Clinicians and Presenters

George Amorim
Peter Askim
Jeff Bradetich
Arem Chirkov
Paul Ellison
Lawrence Hurst
Edgar Meyer
Mark Morton
Tim Pitts
Sandor Ostlund
Hal Robinson
Anthony Stoops
Jessica Valls
Dennis Whittaker
Lu Yuan-Xiong


George Amorim

George Amorim's career is marked by versatility and creativity as a performer and educator. Dr. Amorim is Assistant Professor of Double Bass at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, TX since 2006. Before joining the UTPA Department of Music and Dance he served the University of North Texas as assistant to the world renowned performer and pedagogue Jeff Bradetich.

George's performances have taken him to Europe and across Central, South and North America, with performance credentials that include eight years as a full time member of the Parana State Symphony and Recife Symphony Orchestras in Brazil and, since 2003, as a member of the Santo Domingo Music Festival Orchestra under Phillip Entremont. He currently performs with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra in addition to regular guest appearances with various ensembles in the United States, Europe and Brazil. As a soloist, George was a prize winner of the Paraiba Music Award in 1996 and finalist at the Young Talents Award in 1999; as a member of the Zenamon Quintet, an ensemble dedicated to the promotion of the music of Latin American composers, he was a first prize winner in both the Honorina Barra International Chamber Music Competition and the Curitiba Chamber Music Award in 1999.

An educator in demand, Dr. Amorim's articles on double bass pedagogy have been published by Bass World and Strings magazines. He has been a featured clinician, adjudicator and recitalist at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio, the Texas Bass Symposium, the International Society of Bassists Convention and at the annual Chicago Bass Festival. George presented masterclasses in the US, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Brazil and most recently he presented master classes at the Roosevelt College of Performing Arts and Wheaton College in Chicago.


Peter Askim

Active as a composer, conductor and bassist, Peter Askim is the Music Director and Composer-in-Residence of the Idyllwild Arts Academy. He has been a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii-Manoa, where he directed the Contemporary Music Ensemble and taught theory and composition.

As a composer, he has been called a "Modern Master" by The Strad and has had commissions and performances from such groups as the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, the International Society of Bassists, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Idyllwild Arts Orchestra, the American Viola Society, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, and Serenata Santa Fe, as well as by performers such as flutist/conductor Ransom Wilson, Metropolitan Opera soprano Lauren Flanigan, Grammy-nominated soprano Judith Kellock, violist Roger Myers and violinist Timothy Fain. His compositions are published by Liben Music Publishers and the International Society of Bassists, and his music is recorded on the Gasparo and Albany labels. His compositions have been performed at the Aspen, Bowdoin, Music At the Anthology, June in Buffalo and Bang On A Can festivals, among others, and have frequently been broadcast on WNYC and Hawaii Public Radio. Mr. Askim won the 2002 International Society of Bassists Composition Competition for his "Eight Solitudes" and is a frequent recitalist for the International Society of Bassists, the Hawaii Contrabass Festival and the World Bass Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. He performed and recorded his bass concerto "Islands" at the International Society of Bassists convention under the direction of Ransom Wilson.

As a conductor, Mr. Askim has served as Music Director of the Branford Chamber Orchestra and makes frequent guest conducting appearances, including the Sewanee Philharmonia, the Oregon Festival of American Music, the Wroclaw (Poland) Chamber Orchestra Sotto Voce and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. He has premiered numerous works, including compositions by composers Richard Danielpour, Christopher Theofanidis, Lawrence Dillon and Bruce Adolphe and has collaborated with such artists as the Miró String Quartet, Matt Haimovitz, Vijay Iyer, Melvin Chen, Eugene Drucker, Ian Swensen, Todor Pelev, Tony Arnold, Judith Kellock and John Walz. He conducted the World Premiere of eminent guitarist/ singer/songwriter Richard Thompson's rock oratorio "Cabaret of Souls" and its European Premiere at Royal Festival Hall, London. This May, he will conduct a concert of all World Premieres, featuring the works of Rufus Reid, Jan Radzynski and Pierre Jalbert. He has also received critical praise as a jazz artist in such publications as Jazztimes, the New York Post and New York Newsday.

