Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

1015: Jesse Dietschi on balancing jazz and classical playing

Jesse Dietschi recently released Gradient, his debut album with fellow Toronto musicians Ethan Ardelli (drums) and Ewen Farncombe (piano).  This album has been getting considerable acclaim and will be featured in the Debut Album Reviews section of the December 2023 edition of DownBeat Magazine, along with numerous radio programs throughout North America and Europe.

We talk about the story behind this album, how Jesse and I met several years ago at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference, what it’s like balancing classical work like subbing with the Toronto Symphony with his jazz projects, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out October on Spotify and bandcamp, and be sure to follow along with Jesse on his website and Instagram!

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Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university. 

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

1013: Marty Isenberg on “The Way I Feel Inside” – Inspired by the films of Wes Anderson

Marty Isenberg recently released his debut album “The Way I Feel Inside” – Inspired by the films of Wes Anderson, and it has been getting great press.  In this interview, we chat with Marty about his life in music, his career as a jazz bassist, the inspiration for this album, and much more.  We also bring up a great interview that Marty also did for the Bass Shed.

Check out this super cool album on bandcamp and Spotify, and follow along with Marty and his projects on Instagram and his website!

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Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university. 

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

1012: Phoebe Russell on Smash Your Audition

Phoebe Russell is Principal Bass for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.  She recently released a course on Discover Double Bass titled Smash Your Audition.  

We released a YouTube video digging into this course, and in this podcast we cover Phoebe’s tips for preparing orchestral excerpts, what it was like to put all of her knowledge into a video course, general life updates, and more.

Check out Phoebe’s 2019 podcast appearance here, and be sure to check out her awesome course here!

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Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university. 

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

1011: Bobby Scharmann on winning an orchestra audition

Bobby Scharmann is Associate Principal Bass with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra and has been documenting his audition journey and what he has learned through the 24 professional orchestra auditions he took.

We last had Bobby on the podcast in 2020, and it was great to catch up with him and dig into his preparation process and what it was like landing his full-time orchestral position.  Enjoy, and be sure to check out Bobby’s website, Instagram, and YouTube Channel!

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Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university. 

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

1010: Lorraine Chai on music theory for young double bassists

Lorraine Chai is the author of Stringstastic, a set of music theory books for double bass and the other string instruments. We talk about these cool books, both of which are available through Amazon. Enjoy!

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Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university. 

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

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