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Lisa Riddering, Editor                                                     November 2010 ISB E-Newsletter

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IN THIS ISSUE
Passages
On Sale Now
News of Note
Upcoming Events
Festivals, Competitions & Auditions
Music Bringing Us Together
Benefitting the ISB
PASSAGES

Read Frank Proto's appreciation of his friend and frequent collaborator, the late conductor David Stahl and friend of the bass. Stahl was on the podium for recordings of many of Proto's popular works for double bass and orchestra, including Fantasy for Double Bass and Orchestra and his Carmen Fantasy.

ISB member Kazuo Okuda died on September 12, 2010 from injuries sustained in a mountain biking accident in Kobe, Japan. He was 57 years old. He earned under-graduate and graduate degrees from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He was a student of Toshio Miyazawa, Asahiko Eguchi, Seiichi Imamura, Guenter Klaus and Franco Petracchi. In 1978 he received a scholarship to the Deutscher Academischer Austaush-Dienst (DAAD Germany). Winner of the ATAKA prize in 1974, he was also a semifinalist at the International Music Competition in Munich in 1979 and winner of a special diploma at the Bucci International Music Concours in Roma the same year. He graduated from the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Wuerzburg, Germany in 1980, and received a scholarship and honors diploma from the Chisiana Summer Seminar in Siena, Italy. He served as principal bass with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (1975-1978), Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra (1980-1989), and, since 1989, the Osaka Century Orchestra. He was professor of bass at the Osaka University of Arts, and taught at Soai University in Osaka , the Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts, and Yuhigaoka High School. An internationally known recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He founded the "Ensemble Quelle" in 1983. Many of his fellow ISB members will fondly remember his recital at the 2003 ISB convention at the University of Richmond, where he made many new friends and fans.

Make a donation in memory of ISB member Bob Bowen, who died on August 30, 2010 from injuries sustained in a bicycling accident,  that will benefit his children.
ON SALE NOW!
 
Order print music, CDs, DVDs and videos, convention t-shirts, posters, back issues of magazines and more at the www.ISBstore.com. 
 
 
Check out recent additions to the ISB Online Store! CDs, print music, books and more for sale by Scott LaFaro, Bad Boyz of Double Bass, Jeremy Kurtz, Lynn Seaton, Arni Egilsson, Robert Meyer, Diana Gannett, Jon Hamar, Peter Kowald, Richard Wilson, Murray Grodner, L'Orchestre de Contrabasses, Jean-Philippe Viret, Arni Egilsson, Jim Ferguson, Donovan Stokes, Mark Morton, Paul Erhard and Atmic Vision, Kristin Korb, David Murray, Peter Kowald, Volkan Orhon, Leon Bosch, Peter Dominguez, Robert Oppelt, Francesco Fraioli, Jon Hamar, Zbigniew Borowicz, Peter Askim, Tom Knific, John Harbison, Ben Taylor, Yoan Goilav, Randall Kertz, Sher Music, Stefano Sciascia, Buell Neidlinger, Bruce Gertz, Tuomo Haapala, Adrian Mann, Rufus Reid, Thomas Martin, Hans Sturm, Mark Urness, J.C. Jones, Joelle Leandre, Mark Dresser, Bert Turetzky, Barre Phillips, Paul Ramsier, John Dahlstrand, Ben Taylor, Thomas Gale, Terry Plumeri and The Gary Karr Store! New additions arriving every month!
 
News of Note

WARNING!!  There is a music lessons scam email going around, received by some members listed in our ISB email directory. They have been contacted by a person who wants to arrange for lessons for a child, since his family is going to be traveling to the U.S. The scammer will send a counterfeit check that is far more than the cost of lessons arranged. The scammer will then ask the intended scam victim to send the overpayment back as a wire transfer or Western Union money order. The scammer might even been as bold as to be in touch with intended victims by telephone. To learn more about and/or to report a scam email, go to http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams/e-scams.

To watch and listen to the modern world premiere of Dragonetti's Concerto in D by double bassist John Feeney, performing with the American Classical Orchestra, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQN1kW6DOUI. The manuscript of this rousing and applause-worthy concerto was filed away in the British Library for 160 years and recently rediscovered by Feeney, along with other works by the composer.


