Bernardo Alviz was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia. He started his music studies at the age of 17 and holds a Bachelor degree from the Universidad Javeriana in Bogota as well as a Bachelor and Masters degree from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in Germany.
Bernardo is a passionate performer of contemporary music and has performed in some of the most renowned festivals including the Lucerne festival in 2017 with Heinz Holliger and Mathias Pintcher as chief conductors; as principal bass with the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop at the Donaueschingen Musiktagen in 2017 as well as at the Rainy Days music festival in Luxembourg 2014; as principal bass of the Staatskapelle Berlin during the Infektio! Music festival in Berlin in 2016; and as principal bass with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Malmo International Chamber music festival 2016 in Sweden.
We talk about growing up in Colombia, his training in Germany, meeting his wife Phoebe Russell, and their subsequent move to Australia, and getting established as a bassist there. We also dig into his struggles with a performance injury and the mystery surrounding it, the struggles and discoveries that have come from it, and his move into teaching a large studio of young bassists and doing a PHD in composition.
Enjoy, and be sure to check out Bernardo’s website to learn more about this work!
Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!
Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 80+ wide-ranging titles for bassists.
Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle.
Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Dorico – Dorico helps you to write music notation, automatically producing printed results of exceptional quality — and plays it back with breathtaking realism. It is easy enough for anyone to learn, yet has hundreds of advanced notations, features, options and sounds to satisfy even the most demanding professionals. With its streamlined, natural user interface, students and those with less experience in scoring can compose and arrange straight into Dorico, making learning the language of music notation much faster and more intuitive. Editing and making changes — such as instrument, time signature or key — are straightforward, with the notation instantly and correctly adapting to include them, reinforcing the learning outcome.
Ear Trumpet Labs – They make hand-built mics out of Portland, OR and they have an excellent mic for upright bass called Nadine. The Nadine is a condenser mic with a clear natural sound and incredible feedback rejection. This mic is a completely new design — the head mounts in between the strings above the tailpiece with a rubber grommet, and the body securely straps to the tailpiece with velcro elastic. A 14-inch Mogami cable connects the two parts making it easy to place on any bass. It’s durable and holds up to the demanding needs of the instrument while offering excellent sound quality. Ear Trumpet Labs is offering a free t-shirt just for Contrabass listeners with the purchase of a mic, just visit EarTrumpetLabs.com/contrabass to claim yours and check out the Nadine!
Modacity – Are you a practice-savvy musician? Get Modacity – the music practice app that organizes, focuses, and tracks your progress. Recorder… metronome… tone generator… timer… note taking… Do away with the random assortment of music practice apps in your arsenal. Modacity™ combines all the tools you need into one easy to use, music practice tool. Organize, focus, and reflect on your practice – motivating you to increase retention in less time. Modacity has a special offer for Contrabass Conversations listeners that includes lifetime access to the app.
Contrabass Conversations production team:
- Jason Heath, host
- Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
- Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
- Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
- theme music by Eric Hochberg
