Contrabass Conversations double bass life

I had a great time chatting with Gareth Montanarello, who recently released a cool new service at orchestralrentals.com.  Orchestral Rentals is a community that makes it easy for musicians to rent high-quality, professional-level instruments anywhere in the world. Gareth is an International Society of Bassists member who lives in Arizona, and it’s great to see this exciting new development toward making bass travel an easier process! 

562 - Women in bass with Megan McDevitt

This episode is a rebroadcast of one of those astoundingly complex projects that I love digging into!  We’re featuring questions from double bass student Baylee Brown (still a high school student at the time of this recording and now a student at Boston University), which are answered by 27 noted double bass faculty members.  This idea was suggested by University of Texas at Arlington bass faculty member Jack Unzicker, who help design and execute this project.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a mock audition for the San Francisco Academy Orchestra.  This program, led by conductor and bassist Andrei Gorbatenko, offers a one-year artist diploma and features an academy orchestra, weekly lessons, monthly auditions, and more.   In addition to chatting with audition coordinator Joy Fellows about audition techniques, we chat with Andrei Gorbatenko, current academy bassists Michael Minor and Yu Chen Liu, and violin faculty David Chernyavsky.

We were thrilled to have Dr. Don Greene back as our guest on the podcast.  Don first appeared on the show in 2017–his first podcast appearance ever!  Don is a performance coach with an amazing track record in music music, sports, and other specialties.  Over 1000 musicians won auditions after working with Don, and he continues to expand into new projects.

Today, we’re featuring San Francisco Symphony bassist Brian Marcus, who has been a member of the orchestra for 38 seasons.  Brian overcame a serious playing injury several years ago through the Feldenkrais Method, and his discovery of this method transformed his approach to bass, music, and other aspects of his life. We dig into the hows and whys of Feldenkrais, how it changed Brian’s approach to the instrument, staying healthy and inspired as you age, Brian’s love of improv, and much more...

Today, we’re featuring Ralph Alcala, who has recently moved into building basses full-time.  Ralph is a super-talented luthier.  Check out past podcast guest Aaron Olguin playing Ralph’s fourth double bass to hear these beautiful bass cannons that Ralph’s building. Ralph has actually been on the podcast before as a part of our Luthier Roundtable at this summer’s Oberlin Bass Workshop for the Violin Society of America. 

Aaron Olguin is truly one of the rising stars in the double bass world.  As the winner of the 2017 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition, Aaron will be playing the opening recital for the 2019 ISB Convention.  He is also the new principal bassist for the Trondheim Symfoniorkester. I had a wonderful time hanging out with Aaron at the 2018 Latin American Bass Festival.  He is a truly magnificent solo player, and I had a blast performing Dani Chiva’s bass duets with him!

Today’s episode features the following past podcast guests on the topic of recital preparation: Sam Suggs - James Madison University Diego Zecharies - Galicia Symphony Orchestra principal solo bass David Grossman - New York Philharmonic Marek Romanowski - Polish soloist and teacher Jack Unzicker - University of Texas at Arlington Listen to more “best of” episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights.

Today’s episode features the following past podcast guests on life in the bass section and how to play well in it: Susan Wulff - San Diego Symphony Todd Coolman - Indiana University Michael Hovnanian - Chicago Symphony Brent Edmondson - substitute bassist for Philadelphia Orchestra Tom Zera - Utah Symphony Listen to more “best of” episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights.

Today’s episode features the following past podcast guests on the role of musicality and technique: Mark Dresser - University of San Diego David Murray - Butler University Michael Klinghoffer - Conservatory Orchestra at JAMD Todd Coolman - Indiana University Miles Mosley - jazz artist Listen to more “best of” episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights.

Today’s episode features the following past podcast guests on the role of the principal bassist in an orchestra: Alex Hanna - Chicago Symphony Orchestra Ju-Fang Liu - Indianapolis Symphony Chris Hanulik - LA Phil Colin Corner - Oregon Symphony and Grant Park Symphony Orchestra Orin O’Brien - New York Philharmonic Listen to more “best of” episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights.

I had the chance to chat recently with Denis Chang, who has produced a new four-part double bass course featuring Gary Karr!  This course rocks.  I’ve been using it for my own playing and with my students with great results. 

I also had the opportunity to spend some time with Cleveland Orchestra bassist and Cleveland Institute of Music Strings Chair Scott Dixon during this recent trip.  Scott has been on my “to interview” list for nearly a decade, and we finally made it happen!  We cover what it was like growing up in Idaho, driving to Spokane for lessons, “ah ha” moments, rebuilding his entire way of playing bass while at the New World Symphony, what it’s like playing in the Cleveland Orchestra, and much more.

I had been chatting with bass luthier legend Arnold Schnitzer.  Arnold mentioned that he was going to be meeting Bradley Lovelace, who was in Cleveland that week playing Les Miserables. Brad and I sit down and chat about his career, how he made his way from Arizona to New York City, the sequence of events that led to him playing musicals, life on the road, staying in musical and physical shape, keeping inspired, and much more.