Click the name of any guest below to listen to their interviews and performances:
Andrew Anderson
Andrew Anderson is a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, the Grant Park Orchestra, and the Chicago Philharmonic. He has held positions in twelve different orchestras across seven states, serving as principal bass in four of them.
Andrew first studied bass with Dr. Larry Zgonc of the Portland Opera before completing a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan with Stuart Sankey. He continued his studies under Lawrence Hurst at Indiana University where he received a Master of Music Degree. Andrew then served as a Doctoral Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas under the instruction of Jeff Bradetich and the principal of the Fort Worth Symphony, Bill Clay.
Andrew began his musical studies as a cellist in the Suzuki method when he was four years old. His father is a bassist with the Portland Opera and public school orchestra director. As soon as Andrew was tall enough, his father started him on bass. The high school he attended did not have a string program, so he enrolled in the community college string ensemble, and joined a string quartet with his sister and friends. Andrew’s early experiences playing string quartets in coffee shops, and café’s led to a love for intimate chamber music. He has appeared as a soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Plymouth Symphony, and the Mount Hood String Ensemble. In response to the lack of a string program in his own elementary education Andrew has supported public school music programs with benefit recitals in and around his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Andrew placed second at the American String Teacher’s Association National Solo Competition once in 2000 and again in 2002.
Dave Anderson
Dave Anderson is a professional double bassist, joined the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans in September of 1996 after winning their Principal Bass audition. Prior to that appointment, he performed and recorded regularly with the Louisville Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, among others. Since 1994, he has served as Principal Bassist in the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon.
He has performed extensively with many diverse ensembles including, the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua (NY) Festival, Colorado Philharmonic (NRO), Colorado Music Festival, the LaSalle Quartet, and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, Bobby McFerrin, Doc Severinsen and many others. He has served as Bass Instructor for the Music School at Loyola University and also on the Board of Directors of the International Society of Bassists (ISB) as bassist/composer.
Mr. Anderson began his pursuits in composition in 1984, recognizing that the solo repertoire for his instrument was limited. The influence of Frank Proto, one of his finest teachers, also led him to turn to involved composition. Since then, his published work has expanded to other solo instruments, as well as for chamber orchestras and small ensembles. He has published bass duets and quartets, including a bass quartet that was performed to acclaim at the Chamber Music Festival at Indiana University in 1993. Anderson won first prize in the 1995 Allen Ostrander International Trombone Composition Competition, sponsored by Ithaca college, for Elegy for Van, a work for solo bass trombone and brass choir, which he composed as a tribute to the late Lewis Van Haney, former trombonist with the New York Philharmonic. Several years ago, Anderson completed a concerto for Bass Trombone, commissioned by his father, Edwin Anderson, former bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra. His Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bassist Hal Robinson was premiered at the ISB Convention in June of 1997 and performed on the 1997-98 subscription series of the Philadelphia Orchestra season, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting. His current work includes a second symphony, as well as several commissions.
Also a prolific electric bassist, Anderson loves playing with pedal steel guitarist, David Easley. The group known as the Anderson/Easley Project perform original music of many genres including free jazz, funk, bop, minimalist and many wonderfully unique approaches to dynamics and expression. Anderson also plays with Algorhythm Method, and SOFA KING BIG SOUL, bands that fuse many different styles including hard rock, funk, blues, jazz, and New Orleans R & B.
Anderson has jammed with The Radiators, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Roy Pope, Darryl Brown, and many other great New Orleans musicians including a killer performance with guitarist Brian Stoltz of the Funky Meters as a main highlight of the French Quarter Festival 2002.
In 1984-85, Anderson played for and took lessons with the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius in New York, who firmly encouraged the idea of being able to cross over between classical and jazz.
Here is some of what the Press has said in Anderson’s past: Review of Anderson’s Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola & Bass, Louisville Courier Journal music critic Andrew Adler wrote: “Anderson’s new work is splendidly fresh and provocative, ingenious in how it distributes material … the jazzy syncopations and ethnic flavorings reflect a diverse, expertly distilled inspiration. Thoroughly absorbed by yesterday’s performance, the piece offered sustained pleasure.”
Reviews of Anderson’s Bass Concerto: Houston Chronicle music critic Charles Ward : “ … thoroughly appealing … his rich scoring of the orchestra and expansive solo melodies came from a composer exuberantly in love with music.” Lesley Valdes, Philadelphia Inquirer: “ … a melodious work, whose moods cohere… the thoughtful, the nostalgic, the provocative. Ideas are fertile and cohesive.” Thomas May, Washington Post: “Anderson shows a gift for fashioning readily accessible music from unusual combinations of timbres.”
Weldon Anderson
Weldon has worked in many styles of music, from traditional classical bass playing to very experimental forms of music. The first part of this interview discusses Weldon’s early years on the instrument and how he became involved in Pittsburgh’s Squonk Opera.
Weldon Anderson was a member of the Squonk Opera when they secured a run on Broadway in New York City, and Weldon and Jason discuss the unique situation of getting to Broadway by creating your own show. What an unusual and very interesting trajectory!
Visit the Squonk Opera to learn more about this ensemble http://squonkopera.com
Click here to read the Ben Brantley review of the Squonk Opera
Bad Boyz of Bass
About Anthony Stoops:
Anthony Stoops is Artist/Teacher of Bass and String Area Chair at the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Since winning first prize in the International Society of Bassists international solo competition, he has performed throughout the United States and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Dr. Stoops has presented masterclasses in Poland, Brazil and throughout the U.S. at venues such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Michigan, the University of Iowa, Interlochen Arts Academy, Penn State University, and many others.
About David Murray:
David Murray was born in Canada and began studies on the double bass at age 12. He worked in high school with Gary Karr and continued with Mr. Karr at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. During summers, Mr. Murray attended the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, A F of M String Congress, and both Tanglewood and Aspen as a fellowship recipient. Upon graduation he received the Outstanding Performer Award from the Hartt School, and later that year was a top prize winner in the Canada Music Competition. Mr. Murray was winner of the Aspen Bass Concerto Competition in 1981, and in 1988 won the International Society of Bassists Competition (for which he is now secretary) in Los Angeles and was presented by the Society in a Carnegie Hall debut in 1990.
About Paul Sharpe:
Paul Sharpe maintains an international profile and career in a variety of roles as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral double bassist. As a student of Jeff Bradetich he received the B.M. degree in Performance from Northwestern University, and he obtained an M.A. degree in Music from the University of Iowa studying with Diana Gannett. Recent performances and engagements include recitals and masterclasses at the University of Iowa, Cleveland Institute of Music, World Bass Convention (Wroclaw, Poland), University of North Texas, University of Michigan, Interlochen Arts Academy, and Brazil’s Sixth International Double Bass Encounter in Pirenopolis, Brazil.