Blake Hinson,third prize-winner of the solo division of the 2009 ISB Double Bass Competition, is the new principal bass of the Grand Rapids (MI) Symphony. Congratulations, Blake!

 

Wedding bells are ringing for ISB member Stefano Sciascia. Stefano and violist and artist Laura Menegozzo, whom many will remember meeting at past ISB conventions, will be married on December 4th in Udine, Italy, at the Palazzo d'Aronco. Felicitazioni! 

 

4th Beijing DB Competition 

Beijing Central Conservatory doctoral student Feng Zhou reports that the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China held its 4th Double Bass Competition, October 8-12, 2010. 26 participants from all over the country competed in two groups, ages 19 to 30 and age 18 and younger. Entrants played concerto and sonata repertoire by Bottesini, Dittersdorf, Koussevitzky, Vanhal, Misek and other composers. The jury included Rob Nairn (chair, U.S.), Daxun Zhang (U.S.), Xu Zhitong and Wei Baozheng. The director of the double bass teaching and research group at the Central Conservatory, Professor Chen Ziping, was in charge of the competition. Winners of the junior group were: 1st prize, Li Gengpei; 2nd prize, Wang Lingfeng; and 3rd prize, Guo Jingwan. The winners of the senior group were: 1st prize, Bayan Menghe and Cai Jieqi; 2nd prize, Zhang Tianshu; and 3rd prize, Li Lijun. Rob Nairn presented a recital to open the competition. During the competition week there were two more concerts with performances by the teachers and students of the Central Conservatory. Rob Nairn and Daxun Zhang held masterclasses after the competition. For more information go to http://www.basschina.com. 

 

David Murray and Richard Frederickson gave notable performances of Paul Ramsier's Divertimento Concertante in 2010. David Murray performed the work with the Indianapolis Philharmonic and at the Arizona Bass Festival during the same week in March.  Richard Frederickson's performance opened the seventh season of the Simon Sinfonietta in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in September.  

 

ISB member Gaelen McCormick, bassist with the Rochester (NY) Philharmonic and the chamber ensemble Gibbs & Main, is the new professor of double bass at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY.  To introduce her to the community, she performed the Vanhal concerto with the college orchestra on October 29th in the beautiful and historic Linehan Chapel.

 

ISB member Peter Paulsen received a two-week composition residency at Casa Zia Lina on the Isle of Elba, Italy from the Robert & Lina Thyll-Duerr Foundation. Peter used this golden opportunity to compose a new work for his wife, mezzo soprano Charlotte Paulsen. The result was a new song cycle, "The Wild Iris," settings of text by Louise Gluck scored for mezzo soprano, marimba, soprano saxophone and double bass.

 

ISB member Juan Pablo Navarro performed at Caf� Vinilo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month in support of his first CD, "Contratangos," original tango duos for bass with piano, guitar and bandoneon. www.myspace.com/juanpablonavarro

 

Domaine Forget 2010

Ali Yazdanfar, Etienne LaFrance, David Allen Moore, Nicholas Walker, Fran�ois Rabbath and Paul Ellison were faculty members for the annual International Music Academy summer course for bassists at Le Domaine Forget in rural Quebec, Canada. Six days a week for four, the focus was on experiential learning through an intense rotating schedule of private lessons and daily masterclasses that guaranteed time with every teacher for the 28 participants. There were some 70 applicants for the course. Reports Renaud Boucher-Browning, a high school senior at the time, "At the end of the program, each student takes home upwards of thirty pages of exercises, painstakingly prepared by their dedicated teachers, to work on over the coming years." Says Greg Vartian-Foss, a junior at Indiana University studying with Bruce Bransby, "The most important lesson I learned from all the teachers and students is that one's commitment must be to never stop learning." For more information go to http://www.domaineforget.com/en/1/stages/double-bass. 

 

Rocky Mt DB Festival

The 10th Rocky Mountain International Double Bass Festival took place at the University of Colorado's College of Music, October 10th-11th. University of Colorado double bass professor Paul Erhard was joined by guest artists Thierry Barbe, Luis Cojal, Robert Kassinger and Albert Laszlo, professor of bass at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and the Aspen Music Festival. 80 bassists enjoyed a wide variety of events for players of all levels and abilities, including technique classes, masterclasses, taking solo and orchestral excerpt playing to the next level, coaching on auditioning for the Colorado Allstate Orchestra, a monster bass ensemble and solo and duo recitals by guest clinicians. An 11th RMISBF is being planned for the fall of 2011.  For more information go to http://amazingbass.net. 

