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PASSAGES
Anthony "Tony" Bianco passed away Monday morning, October 24th at age 94. He was well known as a teacher to bassists of all ages and abilities, as well as a distinguished orchestral musician. He joined the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1944 as principal bass under Fritz Reiner and completed 55 years with the orchestra, twenty-six as principal. He received the ISB's Distinguished Service Award for lifetime achievement, its highest honor, in 2007. A sought-after presenter at ISB conventions and other double bass events even into his 90s, he was always generous with his time and advice, especially to younger bassists. Jim Krummenacher, age 81, died Saturday, October 22nd after a brief battle with cancer. He attended the 2011 ISB convention at San Francisco State University where he was, as always, full of life and love of music and all things bass. A loyal and longtime ISB member who attended the very first ISB convention in Madison, WI, Jim joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1956 and retired in 2006, having served with distinction for 50 years. He is survived by his brothers Edwin A. Krummenacher, Jr. of La Mesa, CA and Bruce C. Krummenacher of Warrenville, IL, and six nieces and nephews.
Tony and Jim, the best of friends, passed away just two days apart and both were ISB "lifers." While they may not be attending future events in body, they will always be with us in spirit. They were mentors to aspiring professional musicians, yet both remained continuing students of music and life. We will miss them both, and send our deepest sympathies to their families, friends and colleagues.To make a donation to the ISB in their memory, click here. Well done, Tony and Jim! By now you've found each other and are playing duets in the great concert hall in the clouds.
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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 Dan Styffe, Jay Leonhart, Bass Instinct, Scott LaFaro, Bad Boyz of Double Bass, Paul Unger, Terry Plumeri, Whitney Moulton, The American String Project, Chester Biscardi, 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!
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The ISB sends out a big happy birthday to its founder, Gary Karr, who turns 70 years young on November 20th. Email your birthday greetings for Gary to info@ISBworlddoffice.com and we'll forward to him to make this milestone birthday an extra special celebration.
JOB OPPORTUNITY: Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, is accepting applications for assistant/associate professor of music performance, double bass. This tenure-track faculty position is available August 17, 2012. Responsibilities include teaching graduate and undergraduate applied double bass, double bass repertoire and pedagogy; coaching chamber music; providing an artistic model in a fine arts setting; recruiting/maintaining a strong double bass studio; supervise course of studies; assist with job placement. Additional performance opportunities may be available regionally. Must have completed master's degree in music and have a documented history of professional activity in double bass performance. Doctoral degree in music and/or significant professional experience preferred. Demonstrated ability to recruit and retain quality students on the college level. Send cover letter, complete curriculum vitae, three letters of reference written within the past two years (credentials file may be sent if letters are current), short list of additional references who may be contacted, live and unedited recording of varied solo repertoire made within the last two years, student evaluations if available, and certified transcript copy of the highest degree earned to: Chair, Double Bass Search Committee, School of Music, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306. Review of applications begins December 1, 2011, and will continue until the position is filled. www.bsu.edu
Bradetich Foundation Solo Competition gold medal winner Artem Chirkov performs at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City at 2 PM on Saturday December 10th. Order tickets online or call the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 212-247-7800.
Bassist/vocalist Jay Leonhart and friends perform the music of Duke Ellington and others, including a musical tribute to the late, great jazz bassist Milt Hinton to celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Milt Hinton Jazz Series, Monday, December 5th at City University New York's Baruch Performing Arts Center.
John Clayton will be at Valdosta State University, Georgia, for bass classes and a big band concert appearance Thursday, December 1st. For more information email Tod Leavitt, tjleavitt@valdosta.edu.
Stefano Sciascia recently gave a masterclass for students of Trinity College double bass professor Chris West in Greenwich, England. Stefano is pictured above, center with bass with Chris and his class. Click here to watch a video clip of Stefano's 2011 ISB convention recital with pianist Dianne Frazer.
Leon Bosch will record the complete works for double bass by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf with The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, November 15-17, 2011. His co-soloist for the Sinfonia Concertante and the Duetto will be Robert Smissen, the orchestra's principal violist. His latest CD of works by Allan Stephenson is available on the ISB online store.
L'Orchestre de Contrebasses will give concerts at the Vingtieme Theatre in Paris, December 26th-27th, and January 2nd-3rd.
The next conference of the Jazz Education Network is January 4-7, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. Click here for more information about presenters and to register.
