Contrabass Conversations

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Contrabass Conversations Co-host John Grillo from classicalmusicnews.tv and I are concluding our interview with Cleveland Orchestra Principal Bass Max Dimoff this week. Before winning his job with the Cleveland Orchestra, Max served as Principal Bass of the San Antonio Symphony and Section Bass for the Grant Park Symphony and Seattle Symphony.

In this second segment of our interview with Max, we cover the use of rhythms in practicing solo and orchestral music, why he finds warm-up exercises useful, standing versus sitting, and audition preparation advice.

Max’s Warm-Ups

Max Dimoff Warm-Up Packet (PDF)

In addition to serving as Principal Bass with the Cleveland Orchestra, Max is on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music along with Jeff Bradetich, his former teacher from Northwestern University. Max and Jeff team teach the CIM bass studio in a very interesting arrangement which we discuss during our interview.

Max’s colleague Jeff Bradetich recently appeared on Contrabass Conversations as well. Here are links both to Jeff’s interview and to Jeff’s own technique packets, which may be interesting to delve into for listeners as well:

• Jeff Bradetich interview part 1
• Jeff Bradetich interview part 2
• Bradetich Technique Packet
• Bradetich Advanced Technique Packet

More interviews co-hosted by John Grillo:

• Lawrence Hurst – Indiana University
• Barrie Kolstein – Kolstein & Sons
• Jack Budrow – Michigan State
• Owen Lee – Cincinnati Symphony
• Ranaan Meyer – Time for Three
• Dan Krekeler – Metropolitan Opera

Links:

• I Fight Dragons (music heard on this show)
• Jim Goodrich – my co-panelist for the Chicago Music Commission
• International Society of Bassists – convention in June!
• String Emporium – advertiser
• Upton Bass Co. – advertiser

We’re featuring a different kind of podcast episode this week. Bassist Phillip Serna (who has appeared on several older Contrabass Conversations episodes) performed the Tubin Concerto with the Northwestern University Summer Orchestra a few years ago, and he’s been interested in making this performance available for download on the podcast. Since Tubin is a more contemporary composer than many of the other standard bass concerto composers, Phillip had to work out the podcast distribution rights with Tubin’s publisher Scandinavian Songs AB, so thanks to Phillip’s hard work in getting this taken care of we can offer a 100% legal complete performance of the Tubin Concerto for Double Bass.

Video Download Link (133 MB)

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We’re featuring the first part of our interview with Boston Symphony Assistant Principal Bass Lawrence Wolfe this week on Contrabass Conversations. I had a chance to check out a wonderful master class that Mr. Wolfe did at Northwestern in the fall of 2008, and I did a summary/synopsis of some of the concepts and ideas covered in this class as well. I’m really looking forward to chatting with Larry–he’s one of my favorite bassists, and listening endlessly to his solo record really shaped how I approach the double bass when I was in college.

Larry is one of the most influential bass players in the United States, having taught countless players during his years at New England Conservatory and other Boston academic institutions who are now in major orchestras or pursuing other successful musical endeavors.

We’re also featuring the first movement of the Arpeggione Sonata from Larry’s solo album, which you’re really going to enjoy. Larry will be doing a presentation at this summer’s International Society of Bassists convention, which I am definitely looking forward to checking out. Be sure to check out Larry’s website (which he is in the process of revamping – listen to the interview to learn more about this), and stay tuned for the rest of this engaging conversation in the coming weeks!

Co-host John Grillo from classicalmusicnews.tv and I are interviewing Cleveland Orchestra Principal Bass Max Dimoff this week on Contrabass Conversations. Before winning his job with the Cleveland Orchestra, Max served as Principal Bass of the San Antonio Symphony and Section Bass for the Grant Park Symphony and Seattle Symphony.

In this first segment of our interview with Max, we delve into his approach to technique on the double bass, focusing on his warm-up exercises for the double bass. You can download this packet through the following link and follow along with the exercises as we discuss them with Max.

Max’s Warm-Ups

Max Dimoff Warm-Up Packet (PDF)

In addition to serving as Principal Bass with the Cleveland Orchestra, Max is on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music along with Jeff Bradetich, his former teacher from Northwestern University. Max and Jeff team teach the CIM bass studio in a very interesting arrangement which we discuss during our interview.

