Alex discusses his experiences in youth orchestras, the profound influence of his teachers, and his time at the Curtis Institute of Music. He shares insights on audition preparation, stories from his auditions for multiple orchestras, and his role as principal bassist of the CSO. Alex also shares details of the final round of his audition with an unexpected request from Riccardo Muti.
This interview was recorded in 2015 and has been edited for clarity.
Early Musical Beginnings
Jason: Why don’t you tell folks about your background? What was your first musical instrument?
Alex: I started playing the piano when I was four years old. There was a wonderful music program at Bowling Green State University focused on piano for youth.
I was in a class of probably 10 or 12 kids who studied music theory and piano at age four. That was a wonderful experience because I got a great foundation very early on. I also had a lot of fun doing it—it was a very fun class. So, that was the beginning of my musical education.
I was interested in string playing early on, and my parents did as well. We always went to hear the Toledo Symphony when I was young. My parents had a subscription, and I think probably around the time I was seven or eight years old, we’d go once a month to the symphony. It was fun because my parents would usually try to get us close to the orchestra so that we could see all the instruments and everything, and I loved the sound of the strings.
I convinced my parents to let me start learning how to play the cello. So when I was eight years old, we rented a cello, and it also helped a little bit that my second cousin is Jim Kennedy, the principal cellist of the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra.
We didn’t get to see them often because they lived far away, but I remember he came to Bowling Green, where I grew up, and brought his cello and played some duets with me. And I was just so in love with it. I just loved the fact that, with a bow, you could make these interesting crescendos and decrescendos.
So that was the beginning, up until age eight when I started cello.
Journey to the Double Bass
Jason: What pulled you to the bass?
Alex: What pulled me to the bass was the sound. So, in junior high school, I started playing in the school orchestra, and two of my best friends played in the bass section while I was in the cello section.
There was a bass that the school owned—I mean, the school had good instruments, but there was this pretty nice bass that the school owned—and my friend Corey would pluck the D string, you know, just the open D string, boom, boom. And I just thought it was the coolest sound, you know, it just rang forever.
I just really fell in love with that sound. I didn’t start playing the bass until the eighth grade. I switched over—a few things happened, and everything lined up for a perfect transition. There was a bass player, a pedagogue named Wansheng Liu, who came from the San Antonio Symphony to teach at Bowling Green State University.
And he’s a very musical guy, and he was willing to take me on as a student. So he started me from scratch in terms of bass playing, but I could read bass treble clef from my piano experience. I had an idea of how to hold the bow from my cello experience, so he didn’t hesitate.
I remember my first few lessons. We did Simandl etudes. Then I think like, two or three months in, it was Mozart 40, and pretty demanding repertoire like the Eccles Sonata. But I really loved it. I absolutely loved it. Whenever we would start a new orchestral work, it was very cool because my parents would take me to the local CD store, and we could buy the album.
I thought that was cool because my parents would let us buy some CDs, but it wasn’t all the time back when CDs were super coveted and expensive—we only had one CD player and all that stuff. So, you know, we’d go to the record store and buy Mozart 40 or Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and I would listen to it while following along in the Zimmerman books. I just thought it was the coolest thing in the world that anybody could get this bass part, and all you had to do was practice it and count, and you could be a part of this masterpiece, especially being in the bass section of an orchestra.
I loved it. I just thought it was so fun. The sound of the bass section—to this day, I just think it’s the coolest thing in the world. So, that’s how I got hooked.
Jason: What kind of ensemble opportunities did you have during 8th and 9th grade in your area?
Alex: Well, I was really, really lucky that, right from the time I started playing the cello—I guess that was seven or eight years old—there were a few youth orchestras in Toledo, Ohio, which was a very short drive from Bowling Green, maybe a half an hour. And so I was playing the cello in the Toledo Junior Youth Orchestra, really as far back as I can remember. In high school, I played in the Toledo Youth Orchestra as well.
The Cleveland Commute for Lessons
At one point—and I guess this segues into my next teacher and my next transition with the bass—my parents were willing to drive me to Cleveland, which was a two-hour drive, so it was a very big deal. Around my first year of high school, Mr. Liu left Bowling Green State University, so we needed to find a new teacher. And with bass positions, they weren’t really sure if they were going to fill that spot. We didn’t know if someone was coming. So my parents—God bless them, and I love them so much—they were so supportive of me. They said, “All right, well, you want to do this, you love it, you work hard.”
So we were just going to make it happen. And so we got out a map and said, “Where’s the closest really great teacher?” We realized it was probably Cleveland. So we called up a gentleman named Scott Haigh, who was associate principal bass of the Cleveland Orchestra. My dad called him and said, “My son is interested in pursuing this.”
And so he said, “Well, come on out and play for me, and we’ll see what we can do.” It was such a cool experience. I couldn’t believe that I was going to a member of the Cleveland Orchestra’s house and I was going to get to play for him. I was quite nervous, but my parents and I all went into his house, and I played, I think, the first movement of the Dragonetti Concerto.
