Contrabass Conversations

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features the conclusion of our chat with Minnesota Orchestra bassist Colin Corner.  Colin joined the orchestra in 2006 after being a member of the Vancouver Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic.  In this episode we discuss the process of taking an audition for an ensemble like the Minnesota Orchestra--the various rounds, screen (or lack thereof), and rep...

This week's Contrabass Conversations Episode features the second part of our interview with Chicago Symphony bassist Rob Kassinger. Last time we heard from Rob (on episode 25 ), we talked about his early years on the bass, growing up in Colorado, playing jazz and electric bass, studying the instrument, and studying with Homer Mensch in New York City. This episode, we talk about Rob's time in the N...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features the conclusion of our interview with double bassist Michael Hovnanian. Click here to listen to Michael's previous episodes (CBC 24 and 29).  Michael has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1989, and he serves as the president of Discordia Music (double bass music publisher). Michael also plays for the Gunnelpumpers , Chicago B...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode concludes our chat with Time for Three bassist Ranaan Meyer. CBC guest and co-host John Grillo joins us in this interview, and the three of us had a very engaging conversation. You can check out the first part of our interview plus CBC video episodes featuring Ranaan on his Contrabass Conversations page here , and visit Time for Three's website at www.t...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an in-depth analysis of the double bass orchestral excerpts most commonly requested at auditions.  Double bassist (and regular Contrabass Conversations guest and ho-host) John Grillo discusses each of these excerpts--stylistic considerations, differences in articulation and bow strokes, and suggestions for effectively learning them--and then pe...

An active composer, Dr. Donovan Stokes is a specialist in the use of amplified and electronically manipulated double bass and has received recent commissions from the Young Bassist's Division of the International Society of Bassists, Musical Arts Society of Chicago and the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. His recent Titanium Jr. for intermediate level bass and string orchestra was premiered in May of...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with Chicago-based double bassist and electric bassist Scott Rosenthal. Scott is one of the major players for the Chicago theater scene, having performed in a huge number of productions such as The Producers, Ragtime, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and Showboat. We also feature Italian bass...

A mainstay of the Chicago music scene for more than thirty years, Eric Hochberg has lent his bass work, both upright and electric, and an occasional trumpet, keyboard and vocal lick to a variety of projects across the realms of jazz, folk, rock and blues. He has performed and/or recorded with the likes of Terry Callier, Pharoah Sanders, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Steve Kuhn, Barbra St...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with Chicago Symphony bassist Brad Opland. In addition to the interview, you'll get a chance to hear Brad perform on the double bass in his own arrangement of Ibert's Quatre Causons (four songs) de Don Quichotte for bassoon and bass and hear Brad perform on the electric bass in his south side Chicago church. Enjoy! About Brad Born...

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.

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...

Colin Corner was appointed Principal Bass of Atlanta Symphony in 2015, after playing in the same position with the Rochester Philharmonic for seven seasons. He previously played with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic. He received first place in the 2003 ISB Orchestral Competition, which led to a one week internship with the Detroit Symphony, and he rece...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features the second half of our interview with double bassist Guy Tuneh, conducted over a distance of thousands of miles. It was a real pleasure to get to sit down and chat with Guy--he's a warm, intelligent, and passionate individual, and these traits come through in his speaking just like they do in his bass playing. You can visit him online at www.gu...

This week on Contrabass Conversations we bring you an interview with string teacher and double bassist Peter Tambroni. Peter has written a book titled An Introduction to Double Bass Playing , and he has many valuable ideas regarding double bass pedagogy. Arizona bassist Robert Matheson is also featured on this episode. Enjoy! About Peter Peter began playing the double bass at the age of 16 (after...

This week we are wrapping up our interview with double bass virtuoso François Rabbath. You can hear the previous sections of this interview on episode 16 and episode 22 of the podcast. We will also be featuring in interesting new twist in Contrabass Conversations interviews today—the Lyric Opera's Andy Anderson (a regular collaborator on the podcast) will be discussing one piece in depth and offer...

Guy D. Tuneh dedicates his work to challenging the traditional role of the bass player, and to stretching the limits of bass-playing. Beyond approaching the double bass literature from a new direction, these goals are achieved by performing music which until now was considered impossible to perform on this instrument. For example, he was the first bass player to ever perform an un-transcribed vers...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with double bassist Michael Hovnanian. Michael has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1989, and he serves as the president of Discordia Music (double bass music publisher). Michael also plays for the Gunnelpumpers , Chicago Bass Ensemble , Music of the Baroque , and the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra . He authors th...

This week's Contrabass Conversations podcast features the first part of our interview with double bassist Ranaan Meyer. John Grillo (a frequent guest and collaborator on the podcast) and I co-interviewed Ranaan, who is the bassist for the band Time for Three and has had a very interesting and multi-faceted career. In addition to hearing a few musical excerpts from Time for Three, this episode feat...

This week's episode features the conclusion of our interview with 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 th...

It is my pleasure to bring you this great interview with Pittsburgh Symphony principal bassist Jeff Turner for this week's episode of Contrabass Conversations. Jeff has excellent advice for musicians, and he reflects on his early years on the instrument in this very engaging interview. You will also be hearing a double bass feature from the Lascivious Biddies on this episode. Enjoy! About Jeff Jef...

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with and music from Chicago Symphony bassist Rob Kassinger. Rob's musical interests span many genres and include both the electric bass and the double bass. You will learn about Rob's early years on the bass and how working in jazz and rock settings led to an interest in orchestral double bass playing in this fascinating interview....

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with double bassist Michael Hovnanian. Michael has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1989, and he serves as the president of Discordia Music (double bass music publisher). Michael also plays for the Gunnelpumpers , Chicago Bass Ensemble , Music of the Baroque , and the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra . He authors th...

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...

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...

A mainstay of the Chicago music scene for more than thirty years, Eric Hochberg has lent his bass work, both upright and electric, and an occasional trumpet, keyboard and vocal lick to a variety of projects across the realms of jazz, folk, rock and blues. He has performed and/or recorded with the likes of Terry Callier, Pharoah Sanders, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Steve Kuhn, Barbra St...