Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

We just finished up our IRIS Chamber Orchestra concert with the bluegrass trio Time for Three, and these guys completely brought down the house. It was really amazing. These three guys (Zach, Nick, and Ranaan) combine the best of bluegrass with the best of classical playing. Their tunes are filled with [...]

The IRIS Chamber Orchestra of Germantown, Tennessee will be performing this Saturday (12/16/06) with the extremely cool trio Time for Three. Time for Three is made up of Nicolas Kendall and Zachary DePue on violin and Ranaan Meyer on bass. The trio are active MySpacers–you can find their MySpace page at myspace.com/timeforthree. [...]

Greg Sarchet sent me a link to the Iraqi National Symphony Blog recently. This is an interesting use of Blogger, and it is one that I have seen used in many Middle Eastern countries. The ease of use of Blogger and ability to quickly post text, photos, and other information are among the [...]

Here are the double bass jobs and festival auditions currently available in the U.S. and Canada according to the most recent International Musician:
Jobs:
Hartford Symphony OrchestraSection Bass (Basic) - This position is a permanent Basic Orchestra position. The 2006-2007 per service rate is $112.00, with a guarantee of 115 services, resulting in a weekly salary [...]

Here’s a great story I recently found through the Chicago Classical Music blog. A trombonist decided to use his bell to shoot off firecrackers. Read the story here. I would have loved to see this happen.

Play!, the video game symphony, has a medley of Mario tunes hat is worth checking out. Arnie Roth directs this ensemble, and I have worked with Arnie many times in the past in various ensembles. He is based here in Chicago, Illinois, and he does work for the Mannheim Steamroller, Irish Tenors, [...]

I heard this great audition story a few years ago firsthand from the people who were involved. This was one of the rare times where I actually knew both the committee members and the audition candidate in this story.
Auditioning for the Grant Park Symphony
The Grant Park Symphony of Chicago, Illinois was having violin auditions [...]

This is an older article from Polyphonic.org, but it is illuminating reading for those thinking about a career in music or those wishing to understand the life of a professional musician. Douglas Fisher makes some great points here. The article reads:
Among the highly educated and skilled professions, orchestra musicians make some of [...]

Michael Hovnanian of the Chicago Symphony recently started a bass blog. Michael was my teacher at Northwestern University for my undergraduate and graduate degrees, and it is really great to see him start a blog! I just added his blog to my Blogroll in the sidebar of this blog.
In addition to playing in [...]

I play bass for the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra (this is my seventh season), and they always put on a great Nutcracker. Check it out if you’re in southeastern Wisconsin this December!

BUY TICKETS NOW!!

Also, check out a reasonably priced complete Nutcracker recording:

…or a higher-end Boston Symphony recording: