Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

The December crush of activity has finally ebbed–only one more New Year’s gig to do this week, and I’m done with performances for a week or two.

After a solid six weeks of wall-to-wall gigs, I’m ready for a break. I’ve really dialed back the driving this year (becoming slightly less of a road [...]

 

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We’re chatting with Cincinnati Symphony principal bassist Owen Lee today on Contrabass Conversations. Owen played for the New World Symphony and the Houston Symphony prior to his appointment with the Cincinnati Symphony, and it was a real pleasure to do this interview along with Contrabass Conversations regular collaborator John Grillo.
John, Owen, and [...]

ClassicalMusicNews.tv blogger and frequent Contrabass Conversations collaborator John Grillo wrote a recent post about his upcoming performances of Mahler’s Second Symphony with the New Jersey Symphony and NJSO music director Neemi Jarvi.  I’ve had the opportunity to work with Neemi Jarvi in the past and had a great time doing so. 
Fellow Contrabass Conversations [...]

If you’re able, I’d definitely recommend checking out Rob Kassinger (pictured here with Yo-Yo Ma and DePaul cello faculty member Steve Balderston) in a performance of the Bottesini  Concerto with the DePaul Chamber Orchestra this Tuesday evening (November 13) at 8 p.m. in the DePaul University Concert Hall.
Click here for more details (including directions), and [...]

University of Illinois double bass professor Michael Cameron will be performing a recital of unaccompanied double bass music on Monday, November 12 in the Smith Hall Memorial Room on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana. He will be performing music of George Perle, James Tenney, Giacinto Scelsi, Gyorgy Kurtag, Hans Werner Henze, [...]

The Lincoln Park Cultural Center was packed last night for the Chicago Bass Ensemble, with bassists and non-bassists alike congregating in a quaint structure on the north side of Chicago to hear the musical stylings of these four great players. Doug Johnson, Jacque Harper, John Floeter, and Michael Hovnanian (not pictured) performed an [...]

Ian Hallas, principal bassist for the Midwest Young Artists Symphony Orchestra (and my student for the past six years) is seen here performing the first movement of the Bottesini Concerto in B minor with his high school orchestra in Northbrook, Illinois. This was recorded live on October 29, 2007. Notice the low B [...]

Boston Symphony Orchestra principal bassist Ed Barker will be performing the Tubin Concerto with the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Newton, Massachusetts later on this month. Ed performed the Koussevitzky Concerto with this orchestra during the 2001-2002 season, and this upcoming concert series is a wonderful opportunity to hear one of the nation’s most influential [...]

Just a quick reminder that the Chicago Bass Ensemble will be performing live tomorrow night at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center in Chicago. Admission is free but seating is limited, so get there early to be sure and get a seat! You can find out more details on our earlier post about this [...]

John Grillo wrote a recent post on his blog ClassicalMusicNews.tv highlighting an upcoming Hal Robinson performance with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. John writes:
It has been said that double bassists are very rarely soloists and the repertory for concerto appearances is basically non-existent. Leave it to Mr. Robinson to debunk these myths. [...]