National Symphony double bassist Ira Gold offering summer orchestral bowing workshop

National Symphony bassist and Peabody Institute faculty member Ira gold

This is really exciting news.  National Symphony Orchestra double bassist and Peabody Institute faculty member Ira Gold will be offering an Orchestral Bowing Workshop this summer.

In addition to being one of our early Contrabass Conversations guests, I’ve had the good fortune to play with him on several occasions in the IRIS Orchestra of Memphis, Tennessee.  In addition to being a bass player of the highest caliber, Ira is one of the deepest thinkers I know regarding double bass technique.  This workshop is going to be epic–get on the mailing list for sure and get more details as they are released.

Ira writes:

As I’ve traveled the country the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to work with bassists of all ages, and one of my favorite topics to explore is orchestral bowing mechanics and articulations.
With the assistance of Brent Edmondson, I’m very excited to announce the upcoming launch of a summer workshop for double bassists. Whether you are beginning to explore the major bowing styles in college, are preparing for graduate study,
or are hitting the audition circuit, I can help you improve your knowledge and performance of the orchestral
“strokes”. For more information, or to sign up for our mailing list, please go to
http://irajgold.com/?page_id=109
or
http://www.brentedmondson.com/#!summer-programs/w212r

I actually just wrapped up an interview with Brent Edmondson on Sunday and am looking forward to releasing it.  Brent has carved out a really interesting spot for himself in the music world and is working on a number of cool projects.  We had a fantastic conversation about what music schools are offering students these days, how he found himself working with Ranaan Meyer (also a former Contrabass Conversations guest) and creating the Next Level Journals.  Brent is also working with Hal Robinson to produce The Quad, which is a four volume set of the most frequently asked orchestra excerpts edited and annotated by Hal.  Look for this great interview with Brent in the next couple of weeks!

I’m also going to be sitting down with Ira soon to talk about what he has been up to since our last interview (which was almost ten years ago at this point!).  His career has developed in a really interesting fashion, and I’m really looking forward to chatting with him.

On a side note, I also had the pleasure of interviewing Carlos Henriquez yesterday.  Carlos has been Wynton Marsalis’ bassist for the past couple of decades and plays with both Wynton’s septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.  Carlos just released his first solo album The Bronx Pyramid on Blue Engine Records, and we talk about this album, growing up in the Bronx, meeting Wynton, developing Afro-Cuban bass lines, finding your voice, and much more.  You’ll love it!