About Volkan Orhon:
Acclaimed for his musicality and virtuosity, Volkan Orhon has established himself as one of the top double bassists in the world today. He was a finalist and prizewinner in the Concert Artists Guild Solo Competition in New York City, and was the co-first place winner of the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. Additionally, he distinguished himself as the first double bass player ever to win the grand prize overall and first prize for double bass at the American String Teacher’s Association Solo Competition.
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.
Leon Bosch
Leon had to overcome many difficult circumstances in the early years of his career. He was arrested by members of the Cape Town special branch when he was just 15 years old for demonstrating against the Apartheid government outside of parliament. He faced a month’s detention and torture, only to be found not guilty on all charges. This experience fired up his ambition to become a lawyer, but this field of study was forbidden to him by the regime at the time. He then chose to study a subject that would be the least likely to mark him out as subversive – music.
Had Bosch been able to pursue his prime aspiration to become a lawyer, the cello/double bass debate might never have occurred. Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1961, Bosch
was forbidden by the repressive regime of the time to study law, so applied to the University’s music faculty instead `as a light-hearted prank.’
The `prank’ soon turned more serious. Once enrolled at the University, Bosch studied with Zoltan Kovats, principal double bassist of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra at that time. A single year into his studies, the young student was invited to
play in the Symphony Orchestra’s bass section alongside his mentor. Only another 12 months passed before he was giving his first solo performance of Dittersdorf ‘s concerto in E major. Completing his Batchelor of Music Performance degree at the
University, he received the highest mark ever awarded there in a performance examination.
Post-university, Bosch quickly realised that he would have to study abroad if he really wanted to further his performance career, but was thwarted once again by the apartheid laws which decreed that overseas scholarships could only be given to white performers. However, Bosch was undeterred. `I had a passionate commitment to the double bass and never enter- tained the idea that I would fail in my pursuit’, he asserts.
Fortunately, a number of private individuals came forward to sponsor his travel to England where he was heard playing by Rodney Slatford, the former Head of School of Strings at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), who offered to
teach him. Bosch enrolled at the RNCM following a successful interview with Eleanor Warren to study with Slatford and Duncan McTier. He describes his time at RNCM as
`extremely fruitful’. Bosch’s prestigious record of achievements also continued there, as he received the College’s PPRNCM (Professional Performer of the RNCM) with
distinction, the first such award to a double bassist in the College’s history.
Studies completed, Bosch embarked on the varied professional orchestral and chamber career that continues to this day. His first assignment was with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, moving onto The Manchester Camerata as principal in 1985. His playing career has also taken in the BBC Philharmonic, Hall, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Opera North and Scottish Chamber orchestras, plus the Moscow
Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Brodsky Quartet and Goldberg Ensemble as a freelance performer, a career path that he chose to `give me greater variety in my playing.’
A decade after his first principal appointment, Bosch began his current association with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, touring with the orchestra’s founder, Sir Neville
Marriner. `Chamber music represents the most enjoyable part of my musical life,’ he enthuses, explaining why he has focused on this area through most of his professional career – which has taken in almost all of the major chamber orchestras in the UK.
Chicago Bass Ensemble
Every musician who aspires to a career with a symphony orchestra has experienced their share of setbacks: lousy auditions, lousy orchestras, driving all night just to get to a job. After a while, you can get sick of doing all that just to sit at the edge of the orchestra and watch the conductor crack jokes with his pals up in the first chairs of the violin, viola and cello sections. Jacque Harper got to that point, and realized that if he really wanted to contribute something musically to the world, he was going to have to do it some other way.
That’s the impetus that got this group going. Honest.
There’s a wealth of recently-composed music for groups of bass players, it’s a really cool instrument that most people think of as solely a support instrument, and Jacque wants to make groovy sound. I mean, he spent all that money on a nice instrument!
You, the visitor to this site, have in all likelihood, not heard too many double bass concerts. Now’s your chance to change that! Grab the opportunity, man! First, see if we’ve got anything listed on our performances page to see what’s shaking. Next, think about places you’ve been where a bass ensemble (might be any size from a duo or trio on up) would be well-received, and tell us about it. Hey, who knows, when we start making t-shirts with our logo on it, we might give you one!
Colin Corner
Colin Corner joined the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2006 after serving as associate principal bass of the Vancouver Symphony and touring with the Minnesota Orchestra on the summer 2006 European Festivals Tour.
Corner began his musical training in Indianapolis, studying with Peter Hansen, Bob Goodlett and Bennett Crantford of the Indianapolis Symphony. He attended Interlochen Arts Camp, where in 1997 he was awarded the Double Bass Class Studio Award, which was recently renamed the Colin Corner Bass Award in his honor. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, Corner earned a degree from Indiana University, studying with Lawrence Hurst and winning the University’s 2003 Concerto Competition; while there, he also played in orchestras around the state. He next won a position with the Louisiana Philharmonic and was active on the avant-garde jazz scene, sitting in with Ellis Marsalis and playing in El Radio Fantastique, a “dark rock band beyond categorization.”
A recipient of numerous awards, Corner won third place in the 2001 International Society of Bassists Orchestral Competition and two years later took the competition’s first prize, which led to a one-week internship with the Detroit Symphony. Corner has attended the Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, mountain biking and snowboarding.
Virginia Dixon
Virginia Dixon teaches double bass at Wheaton and Elmhurst Colleges and the Suzuki School of Elgin as well as in her home studio. Summers find her teaching at Suzuki institutes which this year included Beaver Creek, CO, New Orleans, and Stevens Point, WI. A former Board Member of the International Society of Bassists, she still edits their journal’s Child’s Play Column. In 2005, she received the ISB Special Achievement Award as their Young Bassist Ambassador. As a member of the Suzuki Bass Committee she is collaborating on creating materials for the Suzuki Bass Method and is one of two Teacher Trainers for the Suzuki Association of the Americas actively training teachers from the United States and abroad. She holds two performance degrees from Indiana University and has studied with Julius Levine, Murray Grodner, and Georg Hortnagel. Her performances have taken her throughout the United States as well as Europe and Japan.
In her spare time she loves to travel the world with her husband Mark Harbold and is a student of Japanese and Hindi. She is also an avid camper and hiker.
Jerry Fuller
Jerry Fuller began studying the double bass at age 16 and was invited to join the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra three years later. Within two years he was promoted to first desk of the double bass section in addition to performing with the Santa Fe Opera. Mr Fuller has also served as solo double bass of The Musikkollegium Winterthur Switzerland. While in Europe, Mr. Fuller became interested in historically-informed performance practice and has achieved international recognition for his work with period instruments. A Chicago Artists Abroad grant recipient, Mr. Fuller’s performances in London, Rome, Geneva and Edinburgh have been broadcast worldwide. In addition, Mr. Fuller has performed at the Ravinia and the Aspen Music Festivals and both the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals.
His recordings on the Musical Arts Society, Cedille and Centaur labels have been hailed by both critics and colleagues. Mr. Fuller also writes on period instruments and performance practice for The Strad, Double Bassist, and Bass World magazines, serves on the editorial board of the Online Journal of Bass Research and is webmaster for the Double Bass and Violone Internet Archive.
