Double Bass News for 4/24/17

Lots of exciting things are happening in the world of the double bass as we round out the month of April!

Latest News

After a bit of a hiatus, I finally got out another “best of” podcast episode.  This episode covers practicing techniques and draws from 18 past podcast guests.  I hope you enjoy it!

If you like these compilation/anthology episodes, you’d probably also enjoy my episode on fitness and the bass as well as the Winning the Audition podcast series.  That series ended up being the foundation for my Winning the Audition book.

The highly creative bassist Emilio Guarino recently ran a Kickstarter for his adjustable Chromatic Endpin.  He got a significant way toward his goal (around ($7400) but didn’t hit the goal, so the Kickstarter didn’t run.  It sounds like he’s got another investor looking to make this endpin happen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6qYoiPEun0

Check out my conversation with Emilio about the Chromatic Endpin, and check out his full Contrabass Conversations interview here.

The great folks behind the Composed film just released a short video about what it’s like to audition in the UK.  Highly interesting viewing!

I had the chance to hang with John and Katie while there were visiting San Francisco to screen Composed.  Here’s a link to my interview with them.

Events

I am so pumped to be a guest for this May’s 10th Annual Viva el Bajo South Texas Double Bass Festival!  This event takes place May 19-21 at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  UTRGV bass faculty member and host George Amorim has a great faculty line-up (if I’ve interviewed them, they’re linked up below):

• Jeff Bradetich
• Lloyd Goldstein
• Carlos Gaviria
• David Dawson
• Alex Ritter
• Mark Morton
• Jack Unzicker

I’ve also interviewed George about how he grew his double bass program from tumbleweeds into the vibrant scene that now exists–it’s a fascinating listen.

The Philadelphia International Music Festival will take place this June and July.  Philadelphia Orchestra assistant principal bass and past podcast guest Joe Conyers will be teaching bass, and scholarship opportunities are available.  Feel free to email me at feedback@contrabassconversations.com if you’d like additional info.

Be sure to check out the Metro Bass Workshop July 10-14.  Join event coordinator and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra principal bassist Rex Surany along with Sam Suggs (a past podcast guest), Harish Kumar, and other clinicians.  Sounds like a great event!

More events can be viewed on our calendar.

Quick Links

• Congrats to Daniel Carson, Kaelan Josiah Decman, and Evan Hillis for joining David Allen Moore‘s USC bass studio as grad students!  Dan and Evan are former students of mine–I couldn’t be prouder!
• Congrats also to audition winners Christian Gray (Washington National Opera) and Jason McNeel (Charlotte Symphony)
• Epically good Star Wars-themed photo featuring past podcast guest Adam Booker
• Joey Naeger wrote a great column about fingerboards in the latest Bass World – I’ll be interviewing him for the podcast in the next few weeks

…and finally, if you’ve taught in any capacity, I think you’ll love this great video about classroom management that I discovered earlier this week.  It’s all about building relationships and keeping our collective humanity in mind in all interactions.  Beautiful stuff.

Have a great week!