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UGA to host Double Bass Symposium

UGA to host Double Bass Symposium

Athens, Ga. – The 19th edition of the Double Bass Symposium will take place at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music Feb. 5-7. The symposium features the renowned double bass pedagogue and performer, Joel Quarrington of McGill University in Montreal, who will be the featured performer on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in Edge Recital Hall at the music school. Admission to the performance is $8 and the public is invited to attend.

Also known as the string bass or upright bass, the double bass is the lowest pitched bowed string instrument in a modern symphony orchestra. An event for all levels of proficiency from middle school to professional, the symposium is three days of master classes, lectures and performances. A performance by participants at 4 p.m. on Feb. 6 in Edge Hall is free and open to the public.

An avid chamber musician, Quarrington has performed with many of the world’s leading string quartets including the Oxford, Vermeer, Cleveland, Colorado, St. Lawrence, Alleri, Artis, Leipzig and Tokyo Quartets. He played a part in the legendary 1982 recording session with Glenn Gould for the soundtrack of Timothy Findley’s The Wars. Written for solo cello and bass and based on Brahms’ Intermezzi, the music was the last composed by Gould before his untimely death.

“Musicians with the control and clarity of Joel Quarrington are rare and the opportunity to host him as a part of this symposium is an honor for our school and the university,” said Milton Masciadri, professor of double bass and coordinator of international programs in the music school. Masciadri and his students will perform at 8 p.m. on Feb. 5. The performance is free and the public is invited to attend.

Edge Recital Hall is on the third floor of the music school. For more information, see www.music.uga.edu.