Mr. Fuller served as an officer of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Bassists 1990-1996 and has appeared as a guest artist with the American Bach Soloists of San Francisco, the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston and the Newberry Consort of Chicago.
He is principal double bassist of The Baroque Band, as well as the period instrument forces for Chicago’s Music of the Baroque and Chicago Opera Theater. He is director of both ArsAntiguaPresents.com and the Midwest Young Artists Early Music program.
Ira Gold
Ira J. Gold joined the National Symphony Orchestra in September of 2005 as
the orchestra’s youngest member. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas,
where he began violin studies at age 3. Mr. Gold started double bass
lessons at age 12, and became serious about pursuing a career in music
during high school. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at Boston
University’s College of Fine Arts, and his Master of Music degree at Rice
University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he won the strings division of
the 2005 Concerto Competition. Mr. Gold performed the Vanhal Bass
Concerto with the Shepherd School of Music Chamber Orchestra in
February of 2006. His primary teachers include Edwin Barker and Paul Ellison,
and additional studies with Albert Laszlo, Kenneth Harper, Dennis Whittaker,
Mark Shapiro, and Harry Lantz.
Mr. Gold has performed with several orchestras around the country, including
the Minnesota Orchestra, and as Principal Bassist with the San Francisco
Symphony and Detroit Symphony. He has attended the Domaine Forget Music
Academy, Bach Festival Leipzig, Aspen Music Festival, and Tanglewood Music
Center, where he was a recipient of the Maurice Schwartz Prize. Mr. Gold
spent several summers at the International Festival Institute at Round Top
both as a student, and, during the summer of 2004, as a member of the bass
faculty. He has given masterclasses and recitals at the Peabody Conservatory
at Johns Hopkins University, James Madison University, and the Chautauqua Music Festival.
John Grillo
John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree with Timothy Cobb. Mr. Grillo performed at The Tanglewood Music Center from 1994 to 1996. Other festivals include the National Repertory Orchestra, Festival di Due Mondi in Italy, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. John was a member of the New World Symphony from 1999-2002. His other professional engagements include performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, Wheeling Symphony, Memphis Symphony, and the Sarasota Opera. John was a faculty member with The Pittsburgh Music Academy from 2002-2006. Future engagements include the Iris Orchestra, Philadelphia Virtuosi, Pennsylvania Ballet, The Princeton Festival, The Philly Pops, Opera New Jersey and the Princeton Symphony.
Eric Hochberg
A mainstay of the Chicago music scene for more than twenty years, Eric Hochberg has lent his bass work — both upright and electric — and an occasional trumpet lick, to a variety of projects across the realms of jazz, folk, rock and blues.
He has performed and/or recorded with the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Cassandra Wilson, Von Freeman, Chico Freeman, Ken Nordine, Cannonball Adderly, David Bromberg, Johnny Frigo, Howard Levy Quartet, Kurt Elling, Trio New, Tierny Sutton, Patricia Barber, Jackie Allen, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman Quartet, Sam Rivers, Bobby Broom, Rick Margitza, Grazyna Augucik, Sheila Jordan, Alan Pasqua, Bob Sheppard, Mark Murphy, Randy Brecker, Terry Callier, Don Ellis, Larry Coryell Trio, Sonny Fortune Quartet, Fareed Haque, Lew Tabackin, Kahil El Zabar, Brian Lynch, Jon Faddis, Lester Bowie, Don Moye, Henry Butler, Frank Catalano, Chevere de Chicago, Mark Colby, Anthony Molinaro, Bonnie Koloc, Michal Urbaniak Quartet, Bill Holman, Jon Faddis, Joshua Redman, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble and Sonia Dada.
He has toured nationally/internationally with the Lyle Mays Quartet, the Terry Callier Group, the Paul Wertico Trio, the Kurt Elling Quartet, and the Grazyna Auguscik Quintet and has performed at the Jazz Festivals of Montreal, San Fransisco, Chicago (16 times), Montreux, Rotterdam, UK London, Free Jazz/Sao Paolo & Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Leverkeusen/Germany, Bam Festival/Barcelona, Nice Jazz(Fr), Cully Jazz(Swiss), The International Society of Jazz Educators/Atlanta, The Percussive Arts Society/Columbus, OH and many others.
Eric Hochberg’s groups perform frequently around Chicagoland. The Eric Hochberg Orchestra has performed for countless events of all kinds over the past twenty years and Eric Hochberg Music contracts the finest musicians in the Chicago area for clients worldwide.
As a producer, Eric is credited with Jackie Allen’s 2006 debut Blue Note Records release, “Tangled” and her 2003 release “The Men in My Life”. Eric has also worked extensively with legendary singer-songwriter Terry Callier, producing his latest album, “Lookin’ Out”, on Emarcy and Mr. Bongo Records, the critically acclaimed “TC in DC” on Premonition, Verve Forecast’s “Timepeace”, Novo Record’s “Chicago Rapid Transit” and Acid Jazz “Totally Re-wired Vol. 8?. He co-produced “Future Tense” by Hochberg/Eisen/Potter available at musicstem.com. He is currently working on a trio project with pianist Michael Kocour, saxophonist Rich Fudoli and Eric on bass.
As a composer, Eric has made contributions to Kurt Elling’s “Close Your Eyes” and “The Messenger” on Blue Note, Hochberg and Potter’s “World Thing” on HoPo Records, Trio New “New Bolero”, Paul Wertico’s “Yin and the Yout” and The Paul Wertico Trio’s “Live in Warsaw” & “Don’t Be Scared Anymore”. Five new compositions are featured on “Future Tense”, the new recording by Eric, Steve Eisen & Andrew Scott Potter.
Michael Hovnanian
Michael Hovnanian grew up in the Seattle area and started playing the bass in the public schools. His primary teachers were James Harnett and Ronald Simon of the Seattle Symphony. An early interest in solo playing led to performances with the Seattle Symphony, the Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the University of Washington Symphony. Michael attended the University of Washington and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts where he studied with Frederick Tinsley of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 1986 he joined the Victoria Symphony as Principal Bassist and in 1988 the San Antonio Symphony as a member of the bass section.
Since 1989 he has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In addition to playing in the CSO Mr. Hovnanian is active performing solo and chamber music in the Chicago area. He has appeared in the Chicago Symphony chamber concerts at Orchestra Hall and the Art Institute, with Chicago Pro Musica, and at the Winter Chamber Music Festival. Currently he is President of Discordia Music, a pulishing company specializing in new and arranged works for Double Bass. He is also a co-founder of the International Bottesini Society, an organization dedicated to promoting the legacy of that composer.
Michael’s blog: www.csobassblog.blogspot.com
Discordia Music: www.discordia-music.com
Gunnelpumpers: www.myspace.com/gunnelpumpers
Chicago Symphony Orchestra: www.cso.org
Chicago Bass Ensemble: www.chicagobassensemble.com
Ars Viva Symphony: www.arsviva.org
Music of the Baroque: www.baroque.org
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
J. C. Jones
Jean Claude Jones was born in1949 in Sfax, Tunisia, raised in France, and educated in the US.
