Contemporary classical double bass players are performers who play the largest and lowest-pitched
bowedIn music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
string instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. The most common string instruments in the string family are guitar, violin, viola,...
. They perform European art music ranging from Mozart-era Classical pieces to contemporary avant-garde works in a variety of settings, ranging from huge
symphony orchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s to small chamber groups, or as soloists. Historical double bassists such as
Domenico DragonettiDomenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti was an Italian double bass virtuoso. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Italy and worked at the Opera Buffa, at the Chapel of San Marco and at the Grand Opera in Vicenza...
(1763-1846) and
Giovanni BottesiniGiovanni Bottesini was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso.-Biography:Born in Crema, Lombardy, he was taught the rudiments of music by his father, an accomplished clarinetist and composer, at a young age and had played timpani in Crema with the Teatro Sociale before...
(1821-1889) established a tradition for playing the instrument that was carried on in the 20th and 21st century with a number of double bass players.
Some of the most influential contemporary classical double bass players are known as much for their contributions to pedagogy than for their performing skills, such as US bassist
Oscar G. ZimmermanOscar G. Zimmerman was born September 21, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died April 2, 1987 in Traverse City, Michigan.-Biography:Oscar Zimmerman , double bassist with the Rochester Philharmonic for 36 years and professor emeritus at Eastman, was a member of the first graduating class of...
(1910-1987), known for his teaching at the Eastman School and, for 44 summers at the Interlochen Music Camp in
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and French-Syrian bassist
François RabbathFrançois Rabbath is a contemporary French double-bass player, soloist, and composer.-Method:He was born into a Syrian family of musicians but his only instruction came from a book written by a Parisian bassist Edouard Nanny...
(b.
Contemporary classical double bass players are performers who play the largest and lowest-pitched
bowedIn music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
string instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. The most common string instruments in the string family are guitar, violin, viola,...
. They perform European art music ranging from Mozart-era Classical pieces to contemporary avant-garde works in a variety of settings, ranging from huge
symphony orchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s to small chamber groups, or as soloists. Historical double bassists such as
Domenico DragonettiDomenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti was an Italian double bass virtuoso. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Italy and worked at the Opera Buffa, at the Chapel of San Marco and at the Grand Opera in Vicenza...
(1763-1846) and
Giovanni BottesiniGiovanni Bottesini was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso.-Biography:Born in Crema, Lombardy, he was taught the rudiments of music by his father, an accomplished clarinetist and composer, at a young age and had played timpani in Crema with the Teatro Sociale before...
(1821-1889) established a tradition for playing the instrument that was carried on in the 20th and 21st century with a number of double bass players.
Some of the most influential contemporary classical double bass players are known as much for their contributions to pedagogy than for their performing skills, such as US bassist
Oscar G. ZimmermanOscar G. Zimmerman was born September 21, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died April 2, 1987 in Traverse City, Michigan.-Biography:Oscar Zimmerman , double bassist with the Rochester Philharmonic for 36 years and professor emeritus at Eastman, was a member of the first graduating class of...
(1910-1987), known for his teaching at the Eastman School and, for 44 summers at the Interlochen Music Camp in
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and French-Syrian bassist
François RabbathFrançois Rabbath is a contemporary French double-bass player, soloist, and composer.-Method:He was born into a Syrian family of musicians but his only instruction came from a book written by a Parisian bassist Edouard Nanny...
(b. 1931), who developed a new bass method which divided the entire fingerboard into six positions. Bassists noted for their virtuoso solo skills include US player
Gary KarrGary Karr , is an American classical double bass virtuoso and teacher.- Biography :Although he comes from seven generations of bassists, he was not encouraged by them to go into music...
(b. 1941) and Finnish bassist-composer
Teppo Hauta-AhoTeppo Hauta-Aho is a Finnish double bassist and composer.One of the most prominent jazz and classical double bassist in the Finland area, he resides in Helsinki. One of his most famous pieces, Kadenza, has been played at many music festivals worldwide, and for many competitions...
(born 1941).
This is a list of notable professional classical double bass players, including orchestral performers, soloists, chamber musicians, and teachers.
North America
- Edwin Barker
-Career:He graduated with honors from the New England Conservatory in 1976, where he studied double bass with Henry Portnoi. That same year, while a member of the Chicago Symphony, he was appointed at age twenty-two to the position of principal bassist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.Mr...
- Jeff Bradetich
Currently the Professor of Double Bass at the University of North Texas, Jeff Bradetich has had a career spanning the music industry. He has given over 1000 master classes all over the world , and has taught at some of the most prestigious universities in America.-Education:Mr...
- Max Dimoff
Maximilian Dimoff has been the principal bassist of the Cleveland Orchestra since 1997. He has appeared with the orchestra at their summer venue, the Blossom Festival, performing Koussevitsky's Concerto for Double Bass. He attended Northwestern University, where he studied with Jeff Bradetich. Mr....
- Timothy Cobb
- Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser is an American virtuoso double bass player and composer.He has performed and recorded with many of the luminaries of "new" jazz composition and improvisation. For ten years he performed with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, as well as diverse groups led by Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Anthony...
- Paul Ellison
Paul Ellison is co-principal bass at the Aspen and Grand Teton Festivals, and is Professor of Double Bass at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He is also on the faculty of The Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, California.Mr...
