Pawel Knapik is a bassist and composer originally from Poland and currently living and working in New York City. He has been a longtime champion of Polish composers, and he recently performed the American premiere of Tadeusz Kassern’s Double Bass Concerto.
Pawel is also an accomplished composer, and how he has written many pieces for the double bass, including his Westbeth Capriccio. He has also put together a documentary about the life of Tadeusz Kassern and his time in the United States.
We talk about Tadeusz’ life as a diplomat, how he found himself in the United States, his unique compositional voice, and the CGDA tuning in which his concerto is written. We also talk about Pawel’s backstory, his multiple entrepreneurial projects, and more. Enjoy!
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Contrabass Conversations production team:
- Jason Heath, host
- Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
- Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
- Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
- Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging
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