double bass podcast
Jason and Courtney at Tank Hill park right next to their San Francisco pad!
I will be moving to San Francisco this June! Major life changes taking place for the Heath household. I put together this podcast episode that explains the move–check it out!
Milwaukee Symphony acting principal bass and Northwestern University double bass faculty member Andrew Raciti
We are featuring Andrew Raciti on this week’s show. Andy is the acting principal bass of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He is also the head of the double bass studio of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Before joining the Milwaukee Symphony in 2006, Mr Raciti was associate principal bass of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Australia. He has also performed with the Detroit Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Indianapolis Symphony principal bassist Ju-Fang Liu
Today’s episode features Indianapolis Symphony principal bassist Ju-Fang Liu. We had a great conversation about growing up in Taiwan, her years studying at the Interlochen Arts Academy and at Indiana University with Lawrence Hurst and Bruce Bransby, her time in New World, teaching, playing jazz, studying bass overseas, and several other topics.
We also feature excerpts from her wonderful solo album, which I highly recommend checking out—it really is bass playing at its finest. Enjoy!
About Ju-Fang:
Ju-Fang Liu was appointed Principal Bass of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra by Maestro Mario Venzago in 2003, shortly after receiving her bachelor and master’s degrees in double bass performance from Indiana University. There she studied with notable bass pedagogues Bruce Bransby and Larry Hurst. In addition, she has worked with other internationally-known teachers such as Edwin Barker, Edger Meyer, Harold Robinson, Stuart Stankey, Lawrence Wolf and Tim Cobb.
Ms. Liu’s musical interests encompass all aspects of musical performance. She was a repeat performer in the world-renowned Marlboro Music Festival working with the top chamber music professionals of our time as well as performing in the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals. A sensitive and thoughtful performer, she is constantly in demand in Indianapolis’ various chamber music venues.
Ju-Fang has been a finalist for the Boston Symphony as well as for the Atlanta Symphony Principal position in 2014, and has appeared with the Chicago Symphony. In addition, she has performed as co-principal with the New World Symphony. Her solo concerto performances have included the Bottesini, Koussevitzky and Tubin concerti, the latter performed under the baton of Maestro Venzago. She is also the first performer to win both the Solo and Orchestral Categories (Adult/Professional) of the International Society of Bassists competitions.
Ju-Fang has always had a serious interest in teaching and pedagogy and has previously taught at DePauw University and Indiana University. She joined the faculty of the Butler University School of Music in Indianapolis in 2014. Ms. Liu has given master classes in Columbia, working with the Filarmónica Joven de Colombia and has been a guest artist at the Taipei National School of the Arts and the Beijing Central Conservatory and other conservatories in China and Taiwan, performing recitals and giving classes.
Always seeking to improve her musical scope, Ju-Fang was awarded a Creative Renewal Grant from the Arts Council of Indianapolis and has added the electric bass and jazz study to her resume. Her solo cd is available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/JuFangLiu.
Today’s episode features longtime collaborator John Grillo performing Mozart’s aria Per questa bella mano. So, today’s episode features John performing Per Questa Bella Mano with John Dennison singing and Andrew Hauze on piano.
In addition to being our third interview guest for the podcast way back in 2007 (almost ten years ago at this point!), John and I have co-interviewed many prominent bassists over the years, including Lawrence Hurst (which we re-released a few weeks ago in a newly edited format), Ed Barker, Max Dimoff, and many others.
We’ve also featured quite a bit of John’s bass playing here, including a complete recital featuring music of Bach, Schubert, Dave Anderson, and Stanley Chepaitis. We also featured a couple of really interesting episodes covering orchestra excerpts and opera excerpts with an analysis of each excerpt followed by a performance from John of that excerpt. these are extremely useful practice guides—definitely check these out if you haven’t before—it’s episode 41 for the orchestra excerpts and episode 62 for the opera excerpts.
If you have the app, just search for “John Grillo” and you’ll find all of these episodes. I hope you enjoy this, and stay tuned for more from John in the future!
Gulbenkian Orchestra principal bassist Marc Ramirez
Today we are featuring an interview with Marc Ramirez. Originally from New York, Marc is the principal bassist with the Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon, Portugal. Marc and I had a great conversation about his path to this job overseas, where he has now been for 17 years. We talk about similarities and differences in American and European orchestras, auditioning, traveling with a bass, his beautiful Cavani bass, and many other topics. We also feature excerpts from Marc’s performance of the Bottesini Grande Duo Concertante para Violino e Contrabaixo with Bin Chao on violin.
Up Magazine recently did a great profile on Marc covering his journey from the United States to Portugal, touring with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, and many other topics. Marc will also be performing the European premiere of the Harbison Bass Concerto in May of 2016. Enjoy!