He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna and holds bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Yale University, where he graduated with Distinction in Music. He also holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin. He studied composition with Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, Anthony Davis, Jan Radzynski, Syd Hodkinson and David Finko, and double bass with George Rubino, Diana Gannett, Donald Palma, Wolfgang Harrer and Ludwig Streicher.


Jeff Bradetich

Proclaimed by the New York Times as "the master of his instrument," Jeff Bradetich is regarded as one of the leading performers and teachers of the double bass in the US today. Since his New York debut in Carnegie Recital Hall in 1982 he has performed more than 500 concerts on four continents including his London debut in Wigmore Hall in 1986. He has won many major solo competitions, recorded six solo albums of music for double bass and piano and has been featured on radio and television throughout North and South America and Europe including CBS, CNN, BBC and NPR.

He gave his professional concerto debut at the age of 16 and was appointed to the orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago by age 19. Mr. Bradetich began his study of the bass at age 10 in the school orchestra program in Eugene, OR studying with Royce Lewis and Dr. Robert Hladky before studying at Northwestern University with Warren Benfield and Joseph Guastafeste where he earned both Bachelor and Masters degrees. Other major musical influences include performing for ten seasons at the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, one of the world's leading Bach authorities, and summer study with Gary Karr and many of the leading double bass pedagogues in the US.

In addition to being an active lecturer and clinician, Mr. Bradetich has transcribed more than 100 solo works. He has produced both intermediate and advanced level instructional videos and a DVD recording of the first Bach cello suite and the BB Wolf by Jon Deak. He has given more than one thousand master classes throughout the world including annual week-long workshops on three continents. He has produced an instructional video and DVD and a DVD recording of the first Bach cello suite and the BB Wolf by Jon Deak. He served as Executive Director of the International Society of Bassists from 1982-1990 and editor of its magazine for 6 years.

Jeff Bradetich has taught on the faculties of the University of Michigan and Northwestern University prior to his 1994 appointment as director of the largest double bass program in the world at the University of North Texas. His students hold positions in major orchestras on five continents and occupy many important teaching and leadership positions throughout the profession.


Artem Chirkov

Artem Chirkov is principal doublebassist of the St.Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra (St.Petersburg/Russia)

Was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He began to study cello at the Special Music Lyceum of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and at the age of 16 started to learn Double Bass, continuing at the St. Petersburg Conservatory by A.Shilo and Riza Gimaletdonov.

Mr. Chirkov continued his postgraduate studies at the "Hochschule fur Music und Theater" in Munich, Germany with Professor Klaus Trumpf. Artem is a First prize winner at the International competition "Virtuosi 2000" in St. Petersburg and International Competition in Toliatti (Russia), International Double Bass competition "J.M Sperger" Michaelstein (Gerrnany), International Double Bass competition in Brno (Czech Republic), and the 2nd prize winner in International Double Bass competition of the International Society of Bass (Virginia /USA),The winner of the inaugural Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition(Texas/USA). Holder of Principal Bass positions in numerous ensembles, including St. Petersburg Camerata under conductor S.Sondeckis, in 2004, Artem became the youngest Principal Double Bass in history of St. Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (Evgeny Mravinsky's famed "Leningrad Philharmonic" orchestra), a position which he continues to hold under its current Principal conductor Yuri Temirkanov.

Mr.Chirkov has given master classes in conservatories and universities of Japan (Tokyo), Taiwan (Taipei), Korea (Seoul), USA (Mannes School-New York, USC-Los Angeles, California Institute of Music San Diego), Mozambique (Maputo), Portugal (Lissbon, Porto), Germany (Osnabruck, Munich), and in Russia (St.Petersburg, Moskow, Irkutsk, Khanti-Mansiysk) Mr. Chirkov performed solo at "Pablo Casals" festivals in Prades (France) and Puerto-Rico, San Juan with St. Petersburg Camerata, International Double Bass week "Zmok Wojnowice"(Poland), "Yehudi Menuhin Society" in Munich, International Music Festival "Oleg Kagan" in Kreuth, Coburg Music Festival (Germany), Music Festival in Viana do Castelo (Portugal), "Maputo Music Festival" (Mozambique),Bass2010(Berlin,Germany) iPalpiti(Los Angeles-Beverly hills,USA)and soloed with Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and Prague Chamber Orchestra in Czech Republic, Swerin Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany), Viana do Castelo Festival Orchestra, Belgard Philharmonic Orchestra (Serbia), and with St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. As a member of the famous "Bassiona Amorosa" . He was part of the iPalpiti festival in 2006 and tours internationally.


