Contrabass Conversations

Learn about the latest Young Bassist program offerings for the 2021 International Society of Bassists Convention in this special episode! Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!   Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 80+ wide-ranging titles for bassists.   Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle . Check out m...

Stephen Street has been establishing himself as one of the most versatile emerging UK bassists.   Equally adept at jazz and classical music, Stephen has studied with Leon Bosch, Chris West, and many other noted UK teachers.   He has also started his own publishing house and has the goal to put our urtext editions of all of Bottesini's works. We talk about Stephen's background, his publishing plans...

Anne-Gabrièle Douce is a French bassist and pianist currently living in London.   She has built a fascinating career both in the piano and double bass worlds, and she is remarkable at telling her story on platforms like Instagram .   We talk about her early years, similarities and differences in piano and bass pedagogy and performance, what the pandemic has been like for her, and many other topics...

Makram Aboul Hosn is a Lebanon-based jazz bassist and composer.   He is also the band leader of Ad-Hoc Trio and the Aboul Hosn Quartet, and has recently released a new album titled Transmigration . We talk about life in Lebanon, the Beirut jazz scene and the impact that the port explosion has had on the country, Makram's studies and time spent in Europe and New York, and much more.   Enjoy, and ch...

John Goldsby is one of the world's best-known jazz bassists and a course creator for Discover Double Bass .   His latest course Tell Your Story covers the topic of developing jazz soloing abilities. We talk about this course, what it's like filming courses for Discover Double Bass, John's latest album Segment ( check out his website for more info), his very cool recent set with the John Goldsby Tr...

Dave Anderson is one of the most well-known composers writing for the double bass.   In addition to being internationally acclaimed as a composer, Dave serves as Principal Bass for the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans and for the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon. We dig into all kinds of topics, like what the past year has been like, Dave's recent compositions, including his Nonet for Musai...

Charles Laux is the orchestra director at Alpharetta High School in Alpharetta, Georgia, and is the host of the excellent Orchestra Teacher Podcast .   He also runs an incredible website and YouTube Channel dedicated to orchestra teaching, and he is an active clinician and presenter. We talk about our shared podcasting roots, Charles' path through the music world, his work as a college music educa...

Ivy Wong is a member of Switzerland's Orchestre De La Suisse Romande and has had a fascinating path through the music world.   We talk about what it's like playing and living in Switzerland, growing up in Hong Kong and moving to New York for college, the ups and downs of freelancing and auditioning in the US, the set of coincidences that led to her auditioning for her current job, mental practice,...

We are talking about the release of Bariolage - Duets for Violoncello and Double Bass by 2LOW , a cello and bass duo made up of San Francisco Symphony members Charles Chandler and Amos Yang .   We are also joined by composer and San Francisco Opera and Ballet bassist Shinji Eshima , who composed the title track for this release from 2LOW. We talk about how Charles and Amos got started in music, Ch...

Mitch Moehring is the owner and operator of Mitch Moehring Strings , a locally owned and operated lutherie shop based in Kilgore, Texas. Mitch Moehring Strings specializes in hand-crafted 5/8 basses with grandiose sound.   Mitch Moehring Strings offers a variety of services including string instrument repair, bow rehairs, rentals, and instrument/bow/supply sales. We talk about Mitch's path into th...

Tobias Glöckler is the associate principal double bass player at the Dresdner Philharmonie and a prizewinner of the International ISB Double Bass Competition (USA). He studied with Konrad Siebach at the Music Conservatory in Leipzig, perfecting his skills with Jeff Bradetich (Chicago) and Ulrich Lau (Stuttgart).   While studying, he was the principal double bass player with the International Gusta...

James Barket is Orchestra Director at Webb Bridge Middle School in Alpharetta, GA. He also teaches bass at Kennesaw State University, and he did the English translation for Alfred Planyavsky's groundbreaking book The Baroque Double Bass Violone .   We start out by talking about the Midsummers Music Festival and Allyson Fleck, the Assistant Artistic Director.   She used to teach at Kennesaw State U...

Katie Eakes is the assistant principal bassist for the Anchorage Symphony and Anchorage Opera.   She also has a thriving career as an orchestra teacher, and she was recently profiled on the Anchorage Opera's YouTube Channel . We talk about what it's like being a bassist in Alaska, the challenges and satisfactions of her professional life, and much more.   Enjoy, and be sure to follow Katie on Inst...

