189: Barry Green and Jeff Bradetich on the Anna’s Promise Project

We are diving into a really interesting project today called Anna’s Promise. Anna’s Promise is the third in a series of multimedia works developed by Barry Green (author of The Inner Game of Music and several other works, and also a former Contrabass Conversations guest). Barry is joined by Jeff Bradetich (double bass professor at the University of North Texas and also a former Contrabass Conversations guest) to speak with me about this work.

The first piece, Anna’s Way, From Inspiration to Artistry, is a 45-minute musical and visual journey of a young bass prodigy and her rediscovery the joy of music after lessons with a Tai Chi master. Written by Alan Scofield, this story is set to music from China, India, Africa, Brazil, Israel, and America by Tony Osborne, Francois Rabbath, Arvo Pärt, Astor Piazzolla, Emily Brown, Mary Knysh, Larry Dunlap, Johann Birkenstock, Frank Proto, and Andrés Martín (who we recently interviewed for the podcast—stay tuned for this!).

The second piece, Anna’s Gift, is a fifty-five minute story about a musician named Anna was written for solo bass, concert band, and narrator, and includes background visuals. The story takes place ten years after Anna was inspired to become an artist from her studies with retired Tai Chi Master Chen. The piece recounts the emotional journey of a gifted concert bassist who is longing for love and fire in her music and her life. Andrés Martín composed the music for this piece.

We delve into Anna’s Promise, the third part of this series, today in our conversation with Barry Green and Jeff Bradetich about this project, which is being performed by 34 different soloists all across the world. Andrés Martín is also the composer for this third installment.

Anna’s Promise is a worldwide effort to spread this inspirational story. The commissioning fee for Andrés Martín and story writer Alan Scofield, is being raised through industry solicitation directed by Toni Buffa of Lemur Music Inc. Toni@lemurmusic.com. When requested, USA non-profit status for charitable deductible contributions to this project will be possible through the Bradetich Foundation. www.bradetichfoundation.org. Further information from Barry Green barry@innergameofmusic.com.

There is also a gofundme set up for this project, and Kolstein’s has contributed a bass and bow for auction to support Anna’s Promise. Visit the Anna’s Promise website for complete details about this project.

Here’s a line-up of the performers for this project and the country in which each will be performing:

South Africa: Leon Bosch
Sweden: Jan Alm
Mexico: Andrés Martín
Brazil: Marcos Machado
Argentina: Juan Pablo Navarro
Israel: Michael Klinghoffer
Australia: Steve Reeves
China: Heran Yang, Tian Yang Liu
Germany: Claus Freudenstein
Norway: Dan Styffe
Switzerland: Enrico Fagone
Spain: Diego Zecharies
Italy: Giuseppe Ettorre
Turkey: Esra Gul
France: Theirry Barbe
Austria: Christine Hoock
Bulgaria: Irina-Kalina Goudeva
Hong Kong: Chan Shiu Hang Olive
Thailand: Pongsathorn Nowbassist Surapab
Japan: Kazuhiro Tanabe
Russia: Artem Chirkov
United States: Barry Green, Jeff Bradetich
Singapore: Gennadi Mouzyka
Greece: Vassilis Papavassiliou
Poland: Irene Olkiewicz
Denmark: Andreas Bennetzen
Canada: Ali Kian Yazdanfar
United Kingdom: Chi-Chi Nwanoku
Rumania: Catalan Rotaru
Taiwan: Yi-Jung Su
South Korea: Ha Young Jung
Serbia: Svetozar Vujic
Czech Republic: Jiri Hudec

187: Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand on working at Robertson’s, building extensions, and aesthetic wood choices

Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand of Heartland String Bass Shop

Friday’s episode features another interview from the archives with bass maker Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand, who owns and operates the Heartland String Bass Shop. Chris makes beautiful basses and extensions—I actually have one of Chris’ extensions on my main bass. Chris’ basses are played in major orchestras throughout the United States and are beautiful instruments with great sound.

About Chris:

Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand started playing bass at age nine. He earned a full scholarship to the University of Iowa where he studied under Eldon Obrecht and earned a Bachelor of Music in String Bass Performance. Chris has played with the Quad Cities Youth Symphony, the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Symphony Orchestra, and the Quad Cities Symphony. He has also performed with many bands during his career, ranging from jazz to blues to folk in communities as far ranging as Nagoya, Japan and Austin, Texas.

