Contrabass Conversations

Aaron Olguin serves as principal bass for Norway’s Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, and he has appeared several times on the podcast in recent years.

We connected for today’s episode to discuss bass s…

John Van Lierop serves as principal bass for Sinfonia Rotterdam and is a frequent guest principal bass in many European orchestras.  We connected to talk about the challenges of leading a bass sectio…

Thomas Fiorini is a member of the bass section of the Brussels Philharmonic and is an active performer in many genres.Equally at home on the bass guitar, he has performed with acts such as Rob Thomas…

Michael Kurth has had a remarkable career both as a member of the Atlanta Symphony bass section and as a composer.  The Atlanta Symphony has commissioned and premiered many of his orchestral and cho…

Brent Edmondson has made one of the most remarkable pandemic pivots of any musician I know.  After spending the last several years subbing regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra and performing wit…

Paul Thompson has spent the pandemic focusing on his YouTube Channel, and the results have been tremendous.  has been playing bass professionally for over 25 years, including recording and touring st…

Jon McCullough-Benner recently released a great new book called An Auditioning Double Bassist's Tool Kit: Bowings, Fingerings, and Useful Tips for Standard Audition Repertoire.  In this book, he shar…

Zach VanderGraaff is an elementary school general music teacher who has been adapting his teaching during the global pandemic in interesting ways.  He launched his website Dynamic Music Room prior to…

In addition to a thriving career as a composer and podcast host, Garrett Hope has been using Steinberg’s new music notation software Dorico for several years.  After having Daniel Spreadbury, Produc…

Susan Cahill has been rethinking the entire senior recital experience for her students at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. 

In addition to playing a traditional senior recital, sh…

We’re talking today with Trevor Jones of The Scholarship Roadmap about the value of a college education and the critical importance of finding a school that fits a student's needs and a scholarship t…

We’re joined today by past podcast guest David White, who has played for many Broadway and National Touring shows, including Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, The Bridges Of Madison County, Motown: T…

Brandi Disterheft’s latest album Surfboard, featuring tenor sax legend George Coleman and Brazilian drummer Portinho, has been turning a lot of heads since its release.  The project gestated in Diste…

Originally from Australia, Jeremy Watt spent 16 years freelancing through the UK and Europe, including stints as guest principal in Spanish, Norwegian and UK orchestras. Jeremy worked extensively wit…

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Kris Funn is part of the jazz faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins.  Kris released his first debut album, Cornerstore, in 2017, and he is an activ…

Bobby Scharmann has been making cool YouTube videos since the pandemic broke out, and a recent one titled Specialization vs. Diversification prompted me to get in touch with him about doing an interv…

This is an off-the-cuff and laid-back conversation with my friend and fellow podcaster James Newcomb all about what goes on behind the scenes of a podcast.  We get into the business of podcasting, nu…

Short Stories, Alison Rayner’s latest album with her quintet, has been getting critical acclaim in the UK and worldwide.  In this interview, we dig into Alison’s journey through the music world, how …

San Francisco Symphony principal bassist and San Francisco Conservatory bass faculty member Scott Pingel had a unique opportunity in 2019 to play a Cliff Burton tribute solo in front of two packed ho…

Mike Bullock is a composer, improviser, visual artist, and writer based in Western Massachusetts.  Mike has been performing since the mid 90s at venues across the US and in Europe, including Fylkinge…