 

Stephen Buckley 

Stephen Buckley was a guest artist at the University of Colorado's College of Music for a two-day residency in September. He is assistant principal bass with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also worked extensively with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra of Sweden. Steve was a prize winner at the 2004 Sperger Competition in Germany, and is a frequent soloist for the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra's chamber music series. A graduate of the University of Colorado, he is currently pursuing doctoral studies with Paul Ellison at Rice University. He gave orchestra excerpt and solo masterclasses, working with nine of Paul Erhard's CU double bass students, and a recital that included Schumann's Adagio and Allegro, Beethoven's Sonata No.5, Op. 102, No. 2, and Schubert's "Arpeggioni" sonata. 

 

There will be a number of sessions of interest to bass makers at the 2010 VSA Convention, November 7-12 in Cleveland, OH: Robbie McIntosh, "Re-arching a Bass Top," November 8th, 3:30-4:15 PM; Jim Ham, David Gage, and Jay VandeKopple, "Report on the First VSA/Oberlin Bass Workshop," on November 9th, 1:30-2:15 PM; a Bass "Show-and-Tell" Forum, November 9th, 3:30-4:30 PM; David Gage, "Contemporary Setup for String Bass," November 10th, 2:45-3:30 PM; Arnold Schnitzer, "Up from the Depths," November 12th, 2:30-3:15 PM; Jim Ham, "The Lighter Side of Ergonomics," November 12th, 3:15-4:30 PM. For information go to www.vsa.to.


Zbigniew Borowicz gave a recital of works by Faure, Rachmaninoff, Piazzolla, Bach, Gagnon and Victor Wooten on October 21st at Laval University in Quebec, Canada.

Henry Grimes is celebrating his 75th birthday year with a busy tour schedule, with stops too numerous to mention here. To find out if he's coming to your town for a solo or ensemble performance, masterclass or poetry reading, go to www.henrygrimes.com.






 
 Upcoming Events & Reminders

Click here for guidelines and entry forms for the 2011 ISB Double Bass Competition, with divisions for jazz, solo, orchestra and ages 15-18 and 14 and under.  

Attention, bass makers, click here to download rules and entry form for the 2011 ISB Maker's Competition.  

Send your news and announcements for the ISB's E-Bass Line newsletter to [email protected].

Click here for news and to learn about the ISB's participation in MTNA's "Year of Collaborative Music."


Bassists and other musicians have until November 28th to submit their audition videos for a chance to be part of the second YouTube Symphony Orchestra. The first YouTube Symphony Orchestra brought together more than 90 musicians from 30 countries for a Carnegie Hall performance in 2009. Up to 96 musicians will be chosen for the new orchestra, which will travel to Sydney, Australia, and cap a week of rehearsals and masterclasses with a performance at Sydney Opera House. Solo improvisers are also being invited to audition to join the 2011 orchestra. Two will be chosen to play live with the orchestra, and two runners-up will perform remotely by streaming video over the internet. The winning musicians will be chosen by public vote via YouTube from a shortlist of 300 orchestra hopefuls and 100 improvisers. Details of how to submit auditions can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/symphony.  

 

The Music Institute of Chicago welcomes young composers to apply for its Next Generation competition. The entry deadline is December 15, 2010. For complete guidelines and an application, go to www.musicinstituteofchicago.org/media/pr/gennext-inside2.pdf.  
 

Make plans to celebrate the Summer of Bass Love at the 2011 ISB Convention, June 6-11, at San Francisco State University. Stay tuned for details and mark your calendars!         

NOVEMBER

 

Michael Cameron, professor of bass at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, is the guest of Marcos Machado at the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg, giving masterclasses on November 2nd and 3rd.  He gives a recital on November 4th, performing works by Mendelssohn, Bottesini, Henze, David Anderson, David Bohn, Frank Proto, and the American premier of "Driftwood" by Dutch composer Martijn Voorvelt. He is the guest of Yung-chiao Wei at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on November  5th for student masterclasses. 


