Contrabass Conversations

Lawrence Hurst is the former principal double bass for the Dallas Symphony. He is a former faculty member of Southern Methodist and Eastern Michigan Universities and former faculty member, associate dean, and chair of the string department at University of Michigan School of Music. He was honored with the Alumni Award from the University of Michigan School of Music in 1998. Professor Hurst is form...

Program Order: Bottesini Romanza Dramatica Op. 20 (Elegie No. 2) Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major (performed in original key) Sofia Gubaidulina Pantomime Eccles Sonata             Andante             Allegro             Adagio             Presto

Greg Sarchet considers himself fortunate to have had an array of musical experiences and training, from studying with his first teacher, jazz luminary Rufus Reid, to receiving degrees from the Juilliard School (where he was a student of Michael Morgan), to hundreds of television/radio commercial recordings. His strong interest in researching the double bass and ongoing international exchange effor...

Ira Gold made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2011, performing the Vanhal Bass Concerto with the Catholic University of America Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the National Symphony in 2005, Mr. Gold performed with several American orchestras, as section bass with the Minnesota Orchestra and as guest principal bassist with the San Francisco Symphony and Detroit Symphony. He has attended festi...

Here is a full-length recital showcase featuring a performance from double bassist Phillip Serna.  Visit Phillip online at www.phillipwserna.com Northwestern University School of Music Presents a Doctoral Recital Phillip Woodrow Serna, double bass In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Music in Double Bass Performance Double Bass Student of Michael Hovnanian Viola da G...

Andrew Anderson performs in nearly 150 concerts every year and teaches over a dozen students of all levels each week. Andrew Anderson is a member of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic, and performs regularly with Music of the Baroque.  He has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Columbus Sym...

Born in Aleppo, Syria into a musical family of six boys and three girls, François discovered the double bass at the age of thirteen when one of his brothers brought an instrument home and allowed him to experiment with it. When the family moved to Beirut, Lebanon he found an old copy of Edouard Nanny's Contrabass Method in a tailor shop and with some difficulty, since he read neither music nor Fre...

Ira Gold made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2011, performing the Vanhal Bass Concerto with the Catholic University of America Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the National Symphony in 2005, Mr. Gold performed with several American orchestras, as section bass with the Minnesota Orchestra and as guest principal bassist with the San Francisco Symphony and Detroit Symphony. He has attended festi...

John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree with Timothy Cobb. Mr. Grillo performed at The Tanglewood Music Center...

This episode features the first part of an interview that Jason recently did with double bassist Weldon Anderson.  Weldon has worked in many styles of music, from traditional classical bass playing to very experimental forms of music.  The first part of this interview discusses Weldon's early years on the instrument and how he became involved Pittsburgh's Squonk Opera. Weldon Anderson was a member...

This week's episode features double bassist Kate Nettleman.  Kate was based here in the Chicago area at the time of this recording, but she moved on to become Principal Bass of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and then to a section position in the Minnesota Orchestra. About Kate Kathryn Nettleman - as a young student of Neil Courtney, Assistant Principal Bass with the Philadelphia Orchestra, she perform...

This week's episode features a series of tracks from double bassist Andrew Anderson.  Andy was our guest on episodes 4 and 7.  Andy used a different set-up for each set of tracks, and he describes the strings and other differentiating factors between each track. This is a very interesting episode, and I hope you enjoy it! Track sequence: Koussevitzky Concerto mvt 1 Koussevitzky Concerto mvt 2 Fail...

This episode of Contrabass Conversations features an interview with composer Bjorn Berkhout.  Bjorn discusses his musical training, his various compositions for bass, and the challenges of writing for the double bass.  Musical selections from his pieces Steamworks and Rise are also played on the show this week. To find out more about Bjorn's activities, visit http://bjornb.com/ . To order Bjorn's...

We start this episode with Schgweik Farht , one of the movements from David Anderson's seven double bass duets.  You will also hear the Bach Gigue from the third cello suite and the second movement of the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata . John will be assisted by Peter Guild- Double Bass(member Pittsburgh Symphony) on the Anderson duets and by pianist Alaine Fink on the Schubert. In this second part of...

On this episode of the show we continue our interview with double bassist Phillip W. Serna .  Phillip is an active double bass and viola da gamba performer, clinician, and pedagogue in the Chicago metropolitan area.  In this episode of Contrabass Conversations, Phillip gives general student advice, practice tips, advice on choosing schools, and much more.  Visit him online at http://www.phillipwse...

This is a special Recital Showcase edition of Contrabass Conversations featuring the music of John Grillo.  John was interviewed on Contrabass Conversations episode 6.  This episode is a live performance of John's complete recital, which was performed in Pittsburgh, PA in 2006. Recital Program: Bach Suite No. 3 for Solo Violincello Allemande Sarabande Bourrees I and II Gigue John Grillo, Double Ba...

Andrew Anderson performs in nearly 150 concerts every year and teaches over a dozen students of all levels each week. Andrew Anderson is a member of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic, and performs regularly with Music of the Baroque.  He has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Columbus Sym...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview and musical performances from double bassist John Grillo. John has got some great insight into the world of the bass, and this interview was both a lot of fun to do and very informative and interesting. About John: John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a schola...

This show features an interview with double bassist Phillip W. Serna .  Phillip is an active double bass and viola da gamba performer, clinician, and pedagogue in the Chicago metropolitan area.  In this episode of Contrabass Conversations, Phillip discusses his early years studying the bass, his training in Houston, TX, San Francisco, CA, and Chicago, IL, and general student advice.  Visit him onl...

This episode features part 1 of an interview with double bassist Andrew Anderson .  Andy is a member of the double bass sections of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Grant Park Symphony Orchestra .  In this episode, Andy discusses his early training and college years studying the double bass. Some listener feedback closes this episode of Contrabass Conversations.

Music played on this podcast is available from the Podsafe Music Network.  Check them out at http://music.podshow.com . Jason starts this week's episode by playing Tu Cha Cha Cha by Antonin Bastian .  Check out Antonin's blog at http://dr-vibe.blogspot.com/ . Listener feedback from Ed in Sydney, Australia. Jason discusses the January performance of the IRIS Chamber Orchestra . Jason discusses the...

In this episode of Contrabass Conversations, Jason discusses the gear he is using to record Contrabass Conversations.  For this episode he is using: iRiver IFP-899 Sony ECM MS957   (the price has really dropped since I bought it six years ago!) Last episode Jason use the same microphone into his laptop through a Griffin iMic .  The results are actually much cleaner into the iRiver than into the la...

Hello, and welcome to Contrabass Conversations, your weekly podcast for double bass interviews, resources, news, and music!  Contrabass Conversations is a new project by Jason Heath.  You can find all information for this show at http://contrabassconversations.com . This show will be released every Monday.  Most shows will be in an interview format, but these first few shows will be with Jason alo...