192: Michael Klinghoffer on driving a double bass, how not to hold the bow, and directions in education

Michael Klinghoffer, author of Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?

Today’s episode features double bassist, author, conductor, and educator Michael Klinghoffer. Michael is a former Gary Karr student and is the author of the unorthodox and compelling book Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?

Michael is one of the most interesting minds in the world of contemporary double bass. In addition to his book, he has a wealth of articles, videos, and resources on is website pertaining to bass, musicianship, education, and numerous other topics.

We talk about his first encounters with Gary Karr, the impetus behind writing his book, how not to hold the bass and bow, and integrating performance, conducting and composition, and where education is going in the near future. This conversation is a deep philosophical dive into technical and mental aspects of musical practice, thought, and development.

We’ll feature two selections from Michael’s album Mostly Transcriptions Vol. 2. We open the episode with an excerpt from the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 1 in Bb Major, and conclude with the final movement of Strauss’ Sonata in F Major. This album, along with Drive a Double Bass and an interesting solfege book titled The Bottesini Project.

Check out the following links from Michael–they contain a wealth of useful content on a variety of topics):

About Michael:

Michael Klinghoffer, Author of Mr. Karr, Would You Teach Me How to Drive a Double Bass?, Dean of Performing Arts and Senior Lecturer of Double Bass at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Israel.

Michael Klinghoffer, double bass performer, conductor and educator studied under Gary Karr at Yale University, where he received Master of Music and at the Hartt School University of Hartford, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts.

He has been assistant principal bass player in the Israel Symphony Orchestra and in the Israel Sinfonietta.

Currently, he performs solo concerts, recitals and chamber music and conducts master classes in Israel and abroad. His repertoire ranges from contemporary Israel music, (much of it composed for him), to his own arrangements for double bass, which have been published in the U.S. and in Europe and recorded on two compact discs.

He has published articles on Music Education and on Pedagogy in Israel professional periodicals as well as in the U.S. “Music Education in Institutions of Non Formal Education” was published by MATAN in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education.

Since 1987, he has been on the faculty of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, conducting orchestras, teaching the double bass and other subjects. He was the Head of the String Department, the Dean of Students and he is currently serving as the Dean of Performing Arts and is the Direcor of the Jerusalem Consevatory Chamber Orchetsra.

Along with his academic commitments and performing engagements, and after being Music Director for seven years at MATAN, (Arts and Culture Project for Youth), Dr. Klinghoffer still devotes much time and energy to working with young musicians from diverse backgrounds all over Israel.

191: David Murray on the Karr sound, bow technique, and the spirit of Koussevitzky

Double bassist David Murray is this episode’s featured guest!

Today’s episode features double bassist David Murray. David is on faculty at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has been on the board of the International Society of Bassists for past two decades. The former winner of the ISB solo competition, David is known around the world as a soloist and clinician. He is also a member of the Bad Boyz of Bass, a quartet rounded out by Volkan Orhon, Anthony Stoops (a former Contrabass Conversations guest), and Paul Sharpe. We actually featured the Bad Boyz on episode 71 of the podcast back in 2008, which is well worth a listen if you haven’t checked it out before!

We talk about David’s experiences having Gary Karr as his first bass teacher, where the “Karr sound” came from, focusing on bow technique, the spirit of Koussevitzky, his long relationship with the International Society of Bassists as a former competition winner and longtime board member, traveling with a bass, and several other topics.

We also feature the title track from David’s solo album Vocalise, and we conclude the episode with a recording of David playing the first movement of the Franck Sonata from his Sonatas by Franck and Shostakovich album. Both the Vocalise album and the Sonatas album are available through the ISB Web Store. I’d also encourage you to check out David’s performance of the B.B. Wolf by Jon Deak. It’s a great piece and David knocks it out of the park!

About David:

David Murray has an international reputation as a solo bassist and teacher. He is currently Professor of Bass at Butler University in Indianapolis and Principal Bassist ofthe Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. He also plays as Principal Bassist with Sinfonia da Camera in Urbana, Illinois, and at the Bear Valley Music Festival in northern California. Before coming to Indianapolis, David was Instructor of Bass at West Texas A&M University and principal with the Amarillo Symphony.He has been a member of the Dallas Chamber Orchestra and also toured twice with the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

David’s first private teacher was bass virtuoso Gary Karr, with whom he studied in high-school and at the Hartt Music School, University of Hartford, in Connecticut. Summers were spent at Tanglewood and the Aspen Music Festival, where he worked with Stuart Sankey. At Aspen, he won the 1981concerto competition. In Los Angeles in 1988 he won the International Society of Bassists (ISB) Solo Competition, the first prize being a solo debut at Carnegie Hall. David has made solo appearances, both in recital and with orchestra, and given clinics and masterclasses throughout the United States, his native Canada, and in South Korea, Brazil, Israel, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal,Denmark, Germany, and Holland. He has performed at several summer chamber music festivals including Scotia Festival, Killington, and Cape May. In June, 2001,David hosted the ISB convention at Butler University for 800 bassists from 27countries and is currently a Past-President of the ISB. He has been published in the ISB journal, Double Bassist magazine, the Suzuki Association of America journal, and American String Teachers journal. He has recorded three solo CD’s(most recently in 2012), a duo CD with bassist Diana Gannett, is a founding member of the bass quartet Bad Boys of Bass with whom he released a CD in 2006,and he released a DVD of theater music in the spring of 2003.

“…to hear David Murray play it, the string bass is a vastly and unjustly neglected instrument. Murray…became a prime spokesman for the instrument.”

Denver Post

“…Murray is a top-notch player.”

IndianapolisStar

190: Czardas with Andy Anderson – the making of an arrangement

Double bassist Andrew Anderson is featured on today’s podcast

I had the opportunity recently to perform my arrangement of the Monti Czardas for double bass and orchestra recently, and I thought that it would make for a cool podcast episode. I though that Andy Anderson would make for a spectacular soloist, so this recording features me conducting and Andy playing bass with my orchestra. Andy is a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago bass section and teaches bass at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, and he has been featured on the podcast several times in the past.

We cover some of the details behind this arrangement, including some rehearsal recordings that Andy sent me to play for my group, and I couldn’t resist adding a little bonus audio at the end of the episode featuring a well-known piece for orchestra. Enjoy!

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.