Chris has had a life-long interest in the sound and responsiveness of basses. As a player, Chris knows that having a finely tuned instrument is critical, and he recognizes the remarkable difference a slight sound post adjustment or bridge arching can make.

His interest in sound and the influence of craftsmanship and ingenious problem solving led him to world famous Collings Guitars. While working at Collings and living in Austin, his cat (a black one!) knocked over and broke the neck on his bass. At the time, Chris was taking private lessons from Professor David Neubert at the University of Texas. Frustrated with the quality of the repair work on his bass, Chris asked Professor Neubert to recommend a good repair shop. “Albuquerque” was the guiding answer. Robertson & sons Violin shop is one of the world’s finest string instrument repair shops & is located in Albuquerque, NM.

For five years at Robertson & Sons, Chris had the opportunity to learn the craft of bass repair and construction under the tutelage of an acknowledged master, and work on some of the finest basses in the world. From neck grafts to cracks, Chris’s skills were applied to a full range of challenges. But he also developed many original techniques, including installation of custom low C & B extensions that integrate into the scroll rather than cutting the scroll and gluing the extension to the modified scroll.

In 2003 it was time to set up shop in his home state of Iowa, and bring his remarkable set of skills and experiences to musicians in the Midwest. Heartland String Bass Shop is the complete manifestation of a musical life, a commitment to sound, and skills honed under the watchful eye of the finest instrument makers and repairers in the world.

186: Barrie Kolstein on making rosin, lessons learned from his father, and bass trunk technology

Barrie Kolstein of Kolstein’s.

John Grillo and I recorded this interview with Barrie Kolstein back in 2008, and it has proven to be a very popular episode in the catalog. Barrie runs the Kolstein shop Long Island, and his instruments have been utilized by Jeff Turner of the Pittsburgh Symphony, James Van Demark of the Eastman School of Music, Scott Haigh of the Cleveland Orchestra, and many others.

John Grillo has been frequenting the Kolstein shop for years, and it was great to have John in on the conversation. This was a great chat about all sorts of bass-related topics.

About Barrie Kolstein:

1967-1971 Kolstein basses
State University of New York at Albany
Obtained a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration and Marketing.
1967-1973
Formally studied the Double Bass under the pedagogues: Frederick Zimmermann, Assistant Principal of the New York Philharmonic; Orin O’Brien, New York Philharmonic; Georges Andre, Metropolitan Opera; Robert Gladstone, Principal Bassist Detroit Symphony; Samuel Hollingsworth, Principal Bassist Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; David Holland, renowned Jazz artist.
1971-1974
Served in formal apprenticeship for instrument and bow restoration, construction and appraisals, under the expert auspices of renowned violin and bow maker, restorer, and appraiser, Samuel Kolstein.
1974-1978
Served as staff instrument and bow restorer as well as making numerous new violin and celli with Samuel Kolstein.
1979
Promoted to head violin master in the shop of Samuel Kolstein.
1981
Assumed full business responsibilities for operating all aspects of Samuel Kolstein & Son, Ltd. and Kolstein Music, Inc.
1981 to present
Head violin maker, restorer, and appraiser with a staff of nine violin makers working under his supervision.
Published numerous technical articles on restoration and appraisals in the International Society of Bassists with feature article published in the Strad, February 1991; presently editor of the “Luthier Corner” in the International Society of Bassists magazine restoration and repair forum; published regularly in the Double Bassist magazine and the Strad magazine, both of London, England, since 1996. These articles have ranged form interviews with makers and performers, technical articles on repair/making, and expert appraisal articles on historic master makers; featured in the violinmaking segment of Robin Lehman’s documentary, Young Peoples Guide to the Orchestra; contacted to appear in the upcoming educational video on “Careers in Music”. On the expert appraisers staff of Art Conservation fine arts adjusters as a String Instrument and Bow Expert.

