• Silvio Dalla Torre - Rostock (artistic director)
• DaXun Zhang – Austin/Texas
• Petru Iuga - Mannheim
• Szymon Marciniak – Den Haag
• Ekkehard Beringer – Berlin
• Sebastian Gramss - Köln
• Angela Gebler - München
• Maggie Urquhardt - Den Haag
Silvio Dalla Torre, Rostock (double bass)
Silvio Dalla Torre
comes from a German-Italian family and was born in Kempten/Allgäu. After
studying music in Augsburg, Munich and Vienna he worked for 20 years as solo
double bass player in opera and symphony orchestras in Germany, Switzerland and
Belgium. He taught as a visiting lecturer at the School of Music in Detmold and
played an active part in several of the chamber music ensembles he established
there. At the beginning of 2002 Dalla Torre was appointed Professor of Double
Bass and Chamber Music at the Rostock School of Music and Theatre. His
extensive research and analyses of "historical and modern double bass
playing techniques" led to the establishment of what has become a
much-discussed method which owes its origin to a wide range of influences. Dalla
Torre has given master classes both in Germany and all over Europe, in the USA,
Canada and China. As a chamber musician and soloist he appears internationally,
both on the double bass and the bassetto. This is a bass violin with fifth
tuning that Dalla Torre researched and helped to design. In 2004 Silvio Dalla
Torre founded the music publishing house sidato-verlag. He has often been a
juror in international competitions and also works as a journalist producing
specialist articles on many topics concerned with the double bass. He has made
it his mission to bring together the diverse double bass playing cultures and
sees the Double Bass Kaleidoscope as a suitable forum to stimulate and enrich
the international double bass scene.
Website: www.silviodallatorre.com
DaXun Zhang, Austin/Texas (double bass)
Website:
Ekkehard Beringer, Hamburg (double bass)
Ekkehard Beringer,
born 1969, received his first double bass lesson at the age of ten. At school
he was a member of the Federal Youth Orchestra and laureate of the "Jugend
musi-ziert" Competition. He graduated in orchestral music studies under
Prof. Wolfgang Güttler from the Universities of Music at Cologne and Karlsruhe
and completed postgraduate solo classes at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt
Weimar with Prof. Horst-Dieter Wenkel. He completed his education by taking
master classes with Ion Cheptea, Ovidiu Badila and Ulrich Lau. During his
studies Beringer was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO). In
1994 Beringer became a member of the Munich Philharmonic (conductor Sergiu
Celibidache), in 1997 he became first assistant principal solo double bass at
the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, in 1998 1st principal solo double bass at the
German Opera Berlin. Since 2002 he has been 1st principal solo double bass in
the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg. Concert tours as soloist and chamber
musician have taken him to Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech
Republic. Solo recordings are available at Südwestrundfunk and Norddeutscher
Rundfunk. Along with his work as a chamber and orchestral musician and soloist,
Beringer has increased his teaching commitments in recent years: as tutor in
double bass with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, the Young
German Philharmonic and the German National Youth Orchestra. He has also given
master classes in the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. In
addition to his work with the NDR Symphony Orchestra, since 2008 Beringer has
been Professor at the Hanover University of Music and Drama. He plays an
instrument from the Venetian master Matteo Goffriller (1659-1742). Prof. Petru Iuga, Mannheim (double bass)
Although still in his early thirties, Petru Iuga has already established himself as one of the foremost double bass players of his generation.
Having received his first training in his native Romania, he was selected by Yehudi Menuhin for the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad (Switzerland).
After further training at the Hochschule der Kuenste-Bern and the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris, he became a member of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and principal double bass in the Munich Chamber Orchestra.
Petru Iuga currently holds a professorship at the University of Music and Arts in Mannheim, Germany.
He has won numerous prizes at international competitions, including first prizes at the International Double Bass Competition in Markneukirchen, Germany (1999) as well as at the Capbreton International Double Bass Competition in France (2001).
Petru Iuga has appeared as soloist with major European orchestras and in 2009 recorded a CD with the Carmina Quartet.