Paul Ellison

Performing solo and ensemble concerts as well as giving master classes on the double bass and period instruments on four continents, Paul Ellison is the Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Double Bass and chair of strings at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, Visiting Artist-Faculty University of Southern California and guest tutor at the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Royal College of Music, and Bass Club, England. Current summer positions include principal bass at the Grand Teton Music Festival, faculty/performer at the Sarasota Music Festival and faculty/performer at Festival Domaine Forget, Quebec. Former students hold titled positions in major ensembles and institutions of higher learning on five continents. Previous positions include principal bass of Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Aspen Festival Orchestras (also faculty), professor of double bass and chair of strings at the University of Southern California, and president of the International Society of Bassists. Ellison was the first to receive both the diploma and teaching certificate from Institut International Rabbath, Paris. "…The treat of the afternoon turned out to be hearing the double bass as a solo instrument…Paul Ellison…demonstrated virtuosity. [The] bass shines as [the] music festival gets underway."


Lawrence Hurst

Lawrence Hurst began his musical studies on the piano accordion at the age of four. At 13, he started studying the double bass through the public school system of his hometown, Norfolk, Va. His formal musical training was done at the University of Michigan (UM), where he entered as a full General Motors Scholarship recipient. He earned both the B.M. and M.M. degrees at UM and was awarded the school's highest honor upon graduation, the Stanley Medal.

After serving two years with the Seventh Army Symphony in Europe, his professional career began as principal bassist with the Dallas Symphony, under Sir Georg Solti. In 1964, he joined the faculty at Michigan, and, for the next 22 years, had a very active performing and teaching career throughout the Midwest.

During his tenure at Michigan, he was chair of the String Department for 11 years and associate dean for 7 years.

In 1967, he joined the summer faculty of the famed National Music Camp (now the Interlochen Arts Camp) and has taught there every summer since. He joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in September 1986, and, in 1987, he became chair of the String Department, a position he still holds.

His students can be found in orchestras and musical venues all over the world, including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Atlanta, the Metropolitan Opera, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, to name a few.

In 2005, he was awarded ASTA's Artist/Teacher of the Year award, and, in 2006, the International Society of Bassists (of which he was past president) gave him the Distinguished Teaching Award.


Edgar Meyer

Prominently established as a unique and masterful instrumentalist, Edgar Meyer delights his audiences both as a vibrant performer and an innovative composer. Hailed by The New Yorker as, "...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument," Mr. Meyer's unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002.

As a solo classical bassist, Mr. Meyer has released a concerto album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra featuring Bottesini's Gran Duo with Joshua Bell; Meyer's Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma; Bottesini's Bass Concerto No. 2 and Meyer's Concerto in D for Bass along with an acclaimed album of Bach's Unaccompanied Suites for Cello.

Fruitful collaborations are a major aspect of Mr. Meyer's work. Mr. Meyer joined with violinist Joshua Bell and legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall to form a quartet featuring a unique fusion of classical and bluegrass musical styles. The album, Short Trip Home, released in Fall 1999, was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Classical Crossover album and the group was subsequently invited to perform live at the 42nd annual Grammy Awards. Mr. Meyer also works with pianist Amy Dorfman featuring both classical repertoire and his own compositions. Mr. Meyer's vast musical interests have also led him to be a widely sought after guest bass player for an assortment of recording artists, such as Garth Brooks, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hank Williams, Jr., Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, T-Bone Burnett, and the Chieftains.

On Sony Classical, Mr. Meyer and colleagues Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O' Connor have been widely acclaimed for the release of Appalachia Waltz, which soared to the top of the charts and remained there for 16 weeks. The follow-up recording, Appalachian Journey, was released in March 2000 and won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album that season.