Max’s colleague Jeff Bradetich recently appeared on Contrabass Conversations as well. Here are links both to Jeff’s interview and to Jeff’s own technique packets, which may be interesting to delve into for listeners as well:

• Jeff Bradetich interview part 1
• Jeff Bradetich interview part 2
• Bradetich Technique Packet
• Bradetich Advanced Technique Packet

More interviews co-hosted by John Grillo:

• Lawrence Hurst – Indiana University
• Barrie Kolstein – Kolstein & Sons
• Jack Budrow – Michigan State
• Owen Lee – Cincinnati Symphony
• Ranaan Meyer – Time for Three
• Dan Krekeler – Metropolitan Opera

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We’re concluding our interview (check out part 1 here) with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra bassist Dan Krekeler this week on the podcast. John Grillo of classicalmusicnews.tv and I co-interviewed Dan, which was particularly cool since we’ve both known Dan for many years. I played with Dan in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and John went to Indiana University with him as an undergraduate. It’s great to see an old friend have such great professional success, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with Dan and hear about his experiences on the road to a major orchestral position.

In our conversations about audition prep, Dan brings up musician coach Don Greene, and I realized that we’ve never actually talked about Don before on any blog posts or podcasts. This is surprising, since I’m a big fan of Don’s concepts and strategies for successful auditioning, so we’ll have to delve more into that topic at a later date.

If you’re in the mood to learn about the world of opera bass playing, these episodes from our archives would be a good start:

• Opera Excerpts Breakdown with John Grillo

• Jeremy McCoy (asst. principal bass of the Met) interviews

• Greg Sarchet (Lyric Opera of Chicago) interviews

• Andy Anderson (Lyric Opera of Chicago) interviews

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We’re featuring an interview with Michelle Fiore this week on Contrabass Conversations. Michelle is the proprietor of Classic Contrabass, a shop in Wheeling, Illinois catering exclusively to double bassists. I’ve known Michelle for many years–she was involved for many years with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Winter Bassfest that I started several years ago. She does great setup and repair work, and she has an excellent selection of double basses for sale as well as quality rental instruments for students.

Michelle had the opportunity to visit the Maggini exhibition in Italy a couple of years ago, an event which featured Dragonetti’s Gasparo da Salo bass from 1590 as well as several other Maggini double basses. She wrote an article about this exhibition last year for the International Society of Bassists‘ Bass World journal, and she discusses in detail some of her observations about these remarkable instruments in this interview. We also chat about instrument setup and how it differs for classical and jazz bassists, sound post adjustments, and many other topics.

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We’re featuring an interview with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra bassist Dan Krekeler this week on the podcast. John Grillo of classicalmusicnews.tv and I co-interviewed Dan, which was particularly cool since we’ve both known Dan for many years. I played with Dan in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and John went to Indiana University with him as an undergraduate. It’s great to see an old friend have such great professional success, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with Dan and hear about his experiences on the road to a major orchestral position.

In our conversations about audition prep, Dan brings up musician coach Don Greene, and I realized that we’ve never actually talked about Don before on any blog posts or podcasts. This is surprising, since I’m a big fan of Don’s concepts and strategies for successful auditioning, so we’ll have to delve more into that topic at a later date.

If you’re in the mood to learn about the world of opera bass playing, these episodes from our archives would be a good start:

• Opera Excerpts Breakdown with John Grillo
• Jeremy McCoy (asst. principal bass of the Met) interviews
• Greg Sarchet (Lyric Opera of Chicago) interviews
• Andy Anderson (Lyric Opera of Chicago) interviews

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We’re concluding our interview with San Diego Symphony Principal Bass Jeremy Kurtz on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations, plus featuring excerpts from Jeremy’s captivating new solo album Sonatas and Meditations, which can be purchased through the new International Society of Bassists store at www.ISBstore.com. . Check out part 1 of the interview here, and learn more about Jeremy at his website jeremykurtz.com. Enjoy!

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Last year, Guy Tuneh provided the double bass community a video of his excellent Rococo Variations performance to celebrate the new year. This year we’re featuring this wonderful artist performing Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch. Enjoy!

video download link (36 MB)

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We’re concluding our interview with University of North Texas and Cleveland Institute of Music bass professor Jeff Bradetich on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. We featured the first part of this interview on episode 101 of the podcast, and we hope you enjoy hearing the thoughts and perspectives from this wonderful and influential performer and pedagogue. Learn more about Jeff and his new foundation at BradetichFoundation.org.