From Tunisia he moved to France, where by the age of17, a self taught musician, he began working in professional popular music and jazz bands on lead and bass guitar. After majoring in jazz guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received a music degree in 1980, he spent two years in Los Angeles studying at the Music Institute of Technology. He emigrated to Israel in 1983. In 1986 he made a definitive switch from bass guitar to double bass, and started to immerse himself in free improvised music. He later added electronics and computer-manipulated sounds to his musical arsenal.
JC Jones is an esteemed music educator and served as chair of the Jazz Department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance between 1996 and 2000.
He has performed and recorded with many leading international and Israeli musicians, dancers, poets and vocal artists, including Stan Getz (1985), Red Rodney (1986) Dave Liebman (1988). Since the 1990s he has appeared with John Zorn, Anthony Coleman, Ned Rothenberg, Slava Ganelin, Steve Horenstein, Albert Beger, Arkady Gotesman, Avishai Cohen, Julien Hamilton, Amos Hetz, Anat Shamgar, Ariel Shibolet, Harold Rubin, Victoria Hanna, Josef Sprinzak, and many others.
His most recent release, Hosting Myself, from Kadima Collective Recordings is his first solo disc.
JC Jones’s current projects include the Excited Strings with cellist Yuval Mesner and guest reed player Steve Horenstein, and the Between the Strings trio with viola player Nori Jacoby and violinist Daniel Hoffman, featuring soprano sax player Ariel Shibolet.
The driving force behind his work is “finding one’s space.”
Rob Kassinger
Robert Kassinger was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1993. Prior to Chicago, Rob performed as assistant principal bass with the Colorado Symphony and also played with the New Orleans Symphony.
In addition to his busy schedule with the Orchestra, Rob is an active chamber musician. He performs with the Revolution Ensemble, the Orion Ensemble, Fulcrum Point, Ars Viva, Music of the Baroque, the Callisto Ensemble, MusicNOW, and broadcasts on WFMT and WTTW. Most recently he has been a featured guest with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and has performed Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Daniel Barenboim. In July 2006, Rob served as double bass professor at the Canton International Summer Music Academy, led by Charles Dutoit.
Rob grew up in a family of musicians in Boulder, Colorado. He began his bass studies with Frank Carroll at the University of Colorado. In 1985 he moved to New York to study with Homer Mensch at the Manhattan School of Music, where he received his bachelor of music degree. Rob then pursued his master’s degree at the Juilliard School, continuing his studies with Mr. Mensch. He later went on to study with Bruce Bransby at Indiana University. Some of his most influential experiences as a student were his two years as principal bass of the New York String Orchestra Seminar, conducted by Alexander Schneider, and the two summers he spent as a fellowship student at the Aspen Music Festival, studying with Stuart Sankey and Bruce Bransby. In 1989 Rob was the winner of the Aspen Double Bass Competition.
Rob’s experience as a jazz performer dates back to his early teens, working in the house rhythm section at the infamous Denver jazz club El Chapultapec, and over the years he has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Kenny Burrell, the Woody Herman band, Conte Candoli, Charlie Rouse, Teddy Edwards, Harold Land, Red Holloway, Charles Brown, Art Lande, Richard Stoltzman, Gary Burton, Alex Acuna, Laurence Hobgood, and Bobby Lewis. In 1998 and 2000, Rob toured India with the Chicago Jazz Express, and he can be heard on their recordings Voyage to India and The Rhythm Section. He also appears on Bobby Lewis’ latest CD, Just Havin’ Some Fun. In addition, Rob is featured on Daniel Barenboim’s Brazilian Rhapsody on the Teldec label, and Kabbalah Blues/Quantum Funk by the Revolution Ensemble. Rob’s latest project has given him a chance to spend more time with the bass guitar. His alternative rock group NYCO has released its debut album Two, available through nycomusic.com and at Itunes.com.
Rob is professor of double bass at DePaul University. He is also in demand as a coach and master clinician, serving in this capacity for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Juilliard School, and the Mannes School of Music. In the summers of 1999 through 2002, it was Rob’s honor to teach at the West-Eastern Divan, a ground-breaking workshop that brings young musicians from Israel and various Arab countries together to study orchestral music with Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma, and members of the CSO, Berlin Philharmonic, and Staatskapelle Berlin.
Owen Lee
Described as “a true virtuoso” by legendary pianist Gary Graffman and praised by The New York Times for his “deft and virtuosic solo performance” at his New York debut at Alice Tully Hall, double bassist Owen Lee has earned acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician and since 1996, at the age of 26, as Principal Bass of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Lee is heard regularly as a soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Paavo Järvi and Jesús López-Cobos, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under John Harbison, and the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson-Thomas in Miami and on tour to New York’s Lincoln Center. During the 2006-07 season, Mr. Lee and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, along with a consortium of other soloists and orchestras, will present the world premiere of John Harbison’s Concerto for Bass Viol and Orchestra.
Mr. Lee’s prizes in competitions include First Prize at the 1995 International Society of Bassists Competition and Fourth Prize at the 1992 Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco. He has been presented in recitals throughout the United States, and in Geneva.
For the Boston Records label, he has recorded the Misek Sonata No. 2 and Bach Unaccompanied Suites No. 3 and No. 5. American Record Guide praised this disc for its “tasteful phrasing, polish and verve” while The Strad wrote “Owen Lee is a fine player with strong musical ideas. A dark and austere sound is produced for Suite No. 5 and the architecture of each suite is carefully considered and shaped. I look forward to his next recording.”
Mr. Lee’s extensive international chamber music experience includes three summers as the bassist of the Marlboro Festival. While there, he performed extensively with such artists as Richard Stoltzman, Midori, Nobuko Imai, Bruno Canino, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri Quartet and Juilliard Quartet. He also collaborated with composers Gyorgy Kurtag, Leon Kirchner and Richard Danielpour preparing performances of those composers’ works.
Mr. Lee has also performed with the Tokyo String Quartet on tour to Mexico, John Browning, Anne-Marie McDermott, Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, Peter Wiley, Eugenia Zukerman, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival, Ojai California Festival, Chamber Music L.A. Festival, Tanglewood Festival, Texas Music Festival, and on tour throughout China. With the Rossetti String Quartet he performed the world premiere of Melinda Wagner’s Concertino at the 2005 Bravo! Vail Festival.
Mr. Lee was born in Berkeley, California in 1969 to Chinese parents. He began playing bass at age 15 after previous study of the piano. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Mr. Lee’s principal teachers were Dennis Trembly, Edwin Barker and Paul Ellison.
Prior to his appointment in Cincinnati, Mr. Lee was a member of the Houston Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach. In addition to his position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Lee serves as Principal Bass of the Shanghai Festival Orchestra.