In 1994 Meyer became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. Mr. Meyer premiered his bass concerto in 1993 with Edo de Waart and the Minnesota Orchestra, and in 1995, he premiered his Quintet for Bass and String Quartet in collaboration with the Emerson String Quartet, which was later recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

A frequent guest at music festivals, Mr. Meyer has appeared as performer and composer at Aspen, Tanglewood, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, and Marlboro. At the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, he was a regular guest from 1985-1993, and composed six works for the festival during that time. In 1994, Mr. Meyer joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and continues to perform regularly with this ensemble. Currently, he is also Visiting Professor of Double Bass at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.


Mark Morton

Assistant Professor of Double Bass at Texas Tech University, Dr. Mark Morton was for twenty-three years a member of the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra, fourteen years as principal bass. Morton is the first-prize winner of the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition in New York City, and was the assistant double bass instructor to Gary Karr at The Hartt School of Music.

A busy recitalist and concerto performer, Morton has been a featured double bass soloist on radio broadcasts including NPR's "Performance Today," WGBH in Boston, and WQXR in New York. His critically acclaimed Thresholds and Russian Rendezvous albums, are the first two of a projected series of CDs of standard double bass repertoire. He also shares a compact disc with world-renowned bassist Gary Karr of solo double bass music by Paul Ramsier. It was with that CD that Classical CD Reviews hailed him as "a most artistic representative of the new generation developed in the last half century."

Originally from Houston, Dr. Morton was a four-year Texas All-Stater, second chair in the top All-State orchestra for two years, and first chair in the top orchestra for two years. Since then he has performed extensivley as soloist in Europe, South America, the U.S. In addition to the Columbus Symphony, he has appeared as principal bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa, Canada

An accomplished pianist, Morton began his musical studies on both the double bass and piano. By the age of seventeen he had performed as piano soloist with several orchestras including the Houston Symphony Orchestra. His next CD, Bottesini's Greatest Hits! will feature Mark accompanying himself on piano! Focusing his musical energies on the double bass, Dr. Morton earned the undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Juilliard School in New York. He subsequently went on to be only the second bassist to receive the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the history of that institution.

As an author, Mark has written and published the "Dr. Morton" series of books on the art of bass playing. He has had many articles appear in Strings, Bass World, and American String Teacher magazines, as well the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.


Tim Pitts

TIMOTHY PITTS has distinguished himself as one of the most versatile double bassists of his generation. As a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, he has been heard in many of the world's greatest concert halls.

Mr. Pitts' orchestral career began as a member of the Cleveland Orchestra after which he was appointed principal bass of the Houston Symphony, a position he held for seventeen years. Mr. Pitts also served as principal double bass of Boston's Handel and Haydn Society and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of John Williams.

An active chamber musician, Mr. Pitts has appeared as a guest artist with Bay Chamber Concerts, the Mainly Mozart Festival, Boston Musica Viva, the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and the Skaneateles Festival in New York as well as with the Los Angles Piano Quartet and the St. Lawrence, Jupiter, and Vermeer Quartets. He has collaborated with such artists as Menahem Pressler, Arnold Steinhardt, Christoph Eschenbach, Heinz Holliger, Robert McDuffie, and Roberto Diaz. As a member of the Houston Symphony Chamber Players, Mr. Pitts toured Germany and Japan, and appeared at Chicago's Ravinia Festival.

Mr. Pitts has appeared as soloist with the Houston, Greenville, Savannah, Albany, and Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestras. In April of 2006, Mr. Pitts gave the United States premiere of John Harbison's Concerto for Bass Viol with Hans Graf conducting the Houston Symphony.

A dedicated educator, Mr. Pitts has presented master classes at the National Orchestral Institute, the New World Symphony, Boston University, Indiana University, the Glen Gould School, and the Pacific Music Festival. His students can be found among the ranks of the world's finest ensembles.

Formerly on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory, Mr. Pitts is currently a Professor of Double Bass at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. For three weeks each summer he teaches and performs at the Montecito Music Festival in Montecito, California. During the summer, he is on the artist faculty of the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, in residence at China's Central Conservatory of Music. Mr. Pitts lives in Houston, Texas with his wife, violinist Kathleen Winkler, and two daughters, Nina and Kiri, both aspiring cellists.


Sandor Ostlund

SANDOR OSTLUND is Associate Professor of Double Bass at Baylor University. He is an active and versatile performer as a soloist, and as a chamber, early music, and orchestral musician, as well as being in demand as a double bass clinician.

