Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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 [...]

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:

Chicago’s Grant Park Orchestra is holding a benefit concert for a violinist with cancer. The press announcement states:
Chicago’s Grant Park Orchestra to Give Benefit for Cancer-StrickenViolinist Without Health Insurance
By Vivien Schweitzer
04 Nov 2006
Conductor Carlos Kalmar and members of Chicago’s Grant ParkOrchestra will perform a benefit concert on November 17 to raise funds [...]

All of the IRIS bass section substitutes have gone on to have great full-time orchestra jobs:
Charles Carlton - Cleveland OrchestraMatt Medlock - Naples PhilharmonicIra Gold - National SymphonyJeff Kail - Kansas City Symphony
My stand partner Scott Best has been principal bass of the Memphis Symphony since the beginning of IRIS. The two of us [...]

I recently discovered that some IRIS Chamber Orchestra recordings are available on iTunes. Search the iTunes Store for the Gliere Horn Concerto and you will find a recording that we did a few years ago with Eric Ruske.
There are four great audio clips of IRIS that you can listen to on the IRIS website. [...]

The IRIS Chamber Orchestra does not operate like a typical symphony orchestra. It reminds me much more of a summer festival atmosphere (like Aspen or another such festival). We perform approximately one concert a month during the regular season (September through May). Since we only get together once a month things always [...]

NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: David Lussier, Secretary-Treasurer AFM Local 8
Milwaukee, WI (October 12, 2006) – The 46 orchestra musicians employed by the Milwaukee Ballet have voted to reject the company’s wage proposal for the 2006/2007 season, which is scheduled to open this weekend (October 12-15) with four performances of “Don Quixote.”
Some 90% [...]

The Lyric Opera of Chicago musicians have just reached a new three year agreement. According to the most recent issue of the Intermezzo from the Chicago Federation of Musicians, the agreement will provide significant wage, benefit, and working condition improvements during the length of this contract. This is great news for the [...]

Polyphonic.org has a very informative set of video interviews with Milwaukee Symphony principal viola and Milwaukee Musicians Association president Robert Levine. Greg Sandow interviews Robert on a series of issues facing modern orchestras, including changing dynamics between players and management in negotiations, perception of an orchestra as either a commercial enterprise or a [...]

I am down in Memphis, Tennessee right now preparing for a concert tomorrow night with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra. I have been a member of this fantastic ensemble since its inception seven seasons ago, and I am having a great time preparing for the first concert of this 2006-2007 season.
This concert features violin soloists [...]