James VanDemark, professor of double bass at the Eastman School of Music, will give masterclasses at the Interlochen Arts Academy on November 15th, and will continue his association with the Norwegian Academy of Music and Professor Dan Styffe with a joint Internet2 masterclass on December 7th. He has presented masterclasses so far this year at the Colburn School, Penn State, Cal State Long Beach and the Bard College Conservatory. He will also serve as the principal string judge for the Sorantin Competition with the San Angelo (Texas) Symphony on November 15th.

 

Renaud Garcia-Fons returns to North America for a tour:
November 12 - Montr�al, L'Astral
November 14 - Los Angeles, Skirball Cultural Center
November 16 - Laramie, University of Wyoming
November 17 - Laramie, University of Wyoming
Nov. 19 & 20 - Costa Mesa (CA), Orange Cty Performing Arts Center


The first concert of the Barry Lieberman and Friends series on Sunday, November 21st at 2 PM feature the newest member of the Seattle Symphony double bass section, Travis Gore, in recital. He will be performing works by Henze, Rossini, Schumann, Hindemith and Massenet in the Brechemin Auditorium inside the School of Music Building at the University of Washington-Seattle.  Parking on Sunday is free. The best lots closest to the Music Building are N-6 and N-5 (www.washington.edu/home/maps/northcentral.html) Tickets at the door will be available one half hour prior to the concert.  Travis will give a masterclass the day before at 2 PM, free and open to the public.  Performers have already been selected. Upcoming performances in the series include Seattle Symphony principal bass Jordan Anderson, giving orchestra masterclasses on December 11th , February 5, 2011 and April 9, 2011; and San Francisco Symphony principal bass Scott Pingel in recital on March 13, 2011, with a solo masterclass on March 12th.

The Concert Artists of Kean University in Union Township, New Jersey perform on November 18, 2010, 8 PM, at Enlow Recital Hall. The program will feature music by Samuel Zyman, Kean Concert Artist Composer in Residence, and conclude with the world premiere of Samuel Zyman's Quintet for Strings. Performers are Brennan Sweet & Victoria Stewart, violins; Maurycy Banaszek, viola; Susannah Chapman, cello; Anthony Scelba, double bass; Lisa Hansen, flute;  Romie de Guise-Langois, clarinet; Caroline Stinson, cello; and Gabriela Martinez and Allison Brewster Franzetti, piano. Tickets available in September 2010 at http://www.keanstage.com/. Concert will be streamed online. 

 

Double bassist Dan Styffe and pianist Gonzalo Moreno will perform Frank Proto's "A Carmen Fantasy" as part of the Oslo (Norway) Philharmonic Chamber series on November 20, 2010. Also on the program will be including Dutilleux�s Quartet "Les Citations" for oboe, harpsichord, double bass and percussion with Dan Styffe, bass, Christian Berg, percussion, David Strunck, oboe, and Knut Johannesen, cembalo.

 

In November, Chris White (Virginia Symphony Assistant Principal Bassist) and VSO violinist Pavel Ilyashov will play together in two performances of Bottesini's Grand Duo Concertante with the orchestra.  Performances are on November 18 at St. Bede's Church in Williamsburg and November 20 at Regent University in Virginia Beach.

 

DECEMBER

 

The New York-based string quintet Sybarite5 (Sami Merdinian and Sarah Whitney, violins, Angela Pickett, viola, Laura Metcalf, cello, and Louis Levitt, double bass) is in residency at the Cell Theatre in New York City, December 1-12. "juxtapose/contrast/shuffle" will showcase Sybarite5's eclectic influences as they perform works by Mozart, Radiohead, Stravinsky, Dvorak, Led Zeppelin, Visconti and others. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com/event/131628 or call 1-800-838-3006, $10 for students, $20 for general admission, $48 VIP Reserved seating with reception.

 

APRIL

 

Gottfried Engels is teaching a course for double bass at the State Academy for Music in Heek, Germany, April 15-21, 2011. For more information go to

www.landesmusikakademie-nrw.de/kursangebot/instrumental/kontrabass/.

 

 

Festivals, Competitions & Auditions

 

Mark your calendars for the 2nd annual Jazz Education Network Conference, January 6-8, 2011 in New Orleans. For information go to www.JazzEdNet.org. 

    

Click here for guidelines and entry forms for the 2011 ISB Double Bass Competition, with divisions for jazz, solo, orchestra and ages 15-18 and 14 and under.  

