Isaac Trapkus joined the New York Philharmonic in November 2016. Before joining the Philharmonic he was a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and, before that, principal double bass of the New Haven Symphony while he was studying with Leigh Mesh, associate principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.  Isaac also volunteers as a designer and administrator with IMSLP, the online sheet music library.

We talk about many topics, including Isaac’s background, the auditon trail, and personal breakthroughs in his preparation process.  We also dig into thoughts surrounding music education, volunteerism, digital publishing, and access to educational materials.  Be sure to check out his IMSLP profile page and also Thingy Person, who is Isaac’s “best kept secrets” in IMSLP bass publishing.  If you’d like to get involved with IMSLP, you can reach out to Isaac at [email protected].  

 

Isaac also recently created an edition of Bach’s Third Cello Suite—check it out here on our sheet music store!

 

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Check out my Beginner's Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

 

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

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Contrabass Conversations production team:

• Jason Heath, host
• Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
• Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
• Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
• theme music by Eric Hochberg