Owen is married to CiCi Lee. He enjoys bicycling, snowboarding, cigars, auto repair and playing drums and writing songs with his rock band Toe (Eric Bates, CSO 2nd Assistant Concertmaster is Toe’s guitarist and lead singer, and Ted Nelson, CSO cellist is Toe’s bassist).
Justin Locke
Justin Locke spent eighteen years as a professional double bassist, playing in the Boston Pops, the Boston Symphony, and just about every other orchestra in New England. The lengthy list of great conductors he played for includes Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, John Williams, Henry Mancini, and Arthur Fiedler.
He is the author of REAL MEN DON’T REHEARSE, a humorous book about the world of professional orchestras. He has appeared on WCVB’s Chronicle, the Paul Sullivan Show on CBS Radio, and on Greater Boston on WGBH with Emily Rooney. He is also the author of several educational concert programs for orchestra that have been done all over the world– in Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Australia, and Guam.
Mr. Locke is a unique and entertaining speaker. Along with telling inspiring stories of great musical moments and hilarious tales of concert disasters, and offers a rare first-hand look at the culture of world class performers. Learn more about Justin at his website justinlocke.com.
Ranaan Meyer
Ranaan Meyer, double bassist and composer, began his musical studies at the piano at age 4; at age 11, he took up the double bass (once he was big enough to hold it). He attended the Manhattan School of Music and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2003. Beyond regular appearances with orchestras such as the Minnesota Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Meyer is also increasingly
in demand as a composer, creating unique new works for his trio Time for Three as well as for solo bass and other ensembles. Most recently Mr. Meyer completed a commission, “My Zayda” (for Violin, Piano and Double Bass) for the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island. Other recently completed commissions include a solo double bass piece for the Network for New Music, a double bass and harp duet as well as a set of Time for Three pieces for Astral Artistic Services and a Time for Three composition for the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony, “Of time and three rivers”. All commissions have been expedited through the American Composer’s forum.
Mr. Meyer, also an accomplished jazz musician, has performed with Jane Monheight, Victor Lewis, Jason Moran, Mark O’Connor, Ari Hoenig, Duane Eubanks, Mickey Roker and many more. Ranaan, at age 19 produced, directed and performed in the very first
Washington Township Jazz Festival which was also broadcasted live on Philadelphia’s WRTI. Mr. Meyer, an avid teacher, has held adjunct Double Bass Professorships at both Princeton University and the University of Delaware. He has spent several Summers teaching alongside Hal Robinson (Principal Bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra) at the Strings International Music Festival in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He has also taught at the Intermountain Suzuki Camp in Sandy, Utah and Mark O’Connor’s String Camp in San Diego, California.
Robert Meyer
Robert Meyer’s accomplishments as a double bass player and concert artist could fill several pages, as Benjamin Britten was quoted as saying: “He has proved himself to be a considerable musician and a fine player.” His career, however, extends beyond his notable achievements as a performer and includes distinctions as both an artist (he is a Chinese Watercolourist of repute) and an educator (He currently assists the Victoria Youth Orchestra, freelances in the Pacific Northwest and frequently gives solo lectures “All you ever wanted to know about the Double Bass but were afraid to ask”). However, here is a brief synopsis of his career:
Graduated as a double bass soloist from the Royal College of Music, London, England. Respectively a member of the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Philharmonia and BBC Symphony Orchestras. (Conductors include Furtwangler, de Sabata, von Karajan, Klemperer, Giulini, Bruno Walter, Koussevitsky, Stokowski, Rhozdesdensvky, Stravinsky, Khatchaturian, etc.) Principal Bass, Sadlers Wells Opera, Principal Bass, San Carlo Opera, Naples, Covent Garden Ballet Orchestra, Principal/co Principal Bass English Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra (Barshoi), Principal Bass, Bolshoi Ballet. Commanded by HRH Queen Elizabeth II to perform at her Coronation. Founding Member, Solo Bass and librarian to Benjamin Britten’s English Opera Group and Aldeburgh Festival. Invited to come to Canada as Principal Bass, Vancouver Symphony, Principal Bass CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra and Principal Bass Vancouver Opera. Robert Meyer has taught at the Universities of British Columbia and Victoria and played at most major festivals and concert halls in the world.
Learn more at Robert’s blog Musical Reminiscences.
Kathryn Nettleman
As a young student of Neil Courtney, Assistant Principal Bass with the Philadelphia Orchestra, she performed with numerous local ensembles including the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. During this time she twice received the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education. She attended The Juilliard School as a full-scholarship student of Homer Mensch and following graduation spent a year studying with Don Palma at the Yale University School of Music. For several summers she performed in the Aspen Music Festival and the Spoleto (USA) Music Festival. Ms. Nettleman then spent two seasons in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, during which time she was involved in a wide variety of solo and chamber music performances, musical outreach projects, and served as co-chair of a concert series. In 2001, she was awarded by her colleagues there the “NWS Musician of the Year Award for Artistic Leadership.” The following year she served as a section member in the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, where she was active as a performer in introductory musical programs for elementary and middle school children.
Currently living in Chicago, Ms. Nettleman performs regularly with many local ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Symphony II, and Grant Park Symphony. She serves as a volunteer friendly visitor to the elderly through Resurrection Health Care Home Health Services. In addition to making music, she enjoys running, gardening, reading, and vegetarian cooking and baking.
Daniel Nix
Daniel Nix began the double bass at the age of fourteen because of the insistence of his orchestra director in Richardson, Texas. Having previously studied violin from the age of ten, Daniel was persuaded to make this supposedly temporary switch of instruments in order to accommodate the needs of the orchestra. After having played the double bass only one day, the director of the orchestra concluded that Daniel demonstrated too strong an affinity for the instrument not to continue. After much reluctance, Daniel focused his efforts on playing the double bass but subconsciously longed for the gorgeous melodies so easily played on the violin. After his years on the violin, Daniel found the double bass massive, uncomfortable, and extremely difficult for producing a beautiful and satisfying sound. At first he could not see a way to play such a cumbersome instrument in the way he wanted. Upon hearing famed bassist Karr in concert, Daniel, at the age of seventeen, realized the enormous potential of the instrument. After this brief encounter, Daniel began to experiment and learn how to produce what he considered “a gorgeous sound” with which he could convey strong emotional messages similar to those he heard in the Karr concert.
After studying for a year at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, where Daniel had the extraordinary opportunity to study with the finest members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, he attended KarrKamp, an intensive course in double bass studies, in 2003. There, for the first time, Daniel had the chance to play for his mentor. Upon hearing him play, Karr expressed a strong interest in working with Daniel privately. This encouraged Daniel to move to Victoria, British Columbia in order to study privately with Karr while also attending the University of Victoria to major in music performance and study with Mary Rannie, principal bassist of the Victoria Symphony.
Throughout his musical journey both as a student and performer, Daniel’s most important goal is to be a lyrical player. Daniel says, “with so much importance placed on technique with little regard for lyricism in today’s competitive world, so many musicians become cold technocrats rather than expressive artists.”
