Contrabass Conversations

This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with Suzuki Bass School pioneer, pedagogue, and teacher trainer Virginia Dixon. Virginia shares her years of experience performing and teaching the double bass, highlights unique aspects of the Suzuki bass method, and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career as a double bass teacher.

We also feature music from electric bassist Ben Torrey on this episode. Ben specializes in performing classical music on the electric bass. Check out his video tutorials, downloadable tracks, and more at www.bentorrey.com:2112/blog.

Enjoy!

This Contrabass Conversations special series is made possible by the Chicago Chamber Musicians and Brad Opland. This episode features music for cello and bass by Haydn and Rossini performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians Brad Opland and Gary Stucka. They perform the Haydn Divertimento in D Major and the Rossini Duetto on this installment. This performance was recorded live in 2004. Exploring Chamber Music is a multi-part series highlighting world class performances of chamber music featuring the double bass.

Sometimes bad things happen on gigs...like this.

This interview-only Contrabass Conversations episode features the conclusion of our interview with Indiana University double bass professor Lawrence Hurst, whom we interviewed on episodes 20 and 23 of the podcast.

About Lawrence Hurst

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 former director of the University Division of the National Music Camp and is a summer faculty member of the Interlochen Arts Camp. He is past chair of the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition, and past president of the International Society of Bassists. His former students can be found in many prestigious orchestras, including Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Atlanta. He has chaired the Indiana University Strings Department for the past 19 years and has been on faculty at Interlochen for the past 40 years.

This week, we bring listeners a very entertaining and interesting interview with Justin Locke, author of Real Men Don't Rehearse, a book filled with wonderful anecdotes about his life in the music business. Justin was a freelance double bassist in the Boston area for nearly two decades, working regularly during that time with the Boston Pops and other area ensembles. Learn more about Justin at www.justinlocke.com.

We also bring you a track from Italian bassist and composer Alessandro Ceccangeli titled In Ludere. Learn more about this excellent bassist at www.myspace.com/alessandroceccangeli. Enjoy!

Check out this beautiful bass by Heartland String Bass Shop owner and instrument maker Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand.

This week's Contrabass Conversations Episode features the second part of our interview with double bassist Donovan Stokes. We last spoke with Donovan on episode 40 of the show, discussing his early years on the instrument, his experiences attending various universities, and his former and current double basses. This week, we continue our discussion about instruments and delve into Donovan's compositional process, practice techniques, and advice on how to get the most out of studying with a private teacher.

Learn more about Donovan at www.donovanstokes.com. Enjoy!

Former International Society of Bassists President and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bass Professor Hans Sturm and I got together recently and filmed a chat about the Rabbath left hand position technique. This final segment of our chat covers more general mental approaches to practicing the double bass.

This week's Contrabass Conversations Episode features the second part of our interview with double bassist Brad Opland. Last time we heard from Brad (on episode 37), we talked about his experiences in the Minnesota Orchestra and Chicago Symphony, plus some of the most memorable highlights from Brad's performing career. This episode we discuss Brad's experiences performing with the Berlin Philharmonic plus performing with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and some general advice for bassists.

We also hear from University of Oregon double bass instructor Tyler Abbott and the Toby Koenigsberg Trio.

Enjoy!

Sometimes things catch fire and explode.