Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

880: Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone

Today’s deep-dive covers how to take creative chances and get out of your comfort zone—enjoy!

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Upton Bass String Instrument Company – Upton’s Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long “Karr neck” has even become a favorite of crossover electric players.

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Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – CMU is dedicated to helping each student achieve their goals as a musician. 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.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

682: Lizzie Burns on chamber music and community engagement

It was a pleasure chatting with Lizzie Burns about the fascinating career that she has carved out for herself in the music world.  

New York City based bass player Lizzie Burns specializes in small ensemble repertoire and solo works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Lizzie is a recent alum of the Carnegie Hall based fellowship program Ensemble Connect, during which she cultivated audience engagement skills on and off stage as well as in public school classrooms and community settings.

As a roster musician of Decoda, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble in Residence, she is able to continue that work alongside her extraordinary colleagues. She feels very lucky to travel the world and regularly perform with ensembles such as The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, The Knights, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as well as perform new works and collaborate with composers alongside the International Contemporary Ensemble.

Lizzie’s musical life started in rock and fusion bands, and she currently enjoys employing her rhythm section chops in the musical theater world. She was the bass player for “Moby Dick” and “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” at Boston’s American Repertory Theater, and in 2016-17 she could be found regularly at Broadway’s Imperial Theater in the onstage band for Great Comet. Lizzie pursued her higher education in Boston both at the New England Conservatory of Music and Boston University where she studied with Don Palma and Ed Barker respectively.

We talk about her path toward music school, how Don Palma inspired her to head down the path that she’s now on, advice for people looking to explore a career in chamber music, and much more. 

We chatted on February 25h for the podcast, and much has changed in the world in the intervening weeks, but I hope that you enjoy taking your mind off of these concerning times with this engaging and thoughtful conversation with Lizzie! 

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I’d also like to thank the sponsors who have supported us over the months and years. If you’d like to help the bass community recover as quickly as possible, consider visiting their site and making a purchase: 

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