161: Alex Hanna Interview

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Bass Alex Hanna

We are thrilled to bring you this interview with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Bass Alex Hanna. In addition to his responsibilities leading the bass section of the CSO, Alex teaches double bass at DePaul University and is active as a clinician, soloist, and chamber musician.

About Alex:

Inspired by the sound of the symphony orchestra, Alexander Hanna at age 13 decided to pursue a career as a bassist. Throughout his youth, after beginning music studies on the piano at age 4, he performed as a recitalist on both piano and bass and also as a soloist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra on both instruments. In 2004, he was invited to study at the Curtis Institute of Music with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer.

In 2012, Riccardo Muti appointed Hanna as principal bass of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He had served four years as principal bass of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Alex will be performing the Vanhal Concerto with the Chicago Symphony December 17-19, 2015. We feature excerpts from Alex performing this concerto with the Bellingham Festival Orchestra, Michael Palmer conducting. Enjoy!

CBC 160: Barry Lieberman Interview

Barry Lieberman – University of Washington Artist in Residence and Double Bass Faculty

This week, we’re featuring an interview with double bassist Barry Lieberman. The former Assistant Principal Bass of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Principal Bass of the Winnipeg Symphony, Barry now serves as co-director of The American String Project, an innovative string ensemble which features arrangements of string quartets for small string ensemble with double bass.

In this interview, we discuss Barry’s recent TASP CD release on MSR Classics, his orchestral solo tutorials on his YouTube channel, upcoming possible future video projects, and designing a bass rosin that really works.

Order the new recording from The American String Project here (MSR Classics).

Check out Barry Lieberman’s Bass Tutorials here.

CBC 159: Paul Ramsier Interview

This special Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with composer Paul Ramsier. Though Paul is particularly well-known for his collaborations with Gary Karr, he continues to remain quite active as a composer and has a number of interesting projects in the works.

Throughout this interview, you will hear excerpts from Divertimento and Silent Movie, two of Paul’s most popular compositions. These excerpts come from Paul’s recently released DVD titled Four Ramsier Favorites and featuring double bassist Jerome Butler on bass. We also discuss Bass Tunes, Paul’s excellent volume of duets for young bassists and a book that I frequently use with my own students.

Paul Ramsier (piano) and Jordan Butler (bass) performing live from “Four Ramsier Favorites” DVD

Links to some of Paul’s online offerings:

Paul’s website
Four Ramsier Favorites DVD
Bass Tunes
Compositions for Virtuoso Double Bass CD (site features audio excerpts of these tracks)
Lemur Music (search for Paul Ramsier – many titles available including music for Divertimento, Silent Movie, Three Lyric Pieces, Eusebius Revisited, Road to Hamelin, and Lullaby for Bass Quartet)

CBC 158: Charles DeRamus Interview

We’re bringing you an interview with double bassist Charles DeRamus on Contrabass Conversations this week. Charles is a member of the Gothenburg Symphony and has worked extensively in both Europe and the United States during his professional career. Charles has recently written a children’s concert for double bass quartet and narrator called “Greta’s Dream” which has been performed at many venues in the United States and Sweden. This piece will be performed at the 2011 International Society of Bassists Convention in San Francisco, so be sure to check out their session if you can attend the convention.

Following the interview, we feature two excerpts from a live performance of Greta’s Dream (right around the 57 minute point in the podcast if you want to jump right to them), and more information about this piece will be provided in the coming months.

Be sure to check out the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Bass Quartet on Facebook–they’ve got a great page!

About Charles:

Charles DeRamus has a career that spans from North America to Scandinavia, where he is currently a member of the Gothenburg Symphony and has worked extensively with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Malmo? Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In the United States he has performed, recorded and toured with the Atlanta Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival. His studies include degrees from Indiana University and Rice University, after which he was a member of the New World Symphony and participated in numerous summer festivals including Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, National Repertory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, and the National Orchestral Institute.

Equally at home in various musical venues, Charles has performed with the Houston Grand Opera, Atlanta Opera, Ohio Light Opera, NorrlandsOperan, Malmo? Opera, as well as the Dayton Bach Society, the contemporary ensemble “Black Box Band”, Sweden’s acclaimed new music ensemble Gageego, and the Persian/European influenced Rumi Ensemble. Recent solo engagements include a unique performance with the National Orchestra of Sweden for a concert celebrating newly naturalized Swedish citizens, as well as performances of Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango and Beethoven’s F Major Romance with the Eureka Symphony in the United States.

Charles is a dedicated teacher and currently serves on the faculties of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop and the Idyllwild Arts Summer Festival Programs. Previously he has served on the All-State at Interlochen and University of Michigan Summer Arts Institute faculties, as well as given masterclasses in Norway, Sweden, the United States, and at the Royal College of Music and Yehudi Menuhin School in England. As a composer/arranger, in the 2010/11 season Charles will celebrate the premier performances of “Greta’s Dream”, his newly written children’s concert for Double Bass Quartet and narrator. Following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, Charles is the third generation bassist in his family.

CBC 157: Koussevitzky recordings

This week on Contrabass Conversations, we’re bringing you rare footage of Serge Koussevitzky performing a few selections. Enjoy this trip back in double bass history, brought to you by double bassist John Grillo.

Previous Contrabass Conversations episodes featuring John Grillo include: