Contrabass Conversations

Drew Banzhaf won the audition for Associate Principal Bass Malmö Symphony in 2023. He spent three years as a guest musician of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has regularly appeared with renowned orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. Drew was also a New World Symphony Fellow for three seasons and is a graduate of Indiana University and Rice University.

We dig into Drew's background, his decade spent taking 36 professional auditions, lessons learned along the journey, and much more. Enjoy!

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Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Gregg August is a New York double bassist who successfully balances careers in classical and jazz music, as well as composition. He is member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Associate), the American Composers Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke's. He is also an active composer and performer in avant-garde, jazz and Latin jazz worlds.

We talk about his background, how he balances these multiple disciplines, his 2020 project "Dialogues on Race," his experience with the innovative "Bang on a Can" summer festival, and much more. Enjoy, and be sure to check out Gregg's website to learn more about his exceptional work!

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Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Greek bassist Kostas Patsiotis recently released his solo debut album October, which was recorded in a single day at Antart Studios in Athens and features Yiannis Papadopoulos on piano, Michael Tsiftis on guitar and Dimitris Klonis on drums.

We talk about what it's like being a jazz bassist in Greece, how Kostas got into bass playing, his gear, what it was like recording this album, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out October and also follow along with Kostas on his website, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram!

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• all things double bass
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Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Jesse Dietschi recently released Gradient, his debut album with fellow Toronto musicians Ethan Ardelli (drums) and Ewen Farncombe (piano). This album has been getting considerable acclaim and will be featured in the Debut Album Reviews section of the December 2023 edition of DownBeat Magazine, along with numerous radio programs throughout North America and Europe.

We talk about the story behind this album, how Jesse and I met several years ago at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference, what it's like balancing classical work like subbing with the Toronto Symphony with his jazz projects, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out October on Spotify and bandcamp, and be sure to follow along with Jesse on his website and Instagram!

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Connect with us:

• all things double bass
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• double bass sheet music

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Technical Sergeant Joseph Whitt is the bassist for the United States Air Force Band of the Pacific in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to joining the Band of the Pacific, he was stationed at the United States Air Force Band of Flight, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and at the United States Air Forces in Europe Band at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

We dig into a variety of topics, including:

• the USAF Band mission
• the USAF audition process and preparation
• military lifestyle, service, and overseas experience
• benefits, education, training
• professional development
• double/electric bass cross-over

Enjoy, and you can learn more about a career in The United States Air Force Band here.

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• all things double bass
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Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Marty Isenberg recently released his debut album "The Way I Feel Inside" - Inspired by the films of Wes Anderson, and it has been getting great press. In this interview, we chat with Marty about his life in music, his career as a jazz bassist, the inspiration for this album, and much more. We also bring up a great interview that Marty also did for the Bass Shed.

Check out this super cool album on bandcamp and Spotify, and follow along with Marty and his projects on Instagram and his website!

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Connect with us:

• all things double bass
• double bass merch
• double bass sheet music

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Phoebe Russell is Principal Bass for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She recently released a course on Discover Double Bass titled Smash Your Audition.

We released a YouTube video digging into this course, and in this podcast we cover Phoebe's tips for preparing orchestral excerpts, what it was like to put all of her knowledge into a video course, general life updates, and more.

Check out Phoebe's 2019 podcast appearance here, and be sure to check out her awesome course here!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Connect with us:

• all things double bass
• double bass merch
• double bass sheet music

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Bobby Scharmann is Associate Principal Bass with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra and has been documenting his audition journey and what he has learned through the 24 professional orchestra auditions he took.

We last had Bobby on the podcast in 2020, and it was great to catch up with him and dig into his preparation process and what it was like landing his full-time orchestral position. Enjoy, and be sure to check out Bobby's website, Instagram, and YouTube Channel!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Connect with us:

• all things double bass
• double bass merch
• double bass sheet music

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Lorraine Chai is the author of Stringstastic, a set of music theory books for double bass and the other string instruments. We talk about these cool books, both of which are available through Amazon. Enjoy!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Connect with us:

• all things double bass
• double bass merch
• double bass sheet music

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

Dorico - Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad's subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don't want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!

• theme music by Eric Hochberg

Susan Hagen is a Boston native and is extremely active in that city's musical scene. She serves as principal double bassist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, teaches bass at the Berklee College of Music, and is a regular substitute in the Boston Symphony.

She recently updated her remarkable book BASSics of Bass, and we dig into this and much more. Enjoy, and be sure to check her 2023 August Recital for some inspiring bass playing!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Connect with us:

• all things double bass
• double bass merch
• double bass sheet music

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university.

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city's ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah's website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

Dorico - Unlock Dorico for iPad – For Life! Want to enjoy all of Dorico for iPad's subscription-only features – including support for unlimited players, freehand annotations in Read mode with Apple Pencil, support for third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, and much more – but don't want to pay a monthly or annual fee? Dorico for iPad now provides a lifetime unlock option, so you can access all current and future subscription-only features for a single, one-off in-app purchase. Visit the App Store today and unlock Dorico for iPad for life!

• theme music by Eric Hochberg