He has been invited to teach and perform at clinics and universities including, Penn State University, Northwestern University, SUNY-Stony Brook, James Madison University, Golden Gate Bass Camp, Colorado Suzuki Institute, American Festival for the Arts, Shenandoah Conservatory Performing Arts Festival, the Texas Double Bass Symposium, the Midwest Double Bass Symposium, and the annual Richard Davis Double Bass Conference.

As a soloist, Dr. Ostlund has performed in recitals throughout the United States. He has appeared in featured performances at International Society of Bassists Conventions, with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, in live radio broadcasts, and has premiered works for solo double bass.

Ensembles that Dr. Ostlund has played with include the Detroit Symphony, the Washington Bach Consort, the Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, the Wolf Trap Opera Company, Context, the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Ballet, the San Antonio Symphony, the National Philharmonic, Le Synfonietta de Paris, the Madison Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Virginia Symphony. Currently, he is Principal Double Bassist of the Waco Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Ostlund received his Bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Master's degree and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Rice University, where he is the first and only double bassist to receive a DMA from esteemed performer and pedagogue Paul Ellison. His other teachers include Richard Davis, David Walter, and François Rabbath. Before arriving at Baylor University, Dr. Ostlund held faculty appointments at West Texas A&M University and Shenandoah Conservatory.


Hal Robinson

Harold Robinson joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal bass in September 1995. He previously served as principal bass with the National Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995, and he also served as assistant principal bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1977-1985) and principal bass of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (1975-1977, then known as the Albuquerque Symphony).

A prizewinner at the 1982 Isle of Man Solo Competition, Mr. Robinson has performed concertos with the Houston Symphony and Houston Pops, the New York Philharmonic, the American Chamber Orchestra, and the Greenville (South Carolina) Orchestra.

A native of Houston, Texas, Mr. Robinson studied at Northwestern University and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He is currently the bass instructor at the Curtis Institute of Music and has given recitals and master classes throughout the United States, Korea, Japan, and Europe.


Anthony Stoops

Anthony Stoops has established an international reputation as a leading pedagogue and versatile performer on the Double Bass. Currently Artist/Teacher of Double Bass at the University of Oklahoma School of Music, his current and former students have won prizes in important competitions, and have been placed at both the undergraduate and graduate level at several leading schools of music throughout the country.

A prize-winner in numerous competitions such as the International Society of Bassists International Competition, American String Teachers Association and the Karr Foundation, he is in demand as a clinician and recitalist and has presented recitals and masterclasses throughout the world at venues such as the Paris Conservatory, the University of Wroclaw, Poland, the University of Michigan, and the Cleveland Institute of Music among many others.

Currently serving as Co-principal Bass of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Stoops has performed as a member of over a dozen other orchestras including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus (OH) and Toledo Symphony orchestras, as well as the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra and many others. In his orchestral experience, he has had the opportunity to perform under many of the world's great conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Neeme Järvi, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez and Charles Dutoit.
Dr. Stoops attended Northwestern University, the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan. Prior to his appointment at the University of Oklahoma, he taught at Bowling Green State University the Ann Arbor School for Performing Arts and the Preucil School of Music.


Jessica Valls

Double bassist Jessica Valls is an Austin, Texas-native musician who exemplifies the ubiquitous artistry of a true music lover, heeding to no one genre, discipline, or stage.

Jessica plays regularly with several orchestras including the Austin and San Antonio Symphonies and the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra. The past principal bassist for Orquestra da Rádio e Televisão Cultura in São Paulo, Brazil, Jessica enjoys traveling to Brazil regularly to perform and teach. She appears with chamber ensembles, jazz, tango and bluegrass bands, in studio recording sessions, on film soundtracks, television and radio jingles, and popular festival stages around the world such The International Festival at Round Top and Encontro Brasileiro de Contrabaixos in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.

She is a regular guest artist and clinician at the North Texas Bass Camps, the Austin Chamber Music Workshop, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, Hot Springs Music Festival and the Victoria Bach Festival, among others.

An invited presenter at the International Society of Bassists Convention, Jessica's solo performances can be multi-instrumental, vocal and percussive. The use of multi-media tools allows her to expand her repertoire and adhere to different performance venues; adding to the growing pool of new works for solo double bass.

