jack Budrow (Michigan State University) over the past year. Bassist and blogger John Grillo co-hosted these interview episodes with me, which have proven to be some of our most popular episodes, chock full of useful content like:

how double bass performance standard have changed over time
the audition process
evolving standards in double bass playing
differences in students over the past 30 years
repertoire and materials taught
challenges facing today’s double bass students

About Lawrence Hurst

Lawrence Hurst is the former principal double bass for the Dallas Symphony. He is a former faculty member of Southern Methodist and Eastern Michigan Universities and former faculty member, associate dean, and chair of the string department at University of Michigan School of Music. He was honored with the Alumni Award from the University of Michigan School of Music in 1998.

Professor Hurst is former director of the University Division of the National Music Camp and is a summer faculty member of the Interlochen Arts Camp.

He is past chair of the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition, and past president of the International Society of Bassists.

His former students can be found in many prestigious orchestras, including Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Atlanta.

He has chaired the Indiana University Strings Department for the past 19 years and has been on faculty at Interlochen for the past 40 years.

Learn more about Lawrence Hurst and his Indiana University double bass studio at http://newsinfo.iu.edu/sb/page/normal/231.html

Lawrence Hurst interview segments

About Jack Budrow

Jack Budrow is professor of music and co-chair of the string area at the Michigan State University College of Music.

He has enjoyed a long and varied career in double bass performance and teaching. Budrow has been a member of the Houston Symphony, and principal bass of the North Carolina Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and the American National Opera orchestras. A well-known teacher, Budrow’s students play in many of America’s symphony orchestras, including Cincinnati, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Charleston, San Antonio, the Michigan Opera, and the Army Band. Internationally, he has placed students in the Oslo Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra, and the Caracas Symphony.

Each summer, Budrow teaches at Interlochen Center for the Arts and Indiana University. He serves on the board of directors of the International Society of Double Bassists, and was a judge for their most recent International Solo Bass Competition. Budrow has presented master classes throughout the United States, including the Cleveland Institute, Florida State University, University of Houston, Indiana University, University of Michigan, Peabody Conservatory, and University of Texas. In addition, he served as the bass section coach at the National Orchestral Institute and New World Symphony. Budrow received his B.M. from Bowling Green State University.

Jack Budrow interview segments

CBC 78: Steve Rodby interview part 2

Jason — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:00:21 +0000

This week’s episode continues the interview with jazz bass legend Steve Rodby that we began on episode 58 of the podcast. Rodby has played bass on every Pat Metheny Group record since 1980, co-produced the group’s last five albums and won 10 Grammy Awards with the group. He has toured with jazz greats Joe Henderson and Tony Bennett, and also works regularly as a producer.

This interview was conducted by jazz double bassist Kells Nollenberger. Kells has launched a new podcast called the Jazz Exchange, which can be found at www.jazzexchange.org. This podcast features interviews with and performances from a wide array of jazz artists, and I encourage listeners to check out the great things that Kells is doing over there.

We also feature bass news, listener voicemail and e-mail, and a link of the week. Enjoy!

About Steve Rodby:

From the Northwestern University Alumni magazine:

As a youngster growing up in Joliet, Ill., Steve Rodby (Mu77) loved the television show Captain Kangaroo. One character particularly intrigued him. “It was Mr. Green Jeans — Captain Kangaroo’s sidekick,” Rodby explains. “I would see him play on the show when I was a little kid, and I fell totally in love with the bass.” Rodby grew up in a musical family. His father was a choir director and composer. At age 10, Rodby would listen to his dad play guitar and play along on bass by ear.

Lyric Opera of Chicago violinist Peter Labella (Mu77), Rodby’s childhood friend and Northwestern roommate, remembers jamming on the piano alongside Rodby as early as elementary school. By the time Rodby arrived at Northwestern, he was already working with bass legend Warren Benfield of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study under jazz great Rufus Reid (Mu71) (”Making Music,” summer 2003) and play for then Northwestern jazz band director Cliff Colnot (GMu77). When he wasn’t jamming with Labella, Rodby started playing in downtown jazz clubs, including Chicago’s legendary Jazz Showcase on the North Side. Soon Rodby became the house bassist, playing five nights a week.

After he graduated, Rodby dabbled briefly in basic studio work, playing on television commercials and pop records. But within a few years, he received a call from an old friend from a pre-college band camp — guitarist Pat Metheny of Kansas City. Metheny, whom Rodby frequently went to see at the Evanston club Amazing Grace, was searching for a new bassist for his band, a contemporary jazz group. Rodby turned out to be just the guy and joined the Pat Metheny Group immediately after his first audition.

“This was my favorite band before I was even in it,” he says. “I can’t believe my good fortune to be in it now and to be making music that is so fresh, alive and current.” Rodby has played bass on every Pat Metheny Group record since 1980, co-produced the group’s last five albums and won 10 Grammy Awards with the group along the way. He is excited that after 23 years together, the group continues to grow and progress. Not even living in different cities slows the band’s recording process. For a given song, Metheny will often record his part in New York and send the tape to Rodby’s Chicago apartment, where Rodby will refine the track before sending it out to pianist Lyle Mays in Los Angeles. Aside from working with Metheny, Rodby has become a frequently recruited studio musician and producer. He has toured with jazz greats Joe Henderson and Tony Bennett, and lately he has taken an increasing interest in producing. He likens the role of a producer to that of a film director, assembling the team and coaching the performance. Refusing to restrict himself to one genre, Rodby enjoys all types of music — even modern bands like Radiohead — and says a future collaboration with a contemporary pop artist is not out of the question. “I’m way more into pop than most jazz guys,” he says, “but I was way more into jazz than most classical guys and way more into classical than most pop guys.” Whatever form of music it is that he is playing, you can bet Rodby won’t be putting down his bass anytime soon. After completing the next Pat Metheny Group album later this year, Rodby says the group will likely embark on a tour in 2005. “I hope to make music forever,” he says. “Teaching, playing, producing… music’s what I’m all about.”

- Michael DePilla (J04)

Link of the Week: