Bernardo Alviz was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia. He started his music studies at the age of 17 and holds a Bachelor degree from the Universidad Javeriana in Bogota as well as a Bachelor and Masters degree from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in Germany.
Bernardo is a passionate performer of contemporary music and has performed in some of the most renowned festivals including the Lucerne festival in 2017 with Heinz Holliger and Mathias Pintcher as chief conductors; as principal bass with the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop at the Donaueschingen Musiktagen in 2017 as well as at the Rainy Days music festival in Luxembourg 2014; as principal bass of the Staatskapelle Berlin during the Infektio! Music festival in Berlin in 2016; and as principal bass with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Malmo International Chamber music festival 2016 in Sweden.
We talk about growing up in Colombia, his training in Germany, meeting his wife Phoebe Russell, and their subsequent move to Australia, and getting established as a bassist there. We also dig into his struggles with a performance injury and the mystery surrounding it, the struggles and discoveries that have come from it, and his move into teaching a large studio of young bassists and doing a PHD in composition.
Enjoy, and be sure to check out Bernardo’s website to learn more about this work!
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Contrabass Conversations production team:
- Jason Heath, host
- Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
- Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
- Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
- theme music by Eric Hochberg