And so he could tell that I was very talented at a very early age. Playing the piano and cello for that many years before I even picked up the bass helped a lot. He could tell I had a great ear and concept of music, and I’ve always had a strong sense of expression and musicality.
Introduction to Orchestral Repertoire
Even when I was very young, I played piano and cello recitals, and I had a strong sense of musicality. Scott was impressed with me, and we worked on the recitatives from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in that lesson. My parents and I were impressed with him because we talked about Beethoven and the importance of those recitatives.
And so we were hooked—Scott was the guy for us. It was just so great that I got to study with him. I think I was 14 or 15 years old. And again, just like Mr. Liu, there is no holding back at all. We went right into Bottesini, Kuznetsky, and Bach Suites, and there was also a real focus on orchestral repertoire.
And no BS—we’re doing Beethoven 5. We’re doing all of Beethoven 5. I learned almost every movement, every lick. A lot of people might say, “That’s crazy. What are you doing making a young student play all of Beethoven 5 or all of Heldenleben?”
But it was so great because, by the time I got to college, I knew this stuff cold. We’d go into the studio class, and I was like, “Oh, is number 44 in Heldenleben? Yeah, I’ve done that before.” He set up a wonderful foundation for me in the orchestral repertoire and a great love for the music.
Again, every time he assigned something, we’d go to the CD store and get the album, or I think maybe by that time, Napster was becoming a thing. And so I would get on Napster, and that was—I remember thinking that was amazing too—because then I could listen to Karajan in Berlin play it, or Abbado in Berlin play it, or Cleveland or Chicago with Szell.
That was very fun. Those years were when my friends would go out on Friday nights to the football games or engage in somewhat destructive activities. I would just quietly say, “I’m busy tonight,” and stay home to listen to that music and practice. I was totally in love.
Intrinsic Motivation and Homeschooling
Jason: That was quite an intensely focused high school experience.
Alex: Yeah, very focused—and my parents kind of joke about this now. I always had this drive, and I never hesitated to make a big move if I believed in it 100%. For example, two months into my sophomore year of high school—this was when I had just started studying with Scott, and we were driving to Cleveland all the time.
It was very busy with schoolwork and youth orchestra. One day, I said to my parents, “Look, I don’t want to go to high school anymore. I would appreciate it if you would consider homeschooling me so that I could have more flexibility in my schedule to practice, go to concerts, and all this stuff.”
And once again, they said, “Okay, you know, you’ve got the drive, you’re willing to work hard.” And they saw that I was practicing completely on my own two, three, four hours a day. So they believed in me. And it wasn’t like I practiced five minutes before I went to my lesson and said, “Hey, I want to drop out of high school and do this.”
Scott and my other teachers saw I had an extreme fire in my belly for this stuff. So, two months into my sophomore year in high school, I became homeschooled and did all my schoolwork at home. This was another great blessing because I could finish my high school requirements in three years instead of four.
So I did college auditions in my third year of high school. I auditioned for four schools: Indiana University, Boston University, Curtis, and Cleveland Institute. I ended up going to the Cleveland Institute of Music for a year and continued studying with Scott Haigh, and that year was fantastic in many ways.
I got to hear the Cleveland Orchestra every week, which was fantastic. I mean, one of the world’s great orchestras in Cleveland—with a very unique sound and style. That was wonderful. In addition to the wonderful lessons I was getting with Scott, I also got a rep class and a few lessons with Max Dimoff.
Jason: Oh, nice.
Alex: Which was great. He’s always been a major influence, along with Scott, Mr. Liu, Hal, and Edgar. That was a great year. In my third year of high school, I came very close to getting into Curtis. I think I was the runner-up to the guy who got in that year: Fora Baltacigil.
And so Fora got the spot that year, and while Hal didn’t tell me to audition again, I think he encouraged me to consider it. And so I did it, and I got in the next year. So, I transferred to the Curtis Institute after a year in Cleveland, which was great. Had I stayed in Cleveland for four or five years or whatever, it would have also been fantastic.
I mean, it’s a wonderful, wonderful school. And to hear that orchestra on a weekly basis was such a gift. It was truly inspiring, just like it was hearing the Philly orchestra every week when I went there.
The Curtis Institute Experience
Jason: What was your experience like at Curtis?
Alex: Unreal. I’m trying to think how to explain this, but I feel so fortunate to have gone there.
Especially around that time, it was a very exciting and special time for the Curtis Institute. Gary Graffman, the famous pianist, was the president of the Institute at that time. Having been president for many years, he brought a distinctive old-school feeling to the school.
Old school—very old school. When you walk in there, it’s this old, beautiful mansion. It’s kind of Hogwarts, Harry Potter-like. There were very few rules, you know—it was like a playground for musicians. So I entered that year with two very important, great bass players.
One is Paul Kowert, the bass player for Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers. Another is Joe Campagna, who is a bassist in the Pittsburgh Symphony. They are two of my best friends, and it was just great to be with them because we supported each other very much.
