As if moving the double bass around in day-to-day life wasn't already inconvenient enough, if you've ever tried flying with one, you know how awful things can really be. I've had a lot of experience flying with my bass over the past few years, travelling mostly between Winnipeg and the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal triangle, and all of my trips have been successful, so I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks I've picked up along the way for making this awful ritual as straightforward as possible.
Master luthier Mario Lamarre, the maker of my 2018 bass, has updated his website with photos and information about it! I’ve been nothing but pleased with the instrument since I picked it up from his studio in Montreal a year and a half ago…
The town immediately reminded me of Banff, because if its raw natural beauty, supported by offerings of excellent food and great entertainment: a truly winning trifecta. The obvious problem was that I didn’t have enough time to try all the fish’n’chips and chowders in town, so when I was invited to be the house-bassist for the festival this summer, I jumped at the chance to return for a longer period of time.
As if moving the double bass around in day-to-day life wasn't already inconvenient enough, if you've ever tried flying with one, you know how awful things can really be. I've had a lot of experience flying with my bass over the past few years, travelling mostly between Winnipeg and the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal triangle, and all of my trips have been successful, so I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks I've picked up along the way for making this awful ritual as straightforward as possible.
The town immediately reminded me of Banff, because if its raw natural beauty, supported by offerings of excellent food and great entertainment: a truly winning trifecta. The obvious problem was that I didn’t have enough time to try all the fish’n’chips and chowders in town, so when I was invited to be the house-bassist for the festival this summer, I jumped at the chance to return for a longer period of time.
As usual, the time between mid-February and the spring comes out as a blur. What happened to all that time?
In my case, it's been tons of work and a little play - a very memorable Rachmaninov 2nd symphony concert with the WSO and Jean-Marie Zeitouni; a fantastic trip to Ottawa to play my favourite Brahms symphony with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, followed by a short concert tour to my home town Roy Thompson Hall; and then some snowboarding/shredding in the beautiful rocky mountains.
Also as usual, a big question on my my through all of that has been "what am I going to do with myself when the season is over in May and I'm unemployed until the fall?" Well, this year, it's looking real good.
At the WSO, we just finished our season with a visit from an incredible young violinist, Bomsori Kim, who performed Shostakovich's 1st violin concerto with us. Her playing was impeccable and beautifully refined - if you ever have a chance to hear her play, do yourself a favour and get a ticket! We also played Ein Heldenleben, and though we had severely under-powered strings, I thought the orchestra managed quite a good performance!
Next up I'm packing my bass for Ottawa and performing Hedenleben again with the National Arts Centre Orchestra for their final concert of the year.. I'm very psyched for both concerts, and also really happy that a few of my colleagues from the WSO will be coming along to Ottawa to bolster the ranks there - Strauss is always a party!
The summer gets exciting after that. I'll be working on a few top-secret recording projects in a couple beautiful places before taking a quick trip to Indiana University to tour the grounds with the rest of the International Society of Bassists Board of Directors for our 2019 ISB convention. From there it's straight to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, for a couple weeks at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance as the resident bassist, collaborating with the Iris Ensemble (Yolanda Bruno, Mark Lee, Rory McLeod, and Leana Rutt), and the LAMP Composition Academy, run by Dinuk Wijeratne, Nicole Lizee, Robert Aiken, and Roger Reynolds. I love the east coast, and it will be my first time in a decade spending more than a week out there, making music.
In July I'll be taking some time to relax and practice things I never seem to have time for any more - namely El Perro and other fun technique from The Canadian School of Double Bass. I'll also be leading/coaching the bass section of Boris Brott's National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton for one of their concerts.
Soon after Lunenburg, it's off to the pacific coast to play some more chamber music with the once again with Kaimerata Festival on Denman Island. The focus of our concerts there will be Czech music, and I'm very excited to perform the Dvorak string quintet there.
So, lots of travelling, and once again crossing the entire continent on my musical journey this summer! If you can make it to any of my concerts, I'd love to hear from you and see you. Get in touch!
Just a quick tidbit that a colleague at the Canadian Opera Company sent my way - the New York Times listed our production and performance of Arabella as one of the best classical performances of 2017! I am so happy and proud to have been making that music come alive with the COC orchestra, it's an experience I'll not soon forget.
Welcome to 2018 - let's all make it a really good one!
It's looking like an excellent start to the year for me, and I'm looking forward to sharing details about everything over the coming months on my Concerts page. For now, here's a short overview...
I’m very excited to announce that, in partnership with the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Art, I’ll be putting on a day - ALL ABOUT THE BASS - on Saturday January 20th, 2018. The fee for the day is an incredibly reasonable $20, which is discounted back to anyone who chooses to sign up for some lessons at the conservatory afterwards.
Over the past couple of years, I've become more insistent that my students spend time every day practicing with an organ drone. My own experience practicing with drones has been very positive: it sets an excellent tone for how the rest of my practice session will be (ideally with very little tolerance for playing notes that don't "ring" truly in tune); and helps me to focus and establish a strong center to my conception of how intervals should sound.
Back in early August, I had the enormous pleasure of spending a week making music and listening to some fantastic musicians on Denman Island, BC. Denman Island is considered by many people to be just an island hop point to get to Hornby Island, which is only accessible by ferry from the eastern shore of Denman. People who simply drive through Denman don't know what they're missing out on!
Dear Toronto friends,
I'm so happy to have finalized my plans to spend most of this fall season in Toronto! I'll be acting Principal Bass for the Canadian Opera Company in their productions for Strauss' Arabella and Donizetti's Elixer of Love.
It's been years since I've had the chance to spend more than a week at a time in the city, so let's take full advantage of that and hang out - I'll be there for about half of September and all of October, and the first week of November. Coffee, drinks, concerts, galleries - let's go!