The application deadline for the 2012 Stulberg International String Competition is Friday, January 27, 2012. Go to www.stulberg.org for more information and to apply. Competition is Saturday, May 19, 2012 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Questions? Contact Liz Rohs, 269/343-2776 or email stulbergcomp@yahoo.com.
Go to www.orangethenblue.com to learn more about Mingus on Mingus, a documentary in the making about the journey of a grandson searching for the truth behind the legend of the grandfather he never knew.
Noah Sund, above, son of the ISB's favorite illustrator Scott Sund, celebrated Halloween last month as a musical Spiderman (safer than the Spiderman musical, for sure!) With great bass lines comes great responsibility...
Click here to read the University of Wisconsin-Madison's recent profile of jazz bassist and educator Richard Davis.
New on the ISB's website! Under the News & Events page, there's a Newsletters link to check out out past online issues.
Ryan Baird performed Frank Proto's "Fantasy for Double Bass and Orchestra" with the Baylor University Symphony on October 6th.
The London Sinfonietta gave the world premiere of Dai Fujikura's new bass concerto with soloist and principal bass Enno Senft on November 5th in the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall. The composition is influenced by the shamisen, a Japanese plucked instrument similar to a guitar.
Peter Askim, music director and composer-in-residence at the Idyllwild Arts Academy was recently honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for his efforts in promoting new music and outreach to composers.
Click here to take a survey on orchestra auditions, part of ISB member Asli Yetisener's research for her doctorate dissertation. (Password to enter the survey is "doublebass", all lower case and no spaces.) Email asli.yetisener@gmail.com with questions.
Click here to view Edgar Meyer's appearance on The Colbert Report with his bandmates YoYo Ma, Chris Thile, and Stuart Duncan in support of their new CD, "The Goat Rodeo Sessions."
Click here to view Martin Wind's new project "Turn Out the Stars: Music Written or Inspired by Bill Evans" for jazz quartet and orchestra, with Scott Robinson, pianist Bill Cunliffe and drummer Joe LaBarbera and the Orchestra Filarmonica Marcigiana. And here's another clip, "Blue in Green."
Click here to listen to an NPR "Tiny Desk Concert" by Ben Williams and his group Sound Effect in support of his new CD "State of Art."
Click here to watch Dan Styffe's world premiere performance of a new douible bass concerto by Rolf Martinsson.
Susan Wulff and Evona Wascinski are profiled in a story about the recent Fourth Annual San Diego Bass Summit.
Click here to view video of Luis Cojal's recital at the 2011 International Barcelona Bass Meeting.
The Sybarite5 string quintet, including ISB member Louis Levitt, double bass, received the "Sylvia Ann Hewlett Adventurous Artist Prize" in the 2011 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. More than 400 applicants submitted recordings and eventually a dozen finalists performed in New York City on October 19th. Read about the Sybarite 5's campaign to play chamber music in all 50 U.S. states!
Click here for new links to view and hear San Francisco Symphony principal Scott Pingel performing the Vanhal concerto on the Karr-Koussevistzky Bass.
You can add one more accomplishment to Ron Carter's extensive resume - he's a character, along with Roy Haynes, in the new mystery novel Shades of Blue by Bill Moody. His latest CD is Ron Carter's Great Big Band.
Double bass stolen in Mendoza (Argentina): Laureano Melchiori reports that robbers entered her house and took her Agustin Rosso bass, 2005, 4/4 size, light brown almost yellow color, dark brown walnut ridge, ebony fingerboard. On the upper back part of the bass it has an unusual rhomboid carving, and it also had a brown and black bass bib. It is missing the tuning peg of the D string. Email edhison@gmail.com with information.
The American Federation of Musicians will again be supporting a provision for musical instruments as carry-on/checked luggage on airplanes in the FAA reauthorization bill in 2011. Due to other issues within the bill, it did not pass this year and must be reintroduced. The AFM will again seek a uniform national policy regarding musical instruments that will apply to all major airlines. In order to gain support in Congress for this legislation, the AFM must demonstrate that musicians have problems every day with airline travel. Send your personal stories of airline travel issues to Hal Ponder at hponder@afm.org, or Laura Brigandi, lbrigandi@afm.org. In order to be relevant, the complaint should be about an occurrence within the last year.