- Diana Gannett
Diana Gannett is a renowned American classical double bassist and educator, currently Professor of Double Bass at the University of Michigan School of Music....
- Barry Green
Barry Green is a U.S. orchestral and solo double bass player and teacher. He was the principal bassist for the Cincinnati Symphony. A contemporary of people such as Gary Karr, he has developed and publicized his own method for double bass....
- Chris Hanulik
- Gary Karr
Gary Karr , is an American classical double bass virtuoso and teacher.- Biography :Although he comes from seven generations of bassists, he was not encouraged by them to go into music...
- Albert Laszlo
Albert Laszlo was formerly the principal bass of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and currently faculty of The Juilliard School College and Pre-College Divisions as well as the College-Conservatory of Music .-Biography:...
- Eugene Levinson
Eugene Levinson is currently the principal double bassist of the New York Philharmonic and teaches at the Juilliard School. According to Book 1 of the New Method for Double Bass , Levinson, who was born in Kiev, began to study music at the age of nine. He graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory,...
- Homer Mensch
Homer Mensch was a prominent classical bassist who was a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops, and the NBC Symphony...
- Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
- David Murray
David Murray may refer to:*Dave Murray , Iron Maiden guitarist*David Murray, 1st Viscount of Stormont *David Murray, 4th Viscount of Stormont *Sir David Murray, 2nd Baronet...
- Orin O'Brien
Orin O'Brien is an American double bassist. She has been a member of the New York Philharmonic since joining in 1966 under the direction of Leonard Bernstein and was the first woman to join the orchestra in its history...
- Donald Palma
Donald Palma is a prominent classical double bassist, conductor, bass instructor, and educator of ensemble performance. He is a native of New York City, and is a graduate of the Juilliard School. Mr...
- Scott Pingel
- Frank Proto
Frank Proto American composer and bassist. Proto was born on July 18, 1941, Brooklyn, New York. Double Bass student of Fred Zimmermann and David Walter. Graduate of the Manhattan School of Music 1966 Master of Music. Self-taught composer...
- Joel Quarrington
Joel Quarrington , is a Canadian double bass player, soloist, teacher and is regarded as one of the world's best and foremost double bassists....
- Hal Robinson
Harold Hall Robinson is an American classical double bass player. He is currently the principal bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.-Early life and education:...
- Karl E. H. Seigfried
Karl E. H. Seigfried is a German-American jazz, rock, and classical bassist, guitarist, composer, bandleader, and educator based in Chicago....
- Bertram Turetzky
Bertram Turetzky is a contemporary American double bass soloist, teacher, and author of The Contemporary Contrabass , a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways of playing the double bass including featuring it as a solo performance vehicle with no other instrumental accompaniment...
- DaXun Zhang
- Oscar G. Zimmerman
Oscar G. Zimmerman was born September 21, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died April 2, 1987 in Traverse City, Michigan.-Biography:Oscar Zimmerman , double bassist with the Rochester Philharmonic for 36 years and professor emeritus at Eastman, was a member of the first graduating class of...
Europe
- Jurek Dybal
Jurek Dybal - Jerzy Dybał - is a Polish double-bass soloist and conductor.- Biography :A dynamic presence on the podium, Jurek Dybał has been captivating audiences as conductor, soloist, recitalist and chamber musician as well as being Associate Principal double-bass in the Vienna Philharmonic...
- Brian Day
Brian Day, MRCP , FRCS , FRCS , is a physician in Canada and was the 2007-2008 president of the Canadian Medical Association. He is known as Dr. Profit by opponents and Dr. Prophet by supporters for his advocacy of a role for private health care...
- Dorin Marc
- Jean-Pierre Robert
Jean-Pierre Robert is a French double bass player and author.In 1979, first prize of double bass of superior national Conservatoire of Paris, he becomes a musician of Ensemble l'Itinéraire steered by Michaël Levinas...
- Teppo Hauta-Aho
Teppo Hauta-Aho is a Finnish double bassist and composer.One of the most prominent jazz and classical double bassist in the Finland area, he resides in Helsinki. One of his most famous pieces, Kadenza, has been played at many music festivals worldwide, and for many competitions...
- Rinat Ibragimov
Rinat Ibragimov is a defenceman currently playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Kontinental Hockey League.-References:* player profile and career stats at...
- Jorma Katrama
Jorma Katrama is the top ranking soloist in Finland. He studied first violin and later double bass at the Sibelius Academy and was the first in Finland to be granted a diploma in double bass....
- Božo Paradžik
- Francesco Petracchi
- François Rabbath
François Rabbath is a contemporary French double-bass player, soloist, and composer.-Method:He was born into a Syrian family of musicians but his only instruction came from a book written by a Parisian bassist Edouard Nanny...
- Janne Saksala
- Rodney Slatford
Rodney Slatford is an English contemporary double bass player and teacher . He is also a publisher of a large amount of double bass music.-External links:*...
- Allan von Schenkel
Allan von Schenkel is an American double bassist, performance artist, music promoter, and composer. He is a self-described "creative bass soloist", and, since the beginning of his music career in the early 1990s, has performed an average of 80 recitals each year...
- Nabil Shehata
- Michael Barry Wolf
See also