Chicago Bass Ensemble

I very pleased — and also relieved — that for our performance on March 31 we will be joined by conductor Leslie B. Dunner.

As a group, we’ve been doing our best to get ourselves through the piece, but there comes a time when having a neutral party holding the beat is helpful. Here’s an example:

And another (looks simpler . . . isn’t):

Anyway, Leslie and I go back as far as my undergraduate days. I studied conducting with him for a term or two (loved it! frantically waving my arms in front of the student orchestra for the opening of Carmina Burana, rescued by my friend Britt Ravnan who showed the strings what I was meant to be doing!) and played in the orchestra under his direction for four years. Basically, I was learning how to play the upright bass with a bow, and he humored me and had me play part of my audition pizzicato . . . but enough embarrassing stories about myself!

I would share some embarrassing stories about Leslie Dunner to balance out this post, but I haven’t got any. He’s a consummate professional as a conductor (as opposed to the stories you hear about temperamental and emotional conductors, at his angriest I have seen Leslie stamp his foot. Once.), and he taught me the meaning of the word “nosh.”

I’m really looking forward to working with him, even briefly, again after many years.

 

Monday March 31, 2014
12:15 pm
Chicago Cultural Center

We will be premiering Rural Sketches for Marimba and Six Double Basses, newly written (the laser toner is still warm!) by composer Igor Iachimciuc.

We are the guests of percussionist Matthew Coley on the Cultural Center’s Classical Monday series.

 

 

Tags: Igor Iachimciuc, Leslie B. Dunner, Matthew Coley, premiere

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