Brad Opland
Brad Opland began his musical studies early and by age ten knew he wanted a career in a symphony orchestra. After graduating from high school a year early, he moved to Philadelphia to continue his musical studies at The Curtis Institute of Music. One year later, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski appointed Mr. Opland to the bass section of the Minnesota Orchestra at the age of eighteen, one of the youngest musicians ever hired. Mr. Opland stayed in Minnesota through the Neville Mariner years, moving to Chicago in 1984 after Maestro Solti offered him a position in the Chicago Symphony. Mr. Opland has been a member of The Chicago Chamber Musicians since 1992.
François Rabbath
Born in Aleppo, Syria into a musical family of six boys and three girls, François discovered the double bass at the age of thirteen when one of his brothers brought an instrument home and allowed him to experiment with it. When the family moved to Beirut, Lebanon he found an old copy of Edouard Nanny’s Contrabass Method in a tailor shop and with some difficulty, since he read neither music nor French, began to teach himself. After nine years of work in Beirut, François saved enough money to move to Paris for a year. He was eager to go to the Paris Conservatory, meet with Monsieur Nanny and show him what he was able to do with the bass. When he applied at the Conservatory he was disappointed to learn that Nanny had died in 1947. He was also told that auditions were to be held in three days and that he would never have enough time to learn the required pieces. He asked for the music anyway and returned three days later to finish first among the applicants. However, his stay at the Conservatory was a brief one, since it didn’t take very long to see that he was not only far ahead of the other students but of the professors as well!
While in Paris he began to earn his living as an accompanist for Jacque Brel, Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Becaud, Michel Legrand and others. In 1963 he made his first of many solo record albums. Although never advertised or promoted, the Phillips album Bass Ball became one of the most sought after recordings of its time.
Steve Reinfranck
Steve has performed and taught on the Double Bass for over twenty-five years, principally in the Chicago Area, but in places as far away as New Zealand, Japan, Kenya, and Germany. He plays section bass with a variety of area symphonies, and plays jazz with Isaac “Redd” Holt, original drummer with the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Steve is also involved in Klezmer, Bluegrass, and other folk styles.
Steve has presented at Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, Illinois Music Educators convention, the Kentucky Music Educators convention, and at many of the conventions of the International Society of Bassists. He was awarded a three-week study tour of Japan under the aegis of the Fulbright Memorial Fund, and was voted Outstanding Studio Teacher by the Illinois Chapter of ASTA, the American String Teachers Association.
Steve runs the largest shop in the Chicago Area dedicated strictly to the needs of the Double Bassist. He maintains a private teaching studio of about 50 students, and edits the “Young Bassists’ Page” for BASS WORLD, journal of the International Society of Bassists. Steve teaches most Summers at ISYM, Illinois Summer Youth Music, held at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. Steve enjoys playing hockey, ice skating, reading, cooking, and politics when he isn’t making music.
Steve Rodby
As a youngster growing up in Joliet, Ill., Steve Rodby 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, 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 (”Making Music,” summer 2003) and play for then Northwestern jazz band director Cliff Colnot.
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.”
Scott Rosenthal
A native of metropolitan Chicago, Scott Rosenthal has been a significant presence in the musical theater, classical music, and jazz scene for many years. Scott has performed in numerous musical theater productions in the major venues of Chicago, including The Producers and Jekyl and Hyde at the Cadillac Palace Theater, Ragtime and Fosse at the Oriental Theater, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Beauty and the Beast, and Fiddler on the Roof at the Chicago Theater, Grease, Blood Brothers, Victor Victoria, Sound of Music, Annie Get Your Gun, and The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Schubert Theater, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Crazy for You, Phantom of the Opera, and Showboat at the Auditorium Theater, and Shenandoah, Windy City, The Boys from Syacuse, Joseph, Startime, A Chorus Line, Hello Dolly, Baby, Camelot, King and I, The Wiz, 1776, My Fair Lady, Evita, Cabaret, West Side Story, Peter Pan, Big River, Annie, and more with the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater, as well as playing bass for The Producers, Ragtime, Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Spamalot, and Light in the Piazza. He has also performed with the Elgin Symphony, Symphony II, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Chicago String Ensemble and has worked with artists such as Itzak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Celine Dion, Bjork, and Joni Mitchell.
Greg Sarchet
Greg Sarchet considers himself fortunate to have had an array of musical experiences and training, from studying with his first teacher, jazz luminary Rufus Reid, to receiving degrees from the Juilliard School (where he was a student of Michael Morgan), to hundreds of television/radio commercial recordings. His strong interest in researching the double bass and ongoing international exchange efforts were recognized by a 1996 Chicago Artists International Program award which sent him to the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria for performances, masterclasses, and archival research. These and other exchange activities have allowed him to build an extensive library of unpublished, out-of-print, and contemporary double bass works, as well as a first-hand understanding of Europe’s leading teaching methods.
Since 1986, he has been a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra. Additionally, he frequently serves as Principal Bass with Chicago Opera Theater and the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. He maintains a limited private studio for high school and adult pupils.
Briefly, his musical foundation was laid by his first double bass teachers, Rufus Reid and Todd Coolman. The musical values and priorities they, among others, instilled in him have led him to a wide variety of professional opportunities ranging from recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mannheim Steamroller, Smashing Pumpkins, and hundreds of television and radio commercials.
Stefano Sciascia
Stefano Sciascia was born in Turin, on 7th September, 1960. He began studying double bass at the age of sixteen. He soon began playing with various orchestras, including Turin Orchestra della RAI,Claudio Scimone’s Solisti Veneti and the Chamber Orchestra Orchestra da Camera di Padova e del Veneto, performing throughout Europe and North America (at the Edinburgh Festival, Wien Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Milano Teatro La Scala, and in Boston, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco,…). At the same time he devoted himself to researching new music and transcribing it for double bass, enriching thus his instrument’s solo repertoire.
In fall 2004 the magazine “Double Bassist” dedicated a long article to him. The article consists of an interview by editor Maggie Williams and deals with his career, concentrating especially on his last release: Mantra 22.22. Stefano Sciascia is head teacher of the double bass class at the Conservatorio di Musica “G. Tartini” in Trieste. He plays an eighteenth century Italian instrument of the Brescian school.
