NEWS OF NOTE
Nate West, second prize winner in the Age 15-18 division of the 2007 ISB Double Bass Competition, has been invited to perform on National Public Radio's "From the Top." He will be perform Frank Proto's Carmen Fantasy with the show's host Christopher O'Riley at the piano, Charles Washington's Midnight Child with the trio Reiziger (Eric Gratz, violin, Stephanie Price, viola, and Nate on double bass). The show will be held at the McCoy Community Center for the Arts in New Albany, Ohio, Friday April 18th at 8 PM.
Renaud Garcia-Fons will tour Canada with his trio in summer, '08. Confirmed dates so far include: June 22 - Toronto Jazz Festival; June 23 - Ottawa International Jazz Festival; June 25 or 26 - Victoria (JazzFest International); June 27 and 28 - Vancouver International Jazz Festival; June 29 - Calgary Jazz Festival; and June 30 or July 2 - Montreal Jazz Festival.
Go to http://danouellette.artistshare.com for updates on DownBeat writer Dan Ouellette's authorized Ron Carter biography project, a first-of-its-kind, a traditional book-in-print enriched by a website that offers a host of online experiences. Dan has uploaded three new podcasts on the RADIO section of the Web site: (1) Ron talking about using pedal tones in Miles Davis' quintet, (2) Ron talking about how he might have saved Miles' life once---based on a story Wayne Shorter told me, and (3) pianist Kenny Barron talking about Ron. Available for purchase exclusively online, the biography - a living document of Ron's life and career.
Florian Pertzborn has launched the DAP Project - Developing the Ability to Perform on the Double Bass - at the Research Centre of Performing Arts (CITAR) at Catholic University of Porto, Portugal. The survey project is supervised by the University of London, and will collect data from the largest possible international population of double bassists. Bass classes and their professors from around the world will be contacted in the following weeks and asked to participate. For more information go to the DAP Project website, www.dap.ontoo.de.
The ISB is also surveying its membership regarding the technology our members use and their preferences for receiving information, as part of a strategic plan for serving ISB members now and in the future. Please take a few minutes to complete this confidential survey by going to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=hWFTJ521gsiPYf8AuD_2fgLA_3d_3d. The deadline to respond is March 31, 2008. Results will be posted in a future E-Bass Line.
David Gage String Instruments will present a workshop with Francois Rabbath on March 3rd, Jim Stinnett on March 26th, and Tim Cobb, principal bass with the Metropolitan Opera, on April 29th, at 36 Walker Street, New York, NY. Tickets are now on sale and are priced at $20, $15 for students and seniors. Mike's Master Classes (www.mikesmasterclasses.com) will be streaming many events in The Workshop Series at David Gage String Instruments.
ISB member Matt Hare will perform Bottesini's Allegro di Concerto "Alla Mendelssohn" with the Southwest Symphony in Hobbs, New Mexico on March 9th. This will be the first performance of a new, full orchestration, done by Hare. It features the same instrumentation as the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, allowing the orchestration of the Bottesini to parallel that of the Mendelssohn. Hare will also perform Bottesini's Introduzione e Gavotta on the same program.
Go to www.vimpvideo.com to order a DVD of the 2007 ISB convention at Oklahoma City University. The DVD includes interviews, sights and sounds of the largest ISB convention ever, plus performance clip extras and more.
Andrew Kohn is collecting the writings of Theron McClure with hopes of publication. If you have any copies of Ohio Bass Notes, please contact him at Andrew.Kohn@mail.wvu.edu or by phone at 412-621-3758.
COMPETITIONS, MASTERCLASSES, WORKSHOPS AND FESTIVALS
The first annual Arizona Bass Players Festival and Workshop will be held March 6-9, 2008, at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, co-sponsored by the ASU School of Music, the University Of Arizona School Of Music, and the Northern Arizona University School of Music. Featured guest artists will include Catalin Rotaru, Patrick Neher, Joel DiBartolo, Rufus Reid, Robert Kassinger and Miloslav Jelinek. Robertson and Sons Violin Shop of Albuquerque, NM, is sponsoring a competition for bassists' ages 16 to 22 years, and donating an instrument as first prize. For more information go to www.arizonabassplayers.org.
The festival "Kontrabass-Kaleidoskop" (Double Bass Kaleidoscope) in Michaelstein, Germany, will be held March 10-15, 2008, Silvio Dalla Torre, artistic director. The festival faculty includes Rinat Ibragimov (London), Stephan Petzold (Berlin), François Rabbath (Paris), Hans Roelofsen (Amsterdam), Radoslav Sasina (Bratislava), David Sinclair (Basel); and the musician and psychologist Andreas Burzik (Bremen) will lecture on "Practicing in Flow." Berlin's "Ensemble Concertare" will accompany participants. For more information go to www.kontrabass-kaleidoskop.de.
The 5th Biennial Hawaii Contrabass Festival will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, March 23-31, 2008. Guest artists will include Hal Robinson, John Clayton, Mark Dresser, Jeffrey Beecher, Sprocket Royer, David Gage, and George Rubino. For information go to www.hawaiicbfest.org.
The ¡Viva el Bajo! South Texas Double Bass Masterclass will be held at the University of Texas Pan American in Edinburg, TX, March 29-30. Event organizer George Amorim has invited guest artist Jeff Bradetich to teach masterclasses, lead a teachers training session, and perform a solo recital on Saturday evening. The two-day event will also include: a Young Bassist session taught by Sonia Ray; solo and orchestral masterclasses; private lessons for selected students; solo adjudication; a workshop for school teachers; and a performance by the Pan American Double Bass Ensemble. For information email gamorim@utpa.edu or call 956/292-7490.
