Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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After the first half of our 10th or 11th Nutcracker performance this season, the principal horn for the ballet company that I work for (sometimes with disastrous effects) came up to me with a knowing half-grin on his face. We had just finished playing the big ‘battle scene’ with the armed mice, probably [...]

We’re beginning to roll out some polls again here at DBB.org. This first one should be interesting–how many Nutcracker performances have you played in your life? This one should separate ballet veterans from the pack! You can vote here in this post or over on the right sidebar.

We’ve gotten slammed here in Chicago with the first really big snowfall of the season.  This kind of thing used to strike terror into my very core as I envisioned the slipping and sliding that I would be doing on rural Wisconsin back roads, commuting hundreds of miles between disparate locations in the frozen and [...]

We’ve got a real treat for folks today. Phillip Serna had to acquire special permission from the publisher of the Tubin Concerto for Double Bass in order for us to release it, and it is likely that many readers out there haven’t heard this piece before. I certainly haven’t found it on YouTube [...]

The following is a guest post from Double Bass Blog contributor Phillip W. Serna. Check out Phillip’s recitals and interviews on his Contrabass Conversations page, and visit him online at http://www.phillipwserna.com/. Enjoy!
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Contrabass Conversations and the Double Bass Blog are continues is series on early bass performers. It will highlight many different perspectives on early bass/ [...]

John Grillo just blogged on www.classicalmusicnews.tv about the upcoming Pennsylvania Ballet tour in which he is participating.  He writes:
I look forward to playing this tour very much. Since so much of the Broadway theater business is shut down this week due to strikes, I hope people hear about this event and substitute their plans for [...]

We just added a new instrument to the bass blog For Sale page.  This bass is being sold by Maurice Clubb of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Tacoma Symphony.  Check out the For Sale page for more information (plus photos) of this bass.
Here’s a neat shot of a Jim Hamm (maker of the Gary Karr [...]

One of my colleagues recently won positions in three regional orchestras. This very talented individual began his college career as a biochemistry major, later switching his major to double bass performance. This highly intelligent and talented scientific mind then focused his energies on becoming the best double bass player he could possibly be, practicing long [...]

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an in-depth analysis of the double bass orchestral excerpts most commonly requested at auditions. Double bassist (and regular Contrabass Conversations guest and co-host) John Grillo discusses each of these excerpts–stylistic considerations, differences in articulation and bow strokes, and suggestions for effectively learning them–and then performs them. [...]

Phillip W. Serna Doctoral Recital from 2002
Quintet, Op. 39 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)For Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Bass
Tema (Moderato) - Variation I - Variation IIAndante energicoAllegro sostenuto, me con brioAdagio pesanteAllegro precipitato, ma non troppo prestoAndantino
Season Summers, OboeSam Kaestner, ClarinetHaijin Choi, ViolinHeather Neaveill, ViolaDr. Phillip W. Serna, Double Bass
For more information, visit Dr. Phillip [...]