International Guests

240: Thierry Barbé on expressive music, German bow, and French basses

Thierry Barbé is a man in constant motion.

When he’s not performing as principal bass of the Paris National Opera or teaching at the Paris Conservatory, Thierry can be found in all corners of the globe, performing lesser-known gems from the bass repertoire and giving clinics along the way.

He is a technical synthesizer, pulling from many different schools of playing, even incorporating German bow into his bag of techniques.

Thierry is a pioneer in uniting the European double bass community. He organized the first European Bass Conference in 2008 and started the European Society of Bassists shortly after that.

He also has a new CD/DVD, which are must-haves for any bassist. It’s available from the Triton label and as an MP3 download on Amazon.

Best of all, Thierry is a warm and caring person who brightens the day of anyone he runs into. I had the good fortune to work with him on the International Society of Bassists board a few years ago, and he brought a marvelous energy to the organization.

Check out the full interview using the audio player, and subscribe to the podcast to get interviews delivered to your inbox or device automatically!

Resources we covered in this interview:

Thierry’s website

Thierry’s YouTube channel

French Impressions on Amazon (MP3 download)

order the DVD

French Impressions – CD/DVD on Triton

236: Matthew McDonald on resonance, bow distribution, and mindset

Berlin Philharmonic principal bassist Matthew McDonald is today’s featured guest!

Today’s episode features Berlin Philharmonic principal bassist Matthew McDonald. Originally from Australia, Matthew joined the Philharmonic in 2008 after spending time in orchestras in Denmark and Germany. We cover bow distribution, resonance, the performers mindset, practicing, advice for students, and several other topics.

We also feature excerpts of Matthew performing pieces by Hindemith, Bruch, Bottesini, and Koussevitzky. Check out these complete recordings and more on Matthew’s YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Tracks featured:

229: BASS2016 Prague European Biennial Double Bass Congress Preview

Today’s episode features a conversation with Ursula Dieterich-Pedersen, who is organizing the 5th European Biennial Double Bass Congress, which will be taking place in Prague this September 20-25. Ursula and I got a chance to talk recently about some of the details for the event. You can find all the details for this event at bass2016.eu.

219: Gjorgji Cincievski on arranging, multi-meter, and life in paradise

Malta Philharmonic principal bassist Gjorgji Cincievski

Today we’re chatting with Gjorgji Cincievski, who is the principal bass of the Malta Philharmonic and has been putting out some very cool arrangements for Hoffmeister, including an arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for violin, viola, and double bass. You’ll be hearing excerpts from this piece on Gjorgji’s new recording throughout the episode, and we have a link in the show notes where you can get a copy of the recording and of the sheet music, as well as several other arrangements by Gjorgji.

Gjorgji will also be hosting the Malta Double Bass Summer Camp from August 22 – 28. Check out more details about this camp here.

Interview Highlights

growing up in Macedonia
the polyrhythms that are a part of folksongs in this country
life in Malta
publications for Hoffmeister
trio arrangement of the Goldberg Variations, for violin, viola, and double bass
many other arrangement projects on the horizon for Hoffmeister

208: Guy Tuneh on transcriptions, live performance, and musical curiosity

Soloist and chamber musician Guy Tuneh returns to the podcast

Today’s episode features soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist Guy Tuneh. Guy was on the podcast way back in 2007, and a lot has changed for him in the intervening years. His previous interview was one of our most popular episodes of all time, and in this talk we go even deeper, digging into why Guy makes music, how he approaches every single note he plays, and what motivates him to search out new repertoire and bring it to the double bass.

Guy has been working on several new recording projects, and we feature two of them today. We are including an excerpt from Beethoven’s Romance in G Major before the interview, and we close out the episode with a complete track of Guy performing Bach’s Allemande from the Violin Partita in D minor.

You can learn about Guy’s upcoming solo appearances, recordings, and other details at his website guytuneh.com and on his Facebook page. We also have a video version of this episode on YouTube. Enjoy!