Duke University

• State: North Carolina
• Private School
• School Website
• Map Link

Michael Ashton, bass faculty

• Email Michael
• Michael’s Website

General Statistics

• US News Ranking: #8 (tie) in National Universities
• US News Overall Score (out of 100): 92
• Tuition & Fees 2016-17: $51,265
• Room & Board 2016-17: $15,116
• Total Enrollment: 15,984
• Acceptance Rate (from 2015): 12%
• Student – Faculty Ratio: 6:1
• 4 year graduation rate: 86%
• % of undergrads receiving Financial aid: 43%
• Average Financial Aid: $44,725

Double Bass Statistics

• Average number of undergraduate bass students: 0
• Average number of graduate bass students: 0
• We don’t have a double bass performance degree at Duke, so most of the players that come through study academic fields and choose to study music as an extra curricular. Our graduates go on to become leaders in their chosen field of academic study and enrich their lives and those around them with their music.

What Alumni Are Doing

• Artist Diploma Student at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
• Master’s Student in Edwin Barker’s studio at Boston University

Perspectives from the Bass Faculty

Q: What are some of your favorite experiences teaching at your school?

A: I’ve greatly enjoyed playing alongside the Ciompi Quartet in faculty recitals, as well as Maestro Wynkoop and the Choral Society

While there is no performance major offered at Duke, the Major in Music degree consists of a broad and in-depth education on subjects from music theory, to conducting, to musicology, and including performance.

About The Bass Faculty

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Michael Ashton has studied with some of the premier double bassists of the world including Max Dimoff and renowned performer and pedagogue Jeff Bradetich. He has performed as a concert soloist in England at Ely Cathedral, Great Saint Mary’s, and Saint Ives as well as a handful of locations in the United States. As an orchestral player, Michael has traveled extensively playing in orchestras from coast to coast. Aside from his position in the Virginia Symphony, he holds a position in Greensboro Symphony as assistant principal and can be seen playing in various orchestras and chamber groups up and down the eastern seaboard. Michael spends his down-time restoring an old Queen Anne style Victorian home in downtown Durham, North Carolina.