Formal studies include The Julliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and the University of Texas at Austin where she completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2010. Currently Dr. Valls is on faculty at Southwestern University, Huston-Tillotson University, and the Girls' School of Austin.


Dennis Whittaker

Dennis Whittaker wears many hats as a professional bassist in Houston, Texas. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education from Baylor University, and with a Master's of Music from Northwestern University. His teachers include Paul Ellison, Jeff Bradetich, Eugene Levinson, Mark Whitney and Michael Cameron. In 1987, Mr. Whittaker won the Gary Karr Foundation National Double Bass competition, and was the recipient of a fine bass donated by the Karr foundation.

He has been the principal Double Bassist of the Houston Grand Opera since 1996, and appears on six world premeire recordings with that organization.

He is the instructor of Double Bass at the University of Houston Moores School of Music since 1997. He has served as string area coordinator and coordinator of the "Tuesday recital" series, has hosted the Texas Double Bass symposium, and maintains a presence of master classes, low string festivals, and hosting visiting master classes in the state of Texas. Before teaching at the University of Houston, he taught orchestra in the public schools in Waco and Houston for seven years.

He has acted as a substitute bassist with the Houston symphony since 1996, appearing on two recordings with them under the Telarc and Koch labels, and having joined them on tours to Japan and Europe. He has also substituted with the Houston Ballet Orchestra, the Houston Sinfonietta, and the River Oaks Chamber orchestra.

He is a freelance bassist in Houston, serving in symphonic, chamber, jazz and studio capacities, appearing on numerous CDs with local artists.

Mr. Whittaker has performed master classes and performances in ShangHai, China, Amsterdam, Japan, Germany, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, and Louisiana. He has also performed at the Aspen music festival, and as principal bass for the Festival de dui Mondi in Spoleto, Italy for GianCarlo Menotti's nintieth birthday. He is currently the bass teacher for the Sound Encounters program in Ottawa, Kansas, for the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston, and serves as a reviewer for Double Bassist magazine in London, England.

Mr. Whittaker's students have enjoyed success at programs such as Tanglewood, Aspen, the Disney Young Musician's orchestra, Domaine Forget, the Golden Gate bass festival, Tanglewood Young Musician's Institute, Interlochen, Texas Music Festival, Round Top Music festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Instrumenta Festival (Mexico) and The Bach Festival. His students have gone on to study at Julliard, Mannes, the University of Southern California, Rice University, Northwestern University, Boston University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Baylor University and Indiana University.

Mr. Whittaker is a proud member of the American Suzuki Strings Association, American String Teachers Association, The Texas Music Educator's Association, the Texas Orchestra Director's Association, the International Society of Bassists, Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha.


Lu Yuan-Xiong

Yuan Xiong Lu has won numerous national and international competitions, including first prize in the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Solo Competition and the 16th annual Corpus Christi International Young Artists Competition. A long-time member of the San Antonio Symphony, Lu is a frequent recitalist, clinician and chamber music artist throughout the U.S. and China. He has presented masterclasses at many of the world's most prestigious universities and conservatories, including Northwestern University, the Shanghai Conservatory, the University of North Texas, University of Hartford, Beijing Central Conservatory, the University of Texas at Austin, the Shenyang Conservatory and the Sichuan Conservatory. Professor Lu has also given recitals and masterclasses as a guest artist for the International Society of Bassists Conventions in New York, Interlochen, Houston, and Oklahoma City. Additionally, he has served as a jury member for a number of international double bass competitions, and as director of the 5th Texas Double Bass Symposium in San Antonio. Prior to joining TCU, Professor Lu served on the faculties of Baylor University and University of the Incarnate Word. Most recently he was appointed as a Guest Professor for the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

A pioneer of Chinese artists, Lu holds the distinction of being the first Chinese double bass recitalist to perform in China in 1984. Subsequently, he has performed as a soloist with various orchestras on major television and radio programs in China, including a live, televised debut with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 1996. He has also performed with the Grand Teton summer festival orchestra, and served as principal bassist with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chinese Virtuoso Orchestra. A graduate of Shanghai Conservatory and the University of Texas at Austin, Lu is a native of Shanghai, China, and became a U.S. citizen in 1998.