3. Juilliard School – New York, NY
Notable Faculty: Eugene Levinson, Timothy Cobb
Cited by the International Society of Bassists as having contributed significantly to the bass community, New York Philharmonic principal bassist Eugene Levinson is the author of one of the most important books on developing excellent double bass technique required for professional, real-world performance, entitled “The School of Agility.” Entering the studio of Eugene Levinson’s is to enter a studio headed by a truly historic member of the classical music community. The Juilliard School certainly a target audition for any extremely serious double bassist.
Check Out the Faculty: Here is a copy of Levinson’s seminal double bass text The School of Agility: A Technical Method of the Scale System for String Bass.
2. Rice University Shepherd School of Music – Houston, TX
Notable Faculty: Paul Ellison, Timothy Pitts
Distinguishing yourself as a top double bass teacher is not an easy task, but distinguishing yourself as a sought-after, heralded classical double bass soloist is a relatively unheard phenomenon. Enter Professor Timothy Pitts, who has soloed with the Houston, Greenville, and Albany Symphonies. Having given master classes around the globe, as well as having students that have gone on to respectable careers with their music, Timothy Pitts, as well as fellow Rice University double bass professor Paul Ellison, direct one of the most important classical bass programs in the country. Working hard on this difficult-to-master instrument could pay off with an acceptance to this institution.
1. Curtis Institute of Music – Philadelphia, PA
Notable Faculty: Edgar Meyer, Hal Robinson
When you have a faculty consisting of one of the most important classical and fusion bassists performing today along with the principal double bassist of one of the most esteemed orchestras in the world, you have the Curtis Institute of Music’s double bass faculty. Edgar Meyer, known around the world as a frequent collaborator of Yo-Yo Ma and as an impressive, versatile composer of double bass fusion classical/bluegrass music, hosts possibly the most desirable, talented studio of double bassists in the nation. Expect to have achieved unprecedented virtuosity for the unusually difficult double bass to be considered for acceptance to either of the extremely selective studios at Curtis.
Listen to the Faculty: Edgar Meyer is probably the world’s most recorded classical double bass player, so you can’t go wrong with nearly any record of his. Personally, I have always had a soft spot for his critically acclaimed genre-crossing Appalachian Waltz