The double bass, also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched chordophone in the modern symphony orchestra. It has four or five strings, and its construction is in between that of the gamba and the violin family.
Franz Simandl was a double-bassist and pedagogue from Austria-Hungary most remembered for his book New Method for String Bass, known as the "Simandl book", which is to this day used as a standard study of double bass technique and hand positions.
François Rabbath is a contemporary French double-bass virtuoso, soloist, and composer.
Lynn Harrell was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras over a career spanning nearly six decades.
Harold Hall ("Hal") Robinson is an American classical double bass player, formerly the principal bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Timothy Cobb is the American current principal double bassist with the New York Philharmonic. He previously taught at the Peabody Institute of Music, and joined the Manhattan School of Music faculty in 1992. Cobb also currently teaches at SUNY Purchase, Lynn University, Rutgers University: Mason Gross School of the Arts, YOA Orchestra of the Americas, and Mannes School of Music Preparatory Division. He is the current chair of the double-bass department at the Juilliard School, where he has been on faculty since 2002.
Karen Ritscher is an American violist and academic.
Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is an international music festival and a music and dance academy in Saint-Irénée, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. The domain is a operated by a non-profit organization occupying a large set of land and buildings located in Saint-Irénée, near La Malbaie. Concerts take place in the Concert Hall. Since the concert hall opened in 1996, it has also hosted a variety program.
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. Palma studied with several noted bassists including Frederick Zimmermann, Robert Brennand, Orin O'Brien, and 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. Mensch held faculty positions at Yale University, at the Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School, the Mannes College of Music, Rutgers University, Dalcroze School, Queens College, and Catholic University. He taught upwards of 45 students a week from beginners, to conservatory students, to professionals both in the classical and jazz fields.
Ronald Leonard is an American cellist. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, principal cellist and teacher. He is currently on the faculties of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn School. He was a winner of the Walter Naumburg Competition while a student at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Leonard Rose and Orlando Cole.
Dennis Trembly is Professor of string bass at the University of Southern California. He is also one of two principal bassists for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Stuart Sankey was a pedagogue of the double bass. His students included Gary Karr, the first bass player of the modern era to make a career as a solo artist, and Edgar Meyer. He taught for nearly 50 years at the Aspen Music School. He also held teaching positions at the University of Texas, Indiana University, and the University of Michigan. He made a large number of transcriptions for the double bass, increasing the literature for the instrument. Sankey was born in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1927. He attended the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and the Juilliard School of Music. His teachers included Frederick Zimmermann, Jean Morel and Henry Brant.
Frank Proto is an American composer and bassist. He was a double bass student of Fred Zimmermann and David Walter. He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in 1966 with a Master of Music. A self-taught composer, Proto has played and composed for a wide range of ensembles and soloists including Dave Brubeck, Eddie Daniels, Duke Ellington, Cleo Laine, Sherrill Milnes, Gerry Mulligan, Roberta Peters, Francois Rabbath, Ruggiero Ricci, Doc Severinsen and Richard Stoltzman.
Anton Torello was a Catalan double bass player. He was Principal Bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1914 until 1948, and was the first bass professor at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. He taught what became the Philadelphia school of double bass playing, strongly influencing American bass playing.
Peter Seymour is a double bass player and composer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is the co-creator, manager and bass player of Project Trio, an internationally touring chamber music ensemble. He has performed in concert halls around the world, including Severance Hall, The Concertgebow, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Seymour is also an active educator. As a member of Project Trio, he organizes and performs in more than 100 school concerts a year.
Sébastien Dubé is an upright bassist known from several international classical orchestras and jazz ensembles.
Jeremy McCoy is a Canadian-American double bassist known for his work as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber musician, studio session player and teacher. He is assistant principal double bass with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City.
Shinji Takane Eshima is a Japanese-American musician, composer, and teacher.
