Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

274: Yung-chiao Wei on overcoming challenges, Carnegie Hall recitals, and living through music

yung-chiao-wei

I had the good fortune to meet Yung-chiao Wei back in 2000 at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.  She was wrapping up her time with the New World Symphony and was just about to start new new position at Louisiana State University.

The rich double bass culture she has created the past decade-and-a-half is remarkable.

In addition to creating the Louisiana Bass Fest, Yung-chio has propelled her students into all sorts of “next steps” like:

  • winning auditions such as tenured Principal Bassist and Assistant Principal Bassist in the Baton Rouge Symphony and the Acadiana Symphony
  • Assistant Principal Bassist of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra
  • going to prestigious music schools with full scholarships at the Juilliard School, Yale University, Eastman School of Music and Cincinnati Conservatory
  • teaching at at the Cincinnati Conservatory and Southeastern Louisiana University
  • founding the Brava Orchestra, an youth orchestra in Brazil, with a mission to bring music to the poor
  • becoming the Executive Director at New York Baroque Incorporated

Talk about having an impact on future generations of musicians!

Yung-chiao and I dig into all kinds of topics, like:

  • how playing Brahms makes her feel alive
  • the Tai-chi horse stance and how it applies to bass playing
  • overcoming some of her physical limitations
  • over-practicing and how to avoid it
  • her solo recordings
  • the value of creating a bass festival

…and much more!

Be sure to subscribe to Contrabass Conversations to get these episodes delivered automatically to your mobile device!

Links to check out:

Links from news and listener feedback:

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Contrabass Conversations!

The 10th anniversary of Contrabass Conversations will happen on January 1, 2017!  Call into our special voicemail line at (415) 952-5643 and leave a message telling me a thing or two about yourself like:

  • your name
  • where you live
  • how long you’ve played bass
  • where you play
  • when you discovered the podcast
  • your favorite episode(s)

Thanks to our sponsor!

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.

Enter the D’Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

270: Alexandre Ritter on method books, new works, and Brazilian double bass

Alexandre Ritter

Alexandre Ritter has become a champion of Armando Trovajoli’s work Sconcerto.

Once you hear this amazing piece, you’ll understand why.

Written for Franco Petracchi, this work has been largely unplayed until Alex got his hands on it.

The process was complex, but Alex worked it out to record the entire piece and publish it on YouTube.  This piece is destined to become one of the major concert works for orchestra.  It’s jazzy, colorful, mysterious, and magical.

But that’s not all Alex is doing these days.

We dig deep into Bille, how Alex uses it in his teaching, and we get into the debate of using the 3rd finger in the lower positions like what’s printed in Bille—Alex makes a compelling case for it.

While we were talking, he actually grabbed the bass and played through several examples for me!

Alex and I also talk about the experience of leaving Brazil to study in Georgia, how philosophy has influenced his thinking, job prospects in Brazil, and much more!

Learn more about my coverage of music teaching at contrabassconversations.com/teaching.

Links to check out:

Be sure to subscribe to Contrabass Conversations to get these episodes delivered automatically to your mobile device!

Thanks to our sponsor!

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.

Enter the D’Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

269: Dennis Bergevin on public school teaching, professional development, and advising

Dennis Bergevin

Dennis Bergevin and I have a lot in common.

He’s a bass player.  Me too.

He taught public school orchestra.  So did I.

His career has taken an unexpected turn.

I totally identify with that.

For Dennis, it was the interactions with the students that he found most valuable.  Not that the music wasn’t important, but helping young people to find their path in life was what really mattered to him.

I agree 100%.

By the way, Dennis is a rockin’ bass player. Check out this video of him playing Bach.

So Dennis has transitioned out of that orchestra director role and is now training to work in guidance at the college level.

It’s amazing the opportunities that exist at the university level outside of being a professor, and how critical the people in roles like what Dennis is doing are to shaping the direction of student’s lives.

I also like this photo of Dennis and Edgar Meyer!

Learn more about my coverage of music teaching at contrabassconversations.com/teaching.

Other episodes where we talk about teaching orchestra:

Be sure to subscribe to Contrabass Conversations to get these episodes delivered automatically to your mobile device!

Thanks to our sponsor!

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.

Enter the D’Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

268: Cornelia Watkins on private lesson teaching and Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance

Corky Watkins Rice University Rosindust

I first learned about Cornelia (Corky) Watkins through my friend Jeremy Little.  Jeremy and I used to teach together in Illinois.  He is a proponent of a style of music teaching called Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP).

Teaching music through this model is interesting.  CMP teaches the complete musician.  The intent is to provide music students with deeper understanding and more meaningful experiences with the music they play.

I went to a workshop on CMP.  It was cool.  I learned a lot.  Here’s a YouTube video with my friend Jeremy that gives a brief CMP overview.

But most of what we talked about revolved around teaching in a classroom.  Could this be applied to a private lesson setting?  How would that work?

That’s when Jeremy told me to get in touch with Corky.

Corky is a pro at this.  She served as the national chairperson of American String Teacher Association’s Committee on Studio Instruction, and also served for six years as the Private Teacher Representative on the board of TexASTA.

So I emailed her.  We set up a time to talk.  I read her book Rosindust.  It was great!

Here’s the thing that I was interested in…

Most of the young people that I teach don’t want a career in music.  That’s a good thing!  I want people to have amazing experiences with music while they’re young and continue to have it be a meaningful part of their life when they’re older.

The point isn’t to create a bunch of performance majors.  The point is to bring the gift of music into these young people’s lives.

Are we doing these young people a disservice by focusing only on technique and the music on the stand?  How do we teach beyond that without turning the private lesson into a music appreciation class?

That’s what Corky and I dig into!

Learn more about teaching at contrabassconversations.com/teaching.

Links to check out:

Be sure to subscribe to Contrabass Conversations to get these episodes delivered automatically to your mobile device!

Thanks to our sponsor!

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.

Enter the D’Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!