Attention, bass makers, click here to download rules and entry form for the 2011 ISB Maker's Competition.  
 

Music Bringing Us All Together
 
YCM logo 
The ISB is a partner organization in the Music Teachers National Association's (MTNA) "Year of Collaborative Music."  From March, 2010 through March, 2011, we will be encouraging ISB members to present concerts and events that promote the role of the bass in small ensembles. Click here for more information and to view a calendar of performances plus a list of chamber music resources.
 
Click here to view and listen to video clips from 2009's "Deep Tones for Peace," held on a worldwide virtual stage, featuring Mark Dresser, Barre Phillips, Henry Grimes, Chi-chi Nwanoku, Bert Turetzky, William Parker, Rufus Reid, Irina-Kalina Goudeva, Thierry Barb�, J.C. Jones and others in solo and ensemble performances.
 
Listen to "The Cool Jazz Set,"
hosted by ISB member Paul Pearce, to hear some of your favorite jazz artists each week live at 7 PM EST at www.wdce.org, or later at www.cooljazzset.com.
 
Young bassists and their teachers, go to the Kilenny School of Ireland, www.kilkennyschoolofmusic.net, to find free downloadable sheet music and play-along mp3 files. 
 
Benefitting the ISB


Lynn Seaton LiveSales from "Lynn Seaton Live" at the 2003 ISB Convention, with Lynn Seaton, bass, Bill Mays, piano, and Tim Froncek, drums benefit the International Society of Bassists. Listen to both originals and favorites from Lynn's amazing ISB convention debut. Buy here! 

 Ovidiu Badila
Ovidiu Badila began to study music at the age of six in Romania, and gained international renown, winning numerous prizes for his virtuosity. He was professor of the Staaliche Hochschule fur Musik of Trossingen in Germany and had recently started teaching at the Musik-Akademic der Stadt Basel in Switzerland before his untimely death in 2001. Here is a two-disk recording of his final recital, complete with the artist's lively commentary, given at the University of Washington in Seattle and hosted by Barry Lieberman. Barry released the CD as a tribute to Ovidiu Badila's brilliant and far too brief life and career, and has donated copies of the CD to the ISB. All sales benefit the International Society of Bassists, purchase here

A portion of sales from the required piece for the Age 14 and Under Division of the 2011 ISB Double Bass Competition, Song and a Dance for Double Bass & Piano, written by Blaise Ferrandino and published by Ludwin Music, www.ludwinmusic.com, will be donated back to the ISB by the composer and publisher.
2009 convention t-shirt

The first and only biography to date of jazz bassist Scott LaFaro has been published by the University of North Texas Press. Written by his sister, Helene LaFaro FernandezJade Visions tells the story of one of the 20th century's most influential jazz musicians. Best known for his recordings with Bill Evans, he played bass a mere seven years before his life and career were tragically cut short by an automobile accident at age 25. The winner of the 2010 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research in Jazz, it combines an intimate look at his family along with insights into LaFaro's music and career by Gene Lees, Don Thompson, Jeff Campbell, Phil Palombi, Barrie Kolstein, Chuck Ralston and many others. Hardback, 352 pages, including never before published photos. $25 plus shipping and handling at
http://www.isbstore.com/miscellaneous.html.

2009 convention t-shirt
The perfect companion to the Scott LaFaro biography Jade Visions is the newly released CD, Pieces of Jade. Listen to some of LaFaro's earliest recordings with pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca, plus a 1966 interview with Bill Evans, over 20 minutes of an Evans and LaFaro rehearsal, and "Memories for Scotty," a solo piano tribute by Don Friedman. A must-have for fans of jazz and every bassist now available at the ISB Online Store, with a portion of proceeds from sales benefitting the ISB's Scott LaFaro Prize fund. $15 plus shipping and handling at http://www.isbstore.com/miscellaneous.html.
2009 convention t-shirt

The George Vance Young Bassists Education Fund, established in honor and memory of the late George Vance, and will be dedicated to offering educational opportunities for young bassists. Send donations payable to the International Society of Bassists and addressed to the George Vance Young Bassists Education Fund, International Society of Bassists, 14070 Proton Rd., Suite 100, LB 9, Dallas, Texas 75244. The ISB is a 501(C)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.