Website: www.petruiuga.com
Szymon Marciniak, Berlin (double bass)
Szymon Marciniak, was
born in Poland and has moved to Germany in 2001. He graduated with dinstinction
from the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf and Conservatorium
Maastricht. As a winner of first prizes at international competitions such as
J. M. Sperger Competition and Vriendenkrans Concours in Amsterdam, he has made
numerous radio recordings. Currently appointed principal double-bassist in the
Residentie Orkest, he is pursuing parallel careers as both soloist and chamber
musician. His passion for the double bass solo repertoire has led him to work
with different pianists as a duo artist as well as a performer in a variety of
combinations. Marciniak has performed with distinguished artists and ensembles
such as Gustav Rivinius, Philip Setzer (Emerson String Quartet), Dmitri
Ashkenazy, James Campbell, Philippe Graffin, Mirijam Contzen, Gil Sharon, Vera
Beths, Paolo Giacometti, Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer, Grigorij Zhyslin or
the Fauré Quartett. As a chamber musician he is a frequent guest artist
performing at many festivals throughout Europe. As soloist Szymon Marciniak has
performed with the Münchener Kammerorchester, Schweriner Kammerorchester,
Staatskapelle Schwerin, Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Camerata Nova
Szczecin, Kammersymphonie Berlin, and the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen. In
2005 the renowned German composer Jürg Baur wrote the opera “Der Roman mit dem
Kontrabass” adapted from the book by A. Tchehov. The one hour opera including
virtuosic solos for the double-bass was composed by Baur especially for
Marciniak. The premiere in Düsseldorf in November 2005 was highly acclaimed.
Following this event, Baur wrote a Concertino for Double-Bass and Orchestra
which is expected to be premiered in the near future with Szymon Marciniak as
soloist. Currently Marciniak performs on a Double-Bass made by Charles Quenoil
(1945). Maggie Urquhart, Amsterdam/Niederlande (violone, history of double bass)
Margaret Urquhart studied double bass and violone with Anthony Woodrow and Viola da Gamba with Anneke Pols at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. After completing her studies she became a member of many notable baroque ensembles including La Petite Bande conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman), the Leonhardt Consort (Gustav Leonhardt) and Collegium Vocale Gent (Philippe Herreweghe). Since 1986 she has been a member of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under the direction of Frans Brüggen and since 2005 is also the bassist/violonist with the baroque ensemble Musica Amphion. She has been active as a chamber music performer taking part in many, radio, tv and CD recordings. She has taught baroque double bass/violone at The Hague Conservatory since 1989 and at the Amsterdam Conservatory since 1999. In addition to her two teaching post she also teaches the double bass and violone at the University of Salamanca and coaches at the European Baroque Orchestra training courses. She performs and teaches on the 16 foot double bass/violone, the Viennese double bass and also the eight foot violone in various tunings.
Sebastian Gramss, Köln (jazz & contemporary music double bass)
Sebastian Gramss is a double bass player and composer from Cologne,
Germany. In 2013 he recieved the ECHO JAZZ award (Double Bass). Gramss studied
double bass and composition in Amsterdam and Cologne, and is teaching at the
Conservatory of Music in Cologne and at Osnabrück University. He released more
than 20 CDs under his name / with his projects. Among these is the well-known
group UNDERKARL (founded 1993), the new Berlin-Cologne based trios SLOWFOX and
FOSSILE 3, and recently his work as a soloist on the double bass. Besides his
own projects he also composed for radio drama, movies and theatre, and - among
others - for choreographer Pina Bausch. Extensive touring with his own music
led him to clubs and festivals all over the world, including all Europe, India,
Mexico, USA, Australia, Middle East, Africa. Among many others ... international
cooperation with: Mark Dresser, Barre Phillips, Marilyn Crispell, Fred Frith,
Sidsel Endresen, Tom Cora, Peter Kowald, Peter Brötzmann, John Tilbury, Vinko
Globokar, Stefano Scodanibbio, Joëlle Léandre, Tetsu Saitoh, Zeena Parkins,
Elliot Sharp, Conny Bauer, Dorothee Oberlinger, etc.
Website: www.sebastiangramss.de
Angela Gebler, Augsburg (physiotherapy for musicians)
Physiotherapist, has been specializing in treating musicians for the last 12 years. Besides individual therapies she offers physiotherapy support for orchestral work phases, masterclasses and workshops at Music schools and Academies of Music. From 2003-2005 she was teaching Fitness at the Academy of Music in Augsburg, Bavaria. The last three years she was a member of the staff at the Double Bass Caleidoscope in Germany sharing warming and loosening-up exercises and raising the awareness for the "Body as Instrument" both in theory and practice. Besides that she is offering individual treatment with or without instrument and massages during this unique masterclass! Angela Gebler is living near Munich and working as a freelance physiotherapist. In the German society of Musicians Medicine (DGfMM) she is networking with other professionals caring for the health of musicians.
