The Tucson Bass Jam is an ASTA and University of Arizona sponsored virtual clinic on Zoom for beginning, intermediate, and advanced double bass students, music educators, and community bass players of any age from Southern Arizona.
Faculty Director:
Philip Alejo, The University of Arizona
Guest Artists:
Issac Trapkus, New York Philharmonic
Juan J. García Jiménez, National Autonomous University of Mexico, CEPROMUSIC
Registration and Fees:
Tucson Bass Jam will be free of charge in 2021.
Registration: Participants should contact Philip Alejo (palejo@email.arizona.edu) to register. A Zoom link and entry code will be sent to every registered participant prior to the event. Registration on the day of the event will be possible, but not recommended. Any high school student interested in playing their regional excerpts for Isaac Trapkus should also contact Philip Alejo.
Schedule of Events:
Sunday, January 17, 2021
1:00-5:00 p.m.
1:00 – 1:15 p.m.
Welcome and introductions
1:20 – 2:00 p.m. Warm-ups with Philip Alejo (beginner/intermediate) and Juan García (advanced)
2:00 – 2:50 p.m.
New and experimental music with Juan García
3:00 – 3:55 p.m.
Masterclass on regional excerpts with Isaac Trapkus
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Masterclass for UA students with Isaac Trapkus
Guest Artist Biographies
Bassist Isaac Trapkus joined the New York Philharmonic in November 2016. Before joining the Philharmonic he was a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and, before that, principal double bass of the New Haven Symphony while he was studying with Leigh Mesh, associate principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Mr. Trapkus is a product of Iowa’s public school music program and began his bass studies with Linda Gannett of Davenport, Iowa. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Diana Gannett, and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with former New York Philharmonic Principal Bass Eugene Levinson. At Michigan, Isaac Trapkus became the first bassist in 30 years to win the school’s concerto competition, for which he performed Tubin’s Bass Concerto. He also won Juilliard’s bass concerto competition, performing Vanhal’s Bass Concerto. During his study he performed with the New York String Orchestra Seminar and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany. Mr. Trapkus volunteers as a designer and administrator with IMSLP, the online sheet music library.
Juan J. García Jiménez is a musician specializing in contemporary music and improvisation, who lives and works in Mexico City. Since 2012, he is a member of the ensemble at the Center for Experimentation and Production of Contemporary Music (CEPROMUSIC) and since 2018 is part of the faculty at the Music School of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the School of Art of Yucatán (ESAY). He has collaborated with orchestras and chamber ensembles internationally and has also developed a career in improvised and experimental music, collaborating since 2001 with iconic characters in the development of contemporary music. His practice stems from studies and practices within the musical tradition combined with a broad foray into new music, prominently in sonic explorations and experimentations. He has also developed innovative teaching techniques that have led him to mix traditional and experimental musical ideas and practices within the classroom.
García studied double bass at the University of Houston under the tutelage of Dennis Whittaker and earned a master’s degree at Arizona State University under Catalin Rotaru in 2008. Since then he has fully devoted himself to teaching, performing, and disseminating new music, premiering hundreds of works by composers from around the world with the CEPROMUSIC Ensemble, Liminar Ensemble, and the Low Frequency Trio. Important performances include concerts at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), The Darmstadt Summer Festival (Germany), No Idea Festival (Austin), the Tate Modern (UK), and the Rothko Chapel (Houston).
Download TheEvent Program