Dan Carson is the latest member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s bass section.  I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dan for over a decade.  He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and worked with Andy Anderson and a few other teachers (including me!) during high school.

Dan attended Indiana University and won principal bass of the Alabama Symphony during his junior year. After a few years, he decided to return to Indiana University to finish his undergraduate degree.

He opted to not return to the Alabama Symphony and headed to the University of Southern California to study with David Allen Moore.  Five months into his studies at USC, Dan won a position with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

We cover a lot of fascinating ground, including:

• making progress in school versus out of school
• his decision to quit the Alabama Symphony to continue his studies
• what it was like being back in school after several years playing professionally
• what he learned working with Paul Ellison, Andy Raciti, and David Allen Moore
• Dan’s audition preparation routine for Lyric
• getting through moments of discouragement

…and much more!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

Upton Bass String Instrument Company

Upton’s Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long “Karr neck” has even become a favorite of crossover electric players.

D’Addario Strings

This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

• Jason Heath, host
• Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
• Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
• Trevor Jones, publication and promotion