Barrie Kolstein has completed well over one hundred instruments (Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass Violins) utilized by renowned players including Jeffrey Turner, Pittsburgh Symphony; Robert Gladstone, Detroit Symphony; James Van Demark, Professor of Double Bass Eastman School of Music and world famous soloist; Charles Urbont, Metropolitan Opera; James Clute, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra; David Sheets, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Lou Norton, New York Philharmonic; Caitlyn Kamanga, Hong Kong Philharmonic;, Scott Haig, Assistant Principal Bassist, Cleveland Orchestra; Hienrich Joachim, renowned soloist and former member of the New York Philharmonic; Lew Norton, New York Philharmonic; Barbara Yendell, Hong Kong Philharmonic, to name a few! Mr. Kolstein is a member of:

Appraisers Association of America, 1994 to present
International Society of Bassists, 1979 – present
Violin Society of America, 1980 – present
Viola Congress, 1983 – present
Cello Congress, 1982 – present
Listed in The Violin Makers of the United States, by Thomas J. Wenberg, Mount Hood Publishing Company, 1986.

185: George Martin on challenging restorations, the art of varnishing, and riding horses in the English countryside

George Martin of T&G Martin Violins

We are featuring George Martin from Thomas and George Martin Violin Makers. Their shop has been making basses for over 30 years, and they have a wealth of knowledge about the instrument-making and restoration process. George and I dig into these details, talking about some of his most challenging restorations and what goes into making a bass.

Our recent Contrabass Conversations guest Marc Ramirez spoke with me about finding his Cavani bass at the Martin shop (that story starts at the 80 minute mark for that episode). It was a great story and a great talk in general–be sure to check out Marc’s interview if you haven’t yet–it was episode 173 of the podcast.

About the Martin Shop:

As many will know, The Thomas and George Martin Workshop is just north of the town of Banbury, England in an ancient hamlet.

It took us several months to turn an ancient open fronted stone barn into a sate of the art workshop to continue the family business of making and restoring fine stringed instruments.

The workshop is a warm and happy place to work with an easy working atmosphere. We have an outstanding team of highly skilled individuals who each play an important part in producing and restoring some of the finest instruments in the world. The workshop operation is cared for and managed on a daily basis by George, while Tom is often called in to give advice and check all the new basses. Please have a look at our meet the team page to get to know everybody better.

The workshop team has now produced a large number of double basses, several fine cello’s, and a few violas and violins. We have also had the privilege to repair and restore some wonderful instruments over the years as well as performing minor adjustment and set up work for players just starting out to the worlds best professionals.

183: Susan Lipkins on crafting bows, tonal characteristics of wood, and how to choose a bow

Bowmaker Susan Lipkins

A graduate of Juilliard, Susan Lipkins is one of the most respected bowmaker in the country and has made bows for Hal Robinson, Alex Hanna, Jeff Turner, Max Dimoff, Thomas Martin, and other major bassists worldwide.

We talk about Sue’s early years growing up in Queens and studying with Homer Mensch and John Shaffer at Juilliard, her inspiration to become a bowmaker, the multitude of small steps that go into making a bow, tonal characteristics of different strains of pernambuco, and advice on choosing a bow that works for each individual.

About Susan:

I grew up in Queens, New York. I attended the High School of Music and Art, followed by receiving my Bachelors and Masters degrees in Double Bass performance from the Juilliard School of Music. I had long been intrigued by the double bass instruments I and others played and also found the bows fascinating. The professional musician’s lifestyle and auditions seemed daunting to me. Instead I sought related areas of the classical music scene in which I might become involved. A position opened for me to work in sales at the bowmaker, William Salchow’s shop. Soon a bench opening for rehairing arose and I learned to rehair bows, which suited me well. William Salchow generously agreed to teach me how to make bows in the hours after the shop had closed. Yung Chin, who was then working in the Salchow shop, also gave of his time, guiding my training. Once on my own, Francois Malo of Montreal and David Samuels, now living in Israel, contributed generously to my early training.

As a result of my contact with bass teachers from my music training, I was surrounded by bass players and as a bass player myself, I naturally gravitated towards the making of bass bows. Even early on, as a well trained player, my bows were made from the player’s perspective. As my bowmaking skills developed, so grew my understanding of playability. My intuitive sense of bowmaking developed from the player’s foundation guided my process and I found myself specializing in the making of bass bows, in both the French and German styles.

I have attended the Oberlin Bowmaking Workshop in summers since 1999, where with my colleagues, there is rich exchange of information, methods, and ideas. In the summer of 2000, I studied with Stephane Thomachot and Mitsu Sasano in Paris, which advanced my foundation in the French style of bowmaking. With this firm grounding in the classical French style, my bows are not only beautiful but real “players’ bows”.

I make my bows to order, one at at time, striving for the highest quality with each bow. I have since gone on to make bass bows for many of the most prominent players in many major symphony orchestras.