Lynn Seaton
Lynn Seaton has had a stellar career as a jazz bassist. Born in Oklahoma in 1957, he started playing the bass at age 9. By the late 70’s he was performing around the state. From 1980 until 1984 he was the house bassist at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, accompanying big name guest soloists every week. In 1984, he joined Woody Herman and in 1985 he played with the Count Basie Orchestra. After a two-year engagement with the Basie Band, he did extended tours with Tony Bennett and George Shearing. Most of 1991 and 1992 was spent touring with Monty Alexander. Lynn spent a lot of time on the road as a member of the Jeff Hamilton Trio from 1995-1999. Since 1993, Lynn has also had a busy career free-lancing with many of the great jazz musicians from many generations, including: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Monty Alexander, Ernestine Anderson, Buck Clayton, Al Cohn, Kenny Drew Jr., Blossom Dearie, Bob Dorough, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Herb Ellis, John Fedchock, Frank Foster, Freddy Green, Tim Hagans, Jeff Hamilton, Scott Hamilton, Wynard Harper, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Marian McPartland, Jay McShann, Mark Murphy, Ken Peplowski, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jimmy Raney, Emily Remler, Diane Schuur, Maria Schneider, Bud Shank, Carol Sloane, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Maxine Sullivan, Mel Torme, Frank Wess, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Steve Wilson, Mark Vinci, and Teddy Wilson. He lived in NY from 1986 until 1998. That year, he accepted an offer to teach at the world famous University of North Texas, home to one of the largest jazz programs in the world. He has performed at festivals world wide including Bern, Concord, JVC, Kool, Kyoto, Newport, North Sea, Perugia and Pori. Lynn has performed in 49 of the 50 United States and 35 foreign countries. He has performed on over 100 recordings, including the Grammy winning “Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra”, and two Grammy nominees, John Fedchock “No Nonsense” and Woody Herman “50th Anniversary”. He has three recordings as a leader, “Bassman’s Basement”, “Solo Flights”, and “Puttin’ on the Ritz”.Learn more about Lynn at his website lynnseaton.com, and learn more about the UNT jazz program at jazz.unt.edu.
Phillip Serna
A native of Houston, Texas, Dr. Phillip W. Serna (double bass and viola da gamba) is an active and enthusiastic performer of early music, as well as the contemporary, solo, orchestral, and chamber repertoires. Studying with Jeffrey M. Hill, Dr. Serna earned his high school diploma from the Instrumental Music Department at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX. Afterwards, he earned his Bachelor of Music in double bass performance with Stephen Tramontozzi at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1998. Phillip later completed his Master of Music at Northwestern University School of Music in 2001 as a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Graduate Fellow. In 2007, Phillip Serna received the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University where he studied double bass with international soloist DaXun Zhang and formerly with Chicago Symphony Orchestra member Michael Hovnanian. Phillip studies viola da gamba with Newberry Consort founder Mary Springfels.
Peter Seymour
Dallas native Peter Seymour has performed with a multitude of highly acclaimed artists and ensembles. As a member of the Cleveland Orchestra he performed under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst and in the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. He was the recipient of the Downbeat Magazine Award for Best Jazz Soloist in 1996 and has appeared with Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, and Bobby McFerrin.
The son of an educator, Peter has been very active in planning and performing community outreach activities throughout the country and served as events coordinator for the New World Symphony Orchestra from 2001-2004.
He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Master’s Degree in Bass Performance from Rice University where he was a student of Paul Ellison. Peter is active composing and performing with PROJECT, the ensemble he co-founded with cellist Eric Stephenson. He presently resides in New York City.
Donovan Stokes
Donovan Stokes’ fluency in a wide range of musical styles has compelled critics to hail him as “to the string bass as Basquiat was to canvas.” Whether arco, pizzicato or “slap” style, Stokes has the “ability to perform circus type bass maneuvers with effortless efficiency.” From concert hall to club stage, Bach to Rockabilly, few musicians are as comfortable, and proficient, in so many musical genres. His 2006 CD of unamplified solo bass works, Gadaha, has garnered international praise and solidified his place in the new generation of double bass soloists.
An active composer, Dr. Donovan Stokes is a specialist in the use of amplified and electronically manipulated double bass and has received recent commissions from the Young Bassist’s Division of the International Society of Bassists, Musical Arts Society of Chicago and the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. His recent Titanium Jr. for intermediate level bass and string orchestra was premiered in May of 2007 in Chicago, Il. His most recent concert work Caoineadh Mhná na Neachtlanna Mhaigdiléana (Lament for the Women of the Magdalene Laundries) for Solo Double Bass and Orchestra was premiered in October 2006 by the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra with the composer as soloist.
The author of several articles on double history and pedagogy, Stokes has given presentations and recitals for the International Society of Bassists on a wide range of subjects and is a regular clinician at the Golden Gate Bass Camp (Oakland, CA), and the Richard Davis Bass Conference (Madison, WI). Upcoming performances include the November 2007 Las Vegas “Bass Bash” and the December 2007 “Unity Through Diversity” festival sponsored by the Brian Deneke Memorial Committee.
Stokes is currently Associate Professor of Bass at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA and is married to fellow bassist, and International Society of Bassists Young Bass Ambassador for 2001, Inez Wyrick.
Visit him on the web at:
www.donovanstokes.com
Anthony Stoops
Anthony Stoops is Artist/Teacher of Bass and String Area Chair at the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Since winning first prize in the International Society of Bassists international solo competition, he has performed throughout the United States and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Dr. Stoops has presented masterclasses in Poland, Brazil and throughout the U.S. at venues such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Michigan, the University of Iowa, Interlochen Arts Academy, Penn State University, and many others.
The past recipient of a Karr Foundation Doublebass, Stoops is widely regarded as one of the top bass soloists in the world today. As an orchestral musician, Stoops has performed regularly in over a dozen orchestras including the Detroit, Columbus (OH) and Toledo Symphony orchestras, and the Michigan Opera Theater among many others, under many of the world’s great conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Neeme Järvi, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez and Charles Dutoit.
He studied with Diana Gannett at Iowa (and later at Michigan), Stuart Sankey at Michigan, Jeff Bradetich at Northwestern, and Eugene Levinson at Aspen. Other influential teachers include Max Dimoff, Principal Bass of the Cleveland Orchestra, Stephen Molina, Assistant Principal Bass of the Detroit Symphony. In high school, he studie with Dr. Mark Morton, Principal Bass of the Columbus Symphony.
As a devotee of new music, Stoops’ wide–ranging repertoire has included premieres of several works, including his own. Prior to his appointment at OU, he taught at Bowling Green State University, the Ann Arbor School for Performing Arts and the renowned Preucil School of Music.
He lives in Norman, OK with his wife, cellist Emily Gosma Stoops and their son, Henry. In his spare time, Anthony enjoys fishing, cooking, swimming and Yoga.
Hans Sturm
Double bassist Hans Sturm has performed as soloist, chamber, orchestral, jazz and improvisational musician throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and the United States. Sturm received his doctorate from Northwestern University and is currently a Professor and Chair of the String Department at Ball State University.
Sturm has appeared with a variety of artists across the spectrum of jazz music including Eddie Daniels, Phil Woods, Randy Brecker, Dick Hyman, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Eddie Higgins, David Baker, Stanley Jordan, Peter Erskine, Joe LaBarbera, Alan Dawson, Bela Fleck, Howard Levy and many others. A frequent performer of chamber music, Sturm has toured with ‘Fireflight’ (soprano, Japanese koto and bass koto, double bass, and percussion) and ‘Trinkle, Burkett, and Sturm’ (trumpet, marimba and double bass) for more than fifteen years. He has worked in the electronic medium with composers such as Cleveland Scott and Joan Wildman. As an orchestral bassist, he has served as principal bassist of numerous regional orchestras including the Muncie Symphony, Quad Cities Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Madison Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, Dorian Opera, Rockford Symphony, and Racine Symphony and toured Europe as a member of the American Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra.
