We’re featuring National Symphony bassist and Peabody Institute faculty member Ira Gold on today’s episode. Ira was one of the very first interview guests for the podcast, and we spread it out over three episodes: 15, 18, and 43. This “round two” interview was conducted almost a decade after the first conversation, and Ira has been incredibly active with all sorts of new projects.
198: Todd Coolman new release
This is an all-music of Contrabass Conversations featuring jazz bass legend Todd Coolman with some tracks from his new album Collectibles. The Coolman Trifecta is made up of Todd on bass, Bill Cunliffe on piano, and Dennis Mackrel on drums.
- New Rhumba
- Joshua
- You’re My Everything
197: Bert Turetzky on forging new paths, compositional language, and commissioning over 300 works
Today’s episode features an interview with the great Bert Turetzky. With nearly 60 years spent championing new works for the contrabass, Bert truly is the father of modern bass playing. Bert has recently released a memoir titled A Different View which chronicles his life spent in music. It delves into his early years growing up in Connecticut, his dreams of becoming a jazz player, his orchestral experiences, teaching at the Hartt School and the University of California San Diego, and it covers in great detail his work as an advocate for the contrabass.
196: Andrés Martín on the creative process, the composer mind, and forging a bass scene
Today’s episode features composer, teacher, and bassist Andrés Martín. Andrés has written works recently that have become quite popular in the bass community these past few years, and I’ve been looking forward to talking with him ever since hearing his music. Andrés is also the composer of Anna’s Gift and is currently writing the music for Anna’s Promise, the project spearheaded by Barry Green (a former Contrabass Conversations guest) that we featured on episode 189 of the podcast.
- Bass Concerto No. 1 (excerpts from movements 2 and 3)
- Suite Para Contrabajo Y Guitarra Española (2009) III. Milongitana
- 43 by Andrés Martín and Donovan Stokes (excerpts from movement 2 and movement 3)
- Elegia Para Contrabajo Solo (2011)
- Andrés Martín solo CD Cera
- andresmartin.net
195: Gaelen McCormick on bow strokes, Progressive Repertoire, and the Pomodoro Technique
We are featuring double bassist Gaelen McCormick on today’s episode. Gaelen is a member of the Rochester Philharmonic, teaches at Nazareth College and the Eastman Community Music School and is the author of Mastering the Bow, a two-part series for bass. Part one is based on the violin studies of Franz Wohlfahrt, and part two features off-the-strings strokes.
We had a wonderful conversation about her early years in music, studying with Jeff Turner for graduate school (and you can listen to Jeff on the podcast—he was a guest back on episode 26), structuring practice time, the George Vance Progressive Repertoire series, and many other topics.
Before and after the interview, we feature Gaelen and Ed Paulsen performing a couple of Dave Anderson’s wonderful duets, and you can check out our interview with Dave on episode 75 of the podcast.
About Gaelen:
Ms. McCormick has been a member of the Rochester Philharmonic’s bass section since 1995. Before joining the RPO, she held positions with regional orchestras such as the Erie (PA) Philharmonic, the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Albany Symphony. Ms. McCormick has performed regularly with other major orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Syracuse Symphony. She holds degrees in performance from the Eastman School and Carnegie Mellon University.
Teaching the double bass to students of all ages has become a significant part of Gaelen’s life. She joined the faculty of Nazareth College in 2010, and has been the bass instructor for the Eastman Community Music School since 2001. She enjoys working with talented high school aged string players in the summer at Eastman’s Music Horizons program where she teaches chamber music and gives bass lessons. In 2003, she was invited to teach for the year at Duquesne University’s City Music Center, a program for talented, pre-college students.
Gaelen has given masterclasses and recitals at Ithaca College, Williams College, the College of St. Rose, and Roberts Wesleyan College. In 2013, she gave classes on double bass technique at both the International Society of Bassists convention in Rochester and the NYSSMA Winter Conference. “Mastering the Bow”, the first of three books on double bass bow technique, was published by Carl Fischer in 2013, and the second will be published during the 2014 season.
Playing chamber music has been a passion for Ms. McCormick. Before moving to Rochester, she often performed with the St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra (Albany, NY) as their sole bassist. During her tenure in Pittsburgh, she became the founding bassist of the Pittsburgh Live Music Chamber Orchestra. She was the founding member of the innovative string quintet “Gibbs and Main”, and recorded a cd of tango standards with them, and commissioned a new work for the ensemble by Judd Greenstein.
In recent summers, she has been performing with the Music in the Mountains chamber orchestra, a festival based in Durango, Colorado. She is frequently invited to play chamber music with musicians from around the country in festivals such as the Roycroft Chamber Music Festival and the Syracuse New Music Ensemble. This summer, Ms. McCormick will make her debut appearance at the Canandaigua Lake Chamber Music Festival.
Gaelen has been involved in volunteering and arts advocacy, and is proud to be the representative for the RPO in the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians. She is honored to be a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda, groups recognizing and supporting excellence in the humanities and in music specifically. In her spare time, Gaelen enjoys kayaking, Argentine tango and West Coast swing dancing, and spending time with her toddler Clara.
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