The 2008 Bass Encounters event, sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, takes place in Vienna, Austria, April 17-19. This is the fourth festival since 2001. A series of concerts and workshops will be presented by the following artists: Duncan McTier, Wayne Darling, Georg Breinschmid, Avishai Cohen, Dean Ferrell, Bass Instinct, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Franco Petracchi, Joel Quarrington and Eddie Gomez. The venue is the Porgy and Bess Club in Vienna. For more information, email bass-encounters@thomastik-infeld.com. For a list of hotels in Vienna, go to www.wien.at.
The 38th Annual University of Northern California/Greeley Jazz Festival, April 24-26, 2008, will feature presents its first National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Night, featuring NEA Jazz Masters bass/guitar duo Ron Carter and Jim Hall. Ticket sales begin December 1; call 1-800-315-2787 or 970-356-5000, or go to www.ucstars.com. For more information go to www.uncjazz.com or call 970-351-2394.
Mark your calendars for April 27, 2008, and the Pittsburgh Bass Symposium at Duquesne University, with guest artists Hal Robinson, Paul Ellison, Max Dimoff and Rob Nairn, and Duquesne faculty members Jeff Turner, Jeff Mangone and Micah Howard. Sponsor/exhibitors include Bob's House of Basses, Shank's Strings, George Rubino, bow maker, and luthier Michael Magee. For more information email Micah Howard at micahbhoward@comcast.net.
Double bass studies at Ottawa Suzuki Strings "Sound Encounters" music camp in Ottawa, Kansas, June 11-20, 2008, will featured guest artist Harold Robinson, principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Also on the faculty will be Dennis Whittaker, principal bass with the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and instructor at the University of Houston, and bass instructor Kristi Knecht from Kansas City. Go to www.ottawasuzukistrings.org or contact Dennis Whittaker, (713) 743-3379.
The 21st Annual Jeff Bradetich Master Classes, June 9-13, offers a concentrated week of classical training for aspiring bassists including lots of technique, solo classes, orchestral study and ensembles. In addition, the 8th Annual Beginners and Intermediate Bass Camp is offered June 11-13 with Jack Unzicker and Jessica Gilliam-Valls. The Elite Soloists Program, June 2-6, accepts five participants by audition to receive one lesson every day and play in four solo master classes during the week. For information go to www.music.unt.edu/workshops.
Free tuition, room and board are available to bassists accepted for the WABASS Institute for the 21st Century Bass Player, June 22-29, 2008, in Wabash, Indiana. Faculty members include Hal Robinson, Ranaan Meyer and Eric Larson. Send your 10-minute DVD audition by March 31, 2008 with material of your choosing. From jazz to excerpts and concertos, pick your best 10 minutes and send it in! Anything goes! For information go to www.wabass.com, or email wabasscamp@yahoo.com.
The 15th Annual Hammond Ashley Memorial Double Bass Workshop will be held June 23- 27 at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, offering advanced classes with Max Dimoff, principal bass of the Cleveland Orchestra and Jeff Bradetich. Beginner, intermediate and adult classes are taught by Todd Gowers, Ben Musa and Miriam Chong. Contact Todd Gowers at toddgowers@wwdb.org
The 3rd Mittenwald International Masterclass with Jeff Bradetich is scheduled for August 4-9, 2008. Come to the historical town of Mittenwald, Germany, hometown of Pöllmann double basses and Mike and Ralph Krahmer. Guest instructors include Timothy Dunin and Andreas Bennetzen, artistic director. For more information contact Andreas Bennetzen at info@dynamobass.dk, or go to www.music.unt.edu/mittenwald.
The third World Bass Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, Irena Olkiewicz, director, is scheduled for August 10-17, 2008. Mark your calendars and go to http://www.doublebass.vel.pl/wratislaviaeng.php for more details. The International Performers' Competition, hosted by the Czech Society of Bassists and the Brno International Music Festival, will be held September 14-20, 2008 in Brno, Czech Republic. For information and application go to www.mhf-brno.cz/mis/en/, or email jelinekmilos@volny.cz.
The 5th International Double Bass Competition "Johann Matthias Sperger" will be held at Ludwigslust, Germany, September 29 - October 5, 2008. Applications due August 15, 2008. For more information contact artistic director Klaus Trump, info@klaus-trumpf-sperger.de, or go to www.spergergesellschaft.de.
ABCDF, The French Bass and Double Bass Society, will hold the second-ever International Bass Symposium at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris (www.CNSMDP.fr), October 30 through November 2, 2008. The symposium will include competitions for solo, orchestra, jazz and contemporary music, plus four divisions for young bassists; concerts in all styles from classical to jazz featuring internationally known guest artists playing double bass and electric bass; an exhibition hall; and much more. To view Thierry Barbe's report on the 2007 ISB convention and his invitation to Paris '08, go to http://www.contrebasse.com/en/auditions/index.html.
ON SALE NOW
Go to http://www.isbworldoffice.com/isb_shop/merchandise.html to purchase the new orchestra tuning version of Paul Ramsier's "Divertimento Concertante on a Theme of Couperin," and the new double bass piano reduction of Peter Askim's "Islands" Concerto (solo and orchestra tunings available). Order either online, or by printing out and mailing in the downloadable order form.
More CDs, posters, and videos on sale at www.ISBworldoffice.com. Looking to sell your bass, bow, or CD? Use ISB Classifieds to help sell it! Check out the ISB website (click "Shop" on the toolbar) for more information!
Mark your calendars for the 2009 ISB convention, June 8 through 13, 2009 at Penn State! |