Tarisio Auctions has launched a $10,000 string instrument grant designed to help young musicians at the start of their careers. The Tarisio Matching Grant Program awards up to $10,000 of matching funds towards the purchase of a string instrument or bow in one of Tarisio's fine auctions. It is open to players aged under 30 who are currently enrolled in or have graduated from a music performance degree program. The winner is drawn at random two weeks before the auction. There are four auctions per year, two in London and two in New York. Application deadline for the upcoming March 2011 auction in London is February 24th. Application deadline for the May 2011 auction in New York is April 22nd. For more information and to apply, go to http://tarisio.com/pages/about/grantinfo.php. |
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Upcoming Events & Reminders
NOVEMBER
The Concert Artist Series of Kean University features the premiere of From My Window No. 2 by Joao Guilherme Ripper for string quintet including double bass on November 17th, Anthony Scelba, double bass.
Tom Barrett is facilitating private lessons with Michael Wolf at The Doublebass Workshop in Galway, Ireland on Tuesday, November 15th. Cost is €100 for a 1 hour lesson (€50 deposit required). Instruments available, no need to bring your own. For more information email damianevans74@gmail.com.
DECEMBER
The fourth International Serge Koussevitzky Double Bass Competition takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia, December 4-12, 2011. For more information go to www.bassacademy.ru.
JANUARY
The Chicago Bass Ensemble appears on the music series of the
First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, IL, January 15th at 4 PM.
Faculty members of the Music Institute of Chicago will perform on Sunday, January 22nd at 3 PM at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL. The Cantare Chamber Players, Sang Mee Lee, violin, Clark Carruth, viola, Sophie Webber, cello, John Tuck, double bass, and Elaine Felder, piano, will play Schubert's Trout Quintet and Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor Op. 60.
FEBRUARY
The Chicago Bass Ensemble performs at the third Chicago Bass Festival on February 5th in Highland Park, IL.
Bert and Nancy Turetzky will be Valdosta State University, Georgia for a 10 AM masterclass and 7:30 PM performance on Monday, February 6th. For more information email Tod Leavitt, tjleavitt@valdosta.edu.
The Concert Artist Series of Kean University performs Beethoven's Septet on February 26th with Anthony Scelba, double bass.
Rufus Reid's composition for orchestra, "Quiet Pride," inspired by the sculptures of Elizabth Catlett, will be performed Feb 28th and 29th in Baton Route, Louisiana at the Shaw Center for the Arts' Manship Theater.
MARCH
John Clayton will be the guest artist for The Glenn E. Gomez International Artists Endowment for Jazz Studies residency at the University of North Texas, March 5-8, 2012. He will spend the week working with students and play a concert with the famed One O'Clock Lab Band on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 8 p.m. in Winspear Hall at the Murchison Performing Arts Center on the UNT Denton campus.
The Concert Artist Series of Kean University performs music by Goldmark on March 8th, including the String Quintet in A minor, op. 9 with Anthony Scelba, double bass.
The first annual Valdosta (Georgia) State University BASS DAY will feature Craig Butterfield and Tod Leavitt on Saturday, March 10th. For more information email Tod Leavitt, tjleavitt@valdosta.edu.
Texas Christian University's 2012 International Double Bass Festival & TCU Orchestra Competition, Yuan Xiong Lu, director, March 17th-18th in Fort Worth, Texas, will feature guest artists Thierry Barbe, Timothy Cobb and Steve Reeves and more than a dozen artists and educators from around the world. For a registration form, email y.lu@tcu.edu.
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Festivals, Competitions & Auditions
The Music Institute of Chicago is sponsoring the Generation Next Young Composer's Competition for ages 12-18, Prizes range from $75 to $350. In addition, winners will hear their works performed live at Nichols Concert Hall, receive a CD recording of the performance and become eligible for scholarships to participate in the Music Institute's Composer's Lab. Application deadline is December 15, 2011.
Attention, composers, click here to download guidelines for the the 2012 ISB David Walter Composition Competition. Grand prizes in three divisions: solo, chamber, and double bass with media. Entry deadline June 1, 2012.
Calling all bass makers! For rules and an application to enter the next ISB Maker's Competition, June 2 & 3, 2013, at the Eastman School of Music, click here. |
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Music Bringing Us All Together
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 Barbé, 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.
Learn more about the life and legacy of the late, great bassist Red Mitchell at the newly relaunched website www.redmitchell.com.
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Benefitting the ISB
 Sales 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 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.
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 Fernandez, Jade 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.  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.
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. |
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