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Bassists of all ages traveled from around the globe for the Third Arizona Bass Players Festival on March 6-9, 2008. This year, the Festival was held at both the University of Arizona in Tucson and Arizona State University in Tempe. The clinicians were Patrick Neher, president of the ABP and professor at University of Arizona; Joel DiBartolo, professor at Northern Arizona University; Catalin Rotaru, who directs the bass program at ASU; the renowned jazz bassist Rufus Reid; Robert Kassinger, member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and Miloslav Jelinek, solo bassist from the Brno (Czech Republic) Philharmonic.

The Festival officially began on Thursday as Reid and Kassinger arrived in Tucson to give masterclasses during the morning and afternoon at the UA School of Music. The Festival then traveled north 100 miles to Tempe, where the first evening concert featured Jelinek with Rotaru in a classical concert in Katzin Hall. The evening included a marvelous performance of Bottesini’s Passione Amarosa by Jelinek and Rotaru, with Chai-I Chen on piano.

The next morning the participants eagerly crowded the hallways of ASU, waiting for the fun-filled day to start. By 10 AM the Festival was in full swing as clinicians led performance classes throughout the day. That evening, Rotaru, Neher and Jelinek performed a stirring classical concert. All three clinicians showed off their mesmerizing style. Rotaru performed an incredible version of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and received a standing ovation. Neher gave the world premiere of his own Crystals for double bass and prepared electronics. Wrapping up the concert, Jelinek’s delivered a melodious performance of Haydn’s Concerto for Cello in C major.

On Saturday, the participants were engaged in masterclasses in all music styles. The day took a rousing detour into jazz music, as the highlight of the evening was an up-beat concert featuring Reid, DiBartolo and Kassinger. Joining the bassists on stage was ASU’s Mike Kocour on piano and Dom Moio on percussion. The concert resonated with bopping tunes and was a groovy way to end the night.

On Sunday the first ABP Double Bass Solo Competition was underway. The grand prize was a beautiful Shen bass, donated by Robertson and Sons Violin Shop. In the end, only one could take home the BIG prize, and congratulations to Chunyang Wang! Wang is a student at the Juilliard School of Music; John Sims came in a close second and Alexander Jacobsen in third. The solo competition was a big success. Hopefully, this amazing opportunity will be extended to the 4th ABP Festival next March.

The Festival ended with an “All-Clinician Bass Jamm.” All six clinicians - Jelinek, Neher, Reid, DiBartolo, Kassinger and Rotaru - performed together, accompanied again by Kocour and Moio. There were several arrangements for the entire group, including DiBartolo’s own arrangement of Bottesini’s Elegy. The amazing final concert showcased the versatile power of the bass and ended the all-star 3rd Arizona Bass Players Festival with a bang. - By Matthew Aussprung