David Krehbie l is former principal horn player for the Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras and has recently released an autobiography titled Through the Door: A Horn Player's Journey .   He has also served on the faculty of the Colburn School, San Francisco Conservatory, and many other renowned music schools.   We talk about his remarkable journey through the music world, from...

Korneel Le Compte is the principal bassist for the Belgian National Opera and has extensive experience in the early music world. We talk about his epic Viennese Violone book Meta Hodos , his remarkable YouTube Channel , his very cool series The Vanhal Tapes , the lives of these past legends of the double bass, and much more. Enjoy, and be sure to subscribe to Korneel's YouTube Channel !   Subscrib...

Ivy Wong is a member of Switzerland's Orchestre De La Suisse Romande and has had a fascinating path through the music world.   We talk about what it's like playing and living in Switzerland, growing up in Hong Kong and moving to New York for college, the ups and downs of freelancing and auditioning in the US, the set of coincidences that led to her auditioning for her current job, mental practice,...

Danny Ziemann recently launched his latest book Topics in Jazz Bass Vol. 2: Soloing , and the two of us decided to try something a little different.   We hopped on Zoom with our basses and did a quasi interview/bass lesson on how to work on jazz bass soloing.   I hope you enjoy this different format, and be sure to check out Danny's new book on Amazon and follow him on Facebook!   Subscribe to the...

We are talking about the release of Bariolage - Duets for Violoncello and Double Bass by 2LOW , a cello and bass duo made up of San Francisco Symphony members Charles Chandler and Amos Yang .   We are also joined by composer and San Francisco Opera and Ballet bassist Shinji Eshima , who composed the title track for this release from 2LOW.   We talk about how Charles and Amos got started in music,...

Krista Kopper is a theater bassist and host of T he Backstage Creative podcast .   She recently celebrated two years of podcasting and put out a thoughtful episode about the challenges and rewards of a long-term project like her podcast.   Enjoy, and be sure to check out The Backstage Creative wherever you listen to podcasts!   Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you auto...

Barry Green is one of the most prolific and creative artists I've even spent time with.   He has appeared on the podcast multiple times over the years , and he and I co-organized the International Online Bass Summit during the spring and summer of 2020.   In today's episode, we catch up on all sorts of projects that Barry has been working on, including his incredible Stringersize program and his T...

The 14th annual Wabass Institute will be taking place in Wabash, Indiana June 24-29.   In this episode, we sit down with faculty members Eric Larson , Hal Robinson , and Ranaan Meyer to learn about this uniquely inspiring program and what it's all about.   Details on how to apply are listed here , and be sure to follow Wabash and other programs of the Honeywell Arts Academy on Facebook , YouTube ,...

Aaron Olguin serves as principal bass for Norway's Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, and he has appeared several times on the podcast in recent years .   We connected for today's episode to discuss bass section playing and the challenges of not falling behind the beat for a recent video , but we cover a lot of other ground and get a general life update on Aaron and how things have been during the pand...

John Van Lierop serves as principal bass for Sinfonia Rotterdam and is a frequent guest principal bass in many European orchestras.   We connected to talk about the challenges of leading a bass section for a r ecent video , but we covered many other topics like John's path through the music world, the effect of strings upon a player's perceptions, rosin, articulation, and much more.   Enjoy, and c...

Thomas Fiorini is a member of the bass section of the Brussels Philharmonic and is an active performer in many genres. Equally at home on the bass guitar, he has performed with acts such as Rob Thomas, Gap Mangione, Bjork, Dave Samuels, Gregg Allman and top Belgian singers like Sarah Bettens, Stan Van Samang, Natalia, Niels Destadsbader, Belle Perez, Jean Bosco Safari, Boogie Boy, Wim Leys and N8N...

Michael Kurth has had a remarkable career both as a member of the Atlanta Symphony bass section and as a composer .   The Atlanta Symphony has commissioned and premiered many of his orchestral and choral works. A recording on the ASO Media label is scheduled for commercial release on CD and digital platforms in February 2019, including Everything Lasts Forever, A Thousand Words, May Cause Dizzines...