Contrabass Conversations

Stories covered: New podcast -  Classical Break from Tyler Alderson Lee Starovich - bass teacher at Indiana University summer music clinic The Strad Masterclass: Leon Bosch on Dragonetti's 'Famous Solo' for double bass check out Leon Bosch on the podcast Nina Harries plays Icarus from Barrie Kolstein - how to open and close a seam hear Barrie on the podcast Thanks to our sponsors! This episode is...

The Golden Gate Bass Camp will take place June 26th-30th, 2017.   Registration for the camp is now open.  It's hosted at the Drew School in San Francisco, and all ages and levels are welcome.  We would love to see you at this event! This episode features an interview with camp director Richard Duke and 2017 faculty members Donovan Stokes and DaXun Zhang . 2017 Faculty include: Richard Duke - camp...

Miles Mosley 's solo album Uprising has been turning heads across the globe since its release in early 2017.  "Abraham" was named one of NPR's 'Top 100 songs of 2016', and Rolling Stone named him one of the 'Top 10 New Artists You Need to Know'. The list of artists with which Miles has recorded, toured and collaborated with is remarkable, including Christina Aguilera, Jason Mraz, Chris Cornell, La...

Bass Works takes place July 23-30, 2017 at Peabody Conservatory.  Join former podcast guests Ira Gold , Jeff Weisner ,  Tracy Rowell , and many others at this dynamic event! Links to check out: Bass Works website (registration and detailed info) 87 bass players performing All About That Bass at Bass Works 2015 (YouTube)

Stories covered: Illuminating Music Podcast: Art of Elan podcast from Jory Herman J ory Herman appearance on Contrabass Conversations Bass Works in July features many clinicians, including past podcast guests Ira Gold , Tracy Rowell , and Jeff Weisner Ask Geoff and Lauren - How to Break Through a Plateau New Franck Sonata videos from Matthew McDonald 30th Anniversary of Bradetich Master Classes le...

I had a great time chatting with Daniel Kimbro for today's episode. Daniel is a member of the Jerry Douglas Band and regularly collaborates with Martin Harley. His bio is a who's who in the world of traditional music. We cover a wide array of topics, including: growing up in East Tennessee in a very musical family his family bluegrass band playing venues like Cumberland Gap and Horton Store some o...

Stories covered: Audition Breakthrough Summit takes place March 15 use code 'contrabass20' for $20 off any pass speakers include Ira Gold Remic 5400 and 5400LB review by Adam Booker Rentabass.com - find a bass, list a bass Michael O'Gieblyn Flex Tux review Thanks to our sponsors! This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings ! Check out their Helicore strings , which are are designed, engine...

It was such a pleasure to sit down and chat with John Feeney for this episode. As principal double bass of the American Classical Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, John has created an extraordinary career for himself.  We cover all kinds of topics, like: how gut strings in a section coexist well with steel and plastic strings that intonation is one of John's favorite things about period g...

Stories covered: BASS2018 in Lucca July 30 - August 5, 2018 Gabrielle Raggianti and Alberto Bocini will organize  International Society of Bassists Convention registration now open New video for Maverick - Simply Three 's first original song Ira Gold summer camps Paul Cannon video Thanks to our sponsors! This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings ! Check out their Helicore strings , which...

Andrew Hitz and I go way back.  Not only did we both attend Northwestern University together, but we actually lived in the same arts dorm!  In fact, I remember Andrew playing tuba in the great room for performance night. We reconnected last year when I discovered his wonderful podcast The Entrepreneurial Musician .  He had me on as a guest in the fall , and I'm thrilled to have him on my podcast t...

Marcos Machado  is in the middle of launching his excellent and fascinating series Tao of Bass .  I saw this book pop up in my Facebook feed in the fall, and I got in touch with Marcos to do an interview about this project. We dig into topics like: how 20 years of scratching his head about bass technique led to this series why he settled on Tao of Bass for a title the wild mix of pedagogical style...

The 2017 Concorso Bottesini competition will take place April 18-24.   Enrico Fagone  and Francisco Donati  chat with Jason about the details surrounding this event. The jury members for this event are: Salvatore Accardo Thierry Barbé (previous podcast guest) Jeff Bradetich (previous podcast guest) Enrico Fagone (previous podcast guest) Eugene Levinson Dorin Marc Franco Petracchi Be sure to check...

