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Shinji Takane Eshima (born August 4, 1956) is a Japanese-American musician, composer, and teacher.
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Shinji Takane Eshima (born August 4, 1956) is a Japanese-American musician, composer, and teacher.
On August 4, 1956, Eshima was born in Berkeley, California. [1] As a child, Eshima took piano lessons. At nine years old, Eshima won the Junior Bach Festival. [2] As a bassist, he was primarily self-taught for the first three years of learning the instrument, but he was inspired by violinist and educator Anne Crowden, his first music teacher for bass. [2] He played in the Berkeley Youth Orchestra and the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO) from 1972 to 1974; the latter group, led by Maestro Denis de Coteau, performed on tour in Berlin. [3]
Eshima graduated with a Bachelor in Music from Stanford University in 1978 and The Juilliard School with a Master of Music degree in 1979. [4] His primary teachers were his first bass professor, Charles Siani (Stanford University), and David Walter (The Juilliard School). [4] As a composer, he studied with Heinrich Taube. [5]
Under the baton of Sandor Salgo, Eshima was principal bass of the Marin Symphony and the Carmel Bach Festival. He was also a bassist with San Jose Symphony under Maestro George Cleve. [2] Eshima has also performed with Alma Trio, SF Chamber Soloists, SF Chamber Orchestra, [6] Francesco Trio, [7] and as part of the Schwabacher Recital Series [8]
Eshima has been a double bassist for San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet since 1980 and 1982, respectively. He holds the position of Associate Principal Bass in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. [4]
Shinji Eshima plays on the 1843 Charles Plumerel bass that is seen in the Edgar Degas 1870 c. oil on canvas painting The Orchestra at the Opera (fr. "L'orchestre de l'Opéra") [9] [ circular reference ] which hangs at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (an oil sketch of the work is owned by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and is often on display at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco). [10] An inscription on the bass states that Plumerel's instrument imitated Stradivari, but it is unconfirmed whether or not the bass is a copy of an instrument made by Antonio Stradivari. [11] The bass was originally owned by Achille Henry Victor Gouffé, a soloist of the Paris Opéra who performed with the company for 35 years and appears with the bass in the aforementioned Degas painting (Gouffé was 66 years old at the time). The bass has since been performed with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, NBC Symphony Orchestra, and New York City Ballet. Eshima's Juilliard teacher, David Walter, was the principal bass of the New York City Ballet orchestra and he played the Plumerel for more than 30 years. Six years after Walter's death, it was passed on to Shinji Eshima. The bass was first performed at the War Memorial Opera House in 2008 during the 75th anniversary of San Francisco Ballet. [11]
Eshima favors handmade Passione double bass strings by Pirastro. [12]
Since 1991, Eshima has taught classical bass at San Francisco State University. [13] He started teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2000. [4] He was previously a faculty member at Stanford University, San Francisco School of the Arts, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. [14] His students have received positions with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, [4] [15] London's Philharmonia Orchestra, [16] the Montreal Symphony, and Utah Symphony. [17] In June 2011, he organized and presented at the International Society of Bassists at San Francisco State University, which was attended by over 1,100 bassists from around the world. [18] On November 19, 2015, he presented his lecture "Bach, Ballet, Buddhism, Boddhisattvas, and Anne Crowden" as part of the Mancini lecture series at The Crowden School in Berkeley. [19]
Shinji Eshima received the Stanford Humanities Awards in 1977. [4]
On December 6, 2011, the city of Berkeley, California honored Eshima's contribution to the arts and commemorated the occasion as "Shinji Eshima Day." [45]
In 2015, in honor of the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov's ballet Swimmer, featuring original music by Eshima, Andrea Campos of Jardinière restaurant created the "Swimmer" cocktail. It consisted of The Botanist gin, St. Germain (elderflower liqueur) and pamplemousse (grapefruit). [46]
Eshima's ex-wives are Barbara Petniunas (now Hodgkinson) and Rachel Waldron. Eshima is married to Sandra (Sandy) Jennings Eshima, a former ballet dancer with New York City Ballet (1974–1983) and currently a repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust. [47] They live in Marin County, California. [45]
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