Recently Hans Sturm has appeared at the Beijing Music Festival; the Association of Brazilian Contrabassists International Conventions in Goiania and Pirenopolus, Brazil; the Scottish Bass Trust’s International Convention and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh Scotland; the College Music Society International Conference in Kyoto, Japan; Encontro de instrumentistas in Joao Pessoa and Belo Horizonte, Brazil; the Biennial International Symposium on Arts and Technology in New London, Connecticut; a State Department tour of Morocco; various International Society of Bassists Conventions in Bloomington, Houston, Indianapolis, Iowa City and Richmond; and jazz fest ivals in Chicago, New York, Detroit, Madison, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis.
Sturm has contributed performances and compositions to more than thirty recordings with artists including the Pro Arte String Quartet, soprano Mimmi Fulmer, vocalist Jackie Allen, synthesist/composer Joan Wildman, guitarists Scott Fields, Rolf Sturm, Dave Baney, Jeff Parker, and Jack Grassel, trumpeters Bob Levy and David Young, and pianists Jane Reynolds, and Marilyn Crispell. He has recorded for A440, Innova, Red Mark, Music and Arts, CRI, Big Chicago, and Cadence labels among others.
Hans Sturm is currently the President-Elect of the International Society of Bassists and served as the New Music Editor for the organization’s journal ‘Bass World’ for six years. He is on the summer faculty of the National High School Music Institute at Northwestern University and his works for bass are published by Liben Music (U.S.) and Klaus Schruff (Europe). His major teachers have included Northwestern University Professor Jeff Bradetich, Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Bass Emeritus Anthony Bianco, Philadelphia Orchestra bassist Ferdinand Maresh, and international soloist and pedagogue François Rabbath.
Peter Tambroni
Peter began playing the double bass at the age of 16 (after playing the clarinet since elementary school) when the director of his high school jazz ensemble asked if anyone would be interested in playing bass. After playing electric bass it was suggested that he learn the string bass, and soon after he began orchestral studies. Within a year he knew he wanted to go into the field of music, and becoming a music teacher was the perfect choice for him. He received his Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education from the Crane School of Music in 1996.
After that, he taught strings in the public schools for grades 4 – 12 in Northern New York and have been adjunct faculty for ‘cello and double bass at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. In 2000 he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign with a Master’s in Double Bass Performance, studying with Michael Cameron.
Peter is currently a string teacher in suburban Chicago where he teaches string lessons in grades 3 – 8 and conduct the middle school concert and chamber orchestras. He also leads an Irish ensemble and a bass quartet. Learn more about Peter at his website petertambroni.com.
Ben Torrey
By way of background, I was formerly a professionally aspiring musician. I studied at New England Conservatory in the dual-degree program with Tufts from ‘91 to ‘94. In 1997, after what I thought were some career setbacks, I decided to get a day job. I ended up pretty much not playing bass at all until late 2004, when I started to notice how much I missed it. I worked through the great exercises in the Artist’s Way book and started on my “artistic recovery” in 2006. Thanks also to Barry Green’s great reminder that “amateur” means one that does something for the love of it, I’m now happy to call myself an “amateur”–meaning I play just for the love of playing without any professional aspirations. (Amateur, by the way, is a word that used to make me cringe!)
Now, with the help of the Artist’s Way, The Listening Book, the second Artist Way book Walking In This World, and the Inner Game of Music, music is again an active part of my life. I’m playing every day, most days about two hours, usually between 4AM and 6AM before going to work. I’m still a long way from playing how I know I’m capable of, and I sure did lose a lot of skill during my “IT ramp up years”, but I’m confident if I continue to apply myself the results will start to show soon.
visit Ben online at www.bentorrey.com:2112/blog
Guy Tuneh
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.
Jeff Turner
Jeffrey Turner joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1987. He served as Principal Bass of the New American Chamber Orchestra from 1984 to 1986 and became a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1986. Mr. Turner, a native of South Carolina, holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. His teachers include James VanDemark, Lawrence Hurst and Robert Gladstone.
Mr. Turner serves on the faculties of Duquesne University and Carnegie Mellon University. He is the Artistic Director of the City Music Center’s Young Bassist Program, and gives annual seminars and master classes at universities and conservatories throughout the world. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the Eastman School of Music and Lecturer at the University of Maryland.
Mr. Turner has been a resident artist for many annual festivals including the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the Korsholm Festival in Finland. He has been featured as a presenter at the conventions of The International Society of Bassists, and has served on the faculty of The Asian Youth Orchestra (Hong Kong) under the direction of Lord Yehudi Menuhin. Mr. Turner is a faculty member of the National Orchestral Institute. As winner of the Y Music Society’s Passamaneck Award, Jeffrey Turner appeared in a critically acclaimed recital at Carnegie Music Hall in 1989. He was also a winner of the 1990 Pittsburgh Concert Society’s Artist Award.
DaXun Zhang
The Washington Post declares, “If the bass is finally to produce a headliner, the instrument can have no better champion than Zhang,” of 24-year-old double bassistDaXun Zhang. Zhang has performed and toured with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, including concerts in Japan, California, and an appearance at Carnegie Hall in September 2004. He also worked with Mr. Ma to record the soundtrack to a 10-part documentary series on the Silk Road. The series aired on Japan’s national broadcast channel, NHK, and the CD was released on Sony Classical.
In April 2006, Zhang performed Bizet’s Carmen Fantasy in YCA’s annual Irene Diamond Concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall with Keith Lockhart conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. During the 2005-2006 season, Zhang performed with the Monroe (LA) Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and gave recitals at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Missouri State University, and in the Embassy Series in Washington, DC. He will perform as a member of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society II during the 2006-2007 season.
Zhang has appeared as soloist with Orange County’s Pacific Symphony (CA), Orchestra New England, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (NC). He has given recitals at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (FL), the University of Georgia, Western Michigan University, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, and in The Artist Series in Tallahassee, FL. He has performed chamber music in the La Jolla Music Society Summerfest and the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati.
As the first double bass player to win the Young Concert Artists Auditions in 2003, Zhang was also awarded the Claire Tow Prize, which sponsored his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series and the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, which sponsored his Washington, DC debut at the Kennedy Center, as well as the La Jolla Music Society Prize, the Orchestra New England Soloist Prize, and The Fergus Prize.
Zhang was the first double bassist ever to win First Prize in the 2003 WAMSO (Women’s Auxiliary of the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra) competition. In 2001, Zhang was the youngest artist ever to win the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. He has also received the Grand Prize of the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition.
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