Enrico Fagone teaches and performs in Lugano, Switzerland near the Italian border. He's also incredibly active as a soloist and master class teacher. Enrico's musical journey has continued to evolve in exciting ways throughout his career, and we dig into topics like: switching to German bow becoming deeply involved with yoga and meditation how becoming a father changed his world view Japanese audi...

The first-ever Audition Breakthrough Summit will start on March 15, 2017.   I sat down with event organizer Will Timmons  of mockauditions.com  to chat about all the details. Join former podcast guest and National Symphony bassist Ira Gold , Dr. Noa Kageyama of The Bulletproof Musician , Colin Williams of the New York Philharmonic, and several others for this unique and powerful event. We have a s...

I first met Patrick Neher when I was an 18-year-old student at Northwestern University, and I've followed along with his career ever since.   Honestly, I can't believe that it has taken me this long to interview him for the podcast! After teaching at the University of Arizona for 28 years, Patrick has relocated to Bellingham, Washington.  He is immersed in composing new works... including two new...

Sometimes I get a guest recommendation repeatedly, which is a sure sign that I need to sit down with them and do an interview. This is completely  the case with Tracy Rowell .   Tracy is an active performer and teacher in the Cleveland area. Formerly the Assistant Principal Bassist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Tracy currently serves as Principal Bass for CityMusic Cleve...

Emilio Guarino has just launched a Kicksarter campaign for his chromatic.  Support has been great so far, but clock is ticking, so be sure to check out the campaign and pre-order or pledge your support! Check out Emilio's full Contrabass Conversations interview  if you haven't--it was a great conversation!

Originally from Ireland, Bernard O'Neill has been a bassist, arranger, and educator for over 30 years. He works regularly with Sinead O'Connor and Rufus Wainwright, and he recently put out a project called Syriana: The Road to Damascus . We cover a wide range of topics, including: how double bass has actually been in Middle Eastern music for a long time how North African orchestras always had doub...

It was a ton of fun to sit down with Clarineat podcast host Sean Perrin!  Sean is a fellow music podcaster and just hit his one-year anniversary of podcasting, and we got a chance to sit down and dig into what he has learned in the process. We talk about: formulating good questions doing research booking guests keeping the flow of conversation going where he sees the podcast going in the future Su...

Today's episode features Ted Botsford.  Ted is currently a bassist in the Seattle Symphony and just won a position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  Ted played in the Oregon Symphony prior to joining the Seattle Symphony. Ted studied with George Vance while growing up in the Washington, D.C. area and continued his studies with Paul Ellison in college. We talk about all sorts of topics, including:...

I had the chance to sit down with John Beder and Katie DeRoche to chat about their new documentary Composed , which tackles the topic of performance anxiety. John and Katie are on a tour screening the movie in various cities.  Check out their tour dates , and if it's not playing near you then contact them to see if you can help arrange a screening! Links to check out: Composed trailer video versio...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Quote of the Week Matthew McDonald News of the Week Acoustic Image amp giveaway from Discover Double Bass Paul Cannon's video "What it's like to rehearse with Ensemble Modern" John Schimek co...

I had a wonderful time chatting with Detroit Symphony principal bassist Kevin Brown .  Kevin studied with Peter Lloyd , Paul Ellison , and David Allen Moore  prior to his appointment with the Detroit Symphony and also won the 2009 International Society of Bassists  Orchestral Competition. We dig deep into a number of topics: growing up in Minnesota and starting the bass at age 3 studying with Pete...

I have had a great time following along with  Eric Steffens  and his remarkable career over the years. Starting off at Eastman studying with James VandeMark and then heading to Vienna to work with Alois Posch in Vienna, Eric won a position in 2012 as principal bass of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen . What's extra-cool to me is that Eric was my very first serious bass student.  We worked together in...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Quote of the Week Hans Sturm Link of the Week Annotated Chamber Music List from Jeremy-Kurtz-Harris list includes recommendations from Kurt Muroki , Scott Pingel , Volkan Orhon , and Jeff Wei...