164: The Karr-Koussevitzky Double Bass

This week’s episode contains a recital I did about ten years ago on the Karr-Koussevitzky double bass. I was thrilled to have this opportunity and thought a lot about what sort of repertoire would be best suited for a recital like this.

I eventually settled on a traditional program that I thought tapped into some aspect of either Gary Karr or Koussevitzky. Lyric Opera of Chicago bassist Greg Sarchet was kind enough to set this event up for me at Northeastern Illinois University in their gorgeous recital hall.

You’ll hear the following pieces on this recital:

Eccles Sonata (complete)
Koussevitzky Valse Miniature
Gliere Intermezzo
Hindemith Sonata
Massenet Meditation from “Thais”

It’s a live recital and has its share of mistakes for sure, but it’s kind of cool to get a chance to hear that bass, and it was certainly a great opportunity for me to play on a piece of history. Enjoy–more interviews coming next week!

Amati recital program NEIU (PDF)

163: Kurt Muroki Interview

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This week, we bring you an interview with Indiana University double bass professor Kurt Muroki. Kurt is an outstanding performer, teacher, and artist, and we had a great conversation about teaching, learning, and performing. Enjoy!

Former Artist Member with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Professor Kurt Muroki began his musical studies on the violin at the age of six and subsequently performed concerti with the Honolulu Symphony and the Maui Symphony. Mr. Muroki went on to study the Double bass at the age of 13 and entered the Juilliard School of Music at 17 studying with his teacher / mentor Homer R. Mensch.

At the age of 21 Kurt began performing with the internationally renowned Sejong Soloists under ICM Management. Kurt has performed with the The Jupiter Chamber Players, Speculum Musicae, “Great Performers” series at Lincoln Center, Ensemble Sospeso, Sequitur, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Tokyo Opera Nomori, New York City Ballet, 92nd St. Y, and Bargemusic. Festivals include Marlboro Music Festival, Festival L’Autonne at IRCAM, and Aspen Music Festival to name a few. Kurt is also active playing movies, commercials, popular, and classical recordings with titles including the Oscar winning film “The Departed”, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”, “Hitch”, “Julie and Julia”, “The Manchurian Candidate”, “Roger Daltrey Sings Pete Townshend” – The Who, Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Itzhak Perlman.

Mr. Muroki has won numerous competitions including 1st prize in the Aspen Music Festival double bass competition, the first bassist to win the New World Symphony concerto competition, and the Honolulu Symphony Young Artists competition. He has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Tokyo, Orion quartets, Ensemble Wein-Berlin, Jaime Laredo, Lynn Harrell, Maurice Bourgue, Toru Takemitsu, Peter Schickele, John Zorn, and Brian Ferneyhough among others, and has performed concerto tours throughout Asia and the United States. Professor Muroki is currently tenured faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Artist/Lecturer at Stony Brook University, Distinguished Artist at the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, faculty/Director of the Kaplan Fellowship program at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, teaches at New York String Orchestra Seminar, and has been a judge at the Yale Gordon Competition at Peabody Conservatory, ASTA, and others. Mr Muroki is a past Board Member of the International Society of Bassists and is a D’Addario Strings Artist.

162: David Allen Moore Interview (from the archives)

We’re featuring an interview from the podcast archives with Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist and University of Southern California bass instructor David Allen Moore on the podcast this week. David also teaches bass during the summer at the Domaine Forget program in Quebec. In this interview, we chat about his early years on the instrument, teachers that have influenced him, his time in the Houston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic, challenges of learning repertoire for a professional orchestra, his studies with François Rabbath, German and French bow differences, and many other topics.

After the interview, we feature a track of David playing the Bohemian Dance from Frank Proto’s Carmen Fantasy. Enjoy!

David’s faculty page on USC website

Domaine Forget Festival

About David:

DAVID ALLEN MOORE graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern California in 1993 where he studied with Dennis Trembly, Paul Ellison, and John Clayton. Moore continued his studies in Boston, working privately with BSO principal bass Edwin Barker while performing with Boston Baroque, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Emmanuel Music, and the Boston Pops Esplanade orchestra. Moore performed as a substitute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 1995/96 season, after which he was a member of the Houston Symphony bass section under maestro Christoph Eschenbach, from 1996 to 1999.

In January of 2000 Moore became a full-time member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s bass section and was promoted to the 4th chair by audition in October of the same year.

Moore has participated in numerous festivals including Tanglewood, the Grand Teton Music Festival, Mainly Mozart, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, and Kent/Blossom Summer Music Festival. He is an active recitalist and chamber musician, having performed in the Houston area with the Greenbriar Consortium, in Los Angeles with the Philharmonic’s New Music Group, and in San Diego with the Mainly Mozart Festival. He has been a featured clinician at the 2012 TCU International Double Bass Festival, the 2011 International Society of Bassists convention, the 1999 Texas Double Bass Symposium. From 2003-2009 Moore was a faculty member at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles. Moore has been a faculty member of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music since 2000, and since the Fall of 2010 he has been part of the full-time faculty as an Assistant Professor while maintaining his position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Since 2007 Moore has been a faculty member at Domaine Forget in Quebec, Canada.

In November of 2007 he began studies with internationally renowned double bass pedagogue and soloist François Rabbath in Paris. Moore received both the Diploma and Teaching Certificate from the Institut International Rabbath in February of 2009.

Moore has presented clinics and master classes at Juilliard, The Curtis Institute of Music, Northwestern University, and Rice University, among others. He has former students performing in major orchestras in The U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe, and Asia.

The double bass that Moore performs on with the Philharmonic is an instrument by Nicolo Gagliano made in 1735.His solo bass is a modern instrument by French luthier Christian Laborie. Moore uses bows designed especially for him by Paris bowmaker Boris Fritsch that are a unique French/German hybrid and are designed to be played either overhand or underhand.

This interview originally aired on July 18, 2009 on CBC Episode 128.

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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.