And I could go on and on and on about the great things about Curtis. I think that you know, for example, studying with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer, as well as the instrument collection. Do you know what I mean?
And so you go to orientation, which is very casual. It’s not like a big university because the incoming class is only like 20 people. You go in there and see all the graduating classes over the years. And so up on the wall is Leonard Bernstein, Hillary Hahn, and of course all these great bass players, you know, from Tim Cobb, Joe Conyers, all these just total monsters.
They give you the packet of information, and it’s just like, okay, so next week, you know, on Tuesday, you’ll have a lesson with Hal Robinson, rep class with Hal Robinson on Wednesday. On the weekend, Edgar’s going to come in. You’ll have a lesson with him, and here’s your 200-year-old Italian bass.
And you, uh, get a really nice Reid Hudson bow. And it’s just like, oh my gosh, you know, you can’t dream these things. I’m so thankful to that school. Oh, you know, it’s completely tuition free. So that was amazing.
The (Curtis) orchestra is fantastic. You get to play chamber music with the faculty. I got to play Prokofiev Quintet with Pamela Frank. But I think the best thing about being at a school like that, especially Curtis, is the other students. Our class only had seven bass players.
Joe Conyers had just graduated Bert Witzel, uh, all these amazing players. Um, and we would play for each other and practice all at the same time. We’d be up on the third floor and goofing around, but we practiced for hours and hours until the building would close. It was so inspiring to hear other people your age doing such amazing things on the instrument.
That experience was truly amazing, and we all got along well, too. Once the building would close, we’d all go hang out and have a great time, and they’re still my best friends to this day. It was really a fantastic experience. And you look at every one of those seven guys, and they’re doing amazing things.
You know, principal of Chicago, principal of the Met, principal of Seattle, principal of Louisville, and it’s like, go on and on and on. The instruction is top-notch. Everything is top-notch and supported by a wonderful positive attitude, especially in the bass section. So, for high school bass players, you’ll be so lucky if you get a spot. And go for it because it’s well worth it!
A Day in a Life at Curtis Institute
Jason: What’s a day in the life of a Curtis student? In terms of probably you, it sounds like you’re very focused during your teenage years, the high school years practicing. How’d that, how’d that look at Curtis?
Alex: Um, I think it’s changed a little since I’ve been there.
I mean, I guess this, uh, I graduated in 2008. And now there’s a new building and facility that all the students live and work in. And so some things have changed slightly, but I think overall, it’s pretty similar. Um, there’s very high-quality instruction for theory, ear training, counterpoint classes, and music history. All the academics, musically speaking, are very, very high-quality.
For some reason, when I entered Curtis, I got put in the highest level of solfege class, and so it was myself, a bassoonist, and six Chinese string players who, I mean, you could, you know, take your forearms and like smash them down on the keyboard and these guys could if they wanted to, write it out.
I mean, I think that there is something about the language. Yeah, the tone of the language. Yeah, they could do anything. And so I was in there, I was just desperately trying to keep up. But there’s a big focus on soulfish in, uh, at Curtis. And I was thankful for that, now looking back.
I took it pretty seriously, too. I would practice solfege quite often, and, um, and I use it to this day. My students will tell you, probably giggling a bit, that I try and solfege excerpts and concertos and stuff like that when I’m preparing a piece of music, I will use solfege.
Jason: Fixed do?
Alex: Definitely fixed do. I think that’s (solfege) wonderful for young musicians to practice. I would encourage even high school students just to get an idea of what that’s like. It’ll prepare you for college big time. Um, yeah, the fixed do versus movable is an argument that I wish didn’t exist. You know, I wish it was all fixed do. But, I should respect that there are other ways of doing things.
So a day in the life of a Curtis student, I mean, you have your regular classes, and then, um, you know, there’s bass class with Hal, and every month or two, there’s a bass class and a day of lessons with Edgar. In addition to that, you get to play in the lab orchestra, which I thought was amazing.
Jason: Is that the conductor orchestra?
Alex: And when I was there, there was a conductor named Otto Werner Mueller, who had a reputation for being extremely strict and sometimes a little mean-spirited.
He was gotta be like six to seven feet tall—a huge guy. We would be in lab orchestra, and you know, the conductor would start the piece after a bar of playing and just lay into these young conductors. After two or three years of working with him. I realized, though, that he was teaching me so much.
I learned so much from that guy, and I can’t even tell you, but I’m so grateful to him for instilling these great habits in me. Orchestral habits, with rhythm, phrasing, listening. He set us all up for success as orchestral musicians. Each week we would prepare a symphony or a considerable symphonic work.
We’d have a Thursday night rehearsal, a Saturday morning rehearsal, and then at noon on Saturday, we would have a concert. So, for a very early age, you know, we’re from freshman year, it would be like, all right, this week we’re doing Brahms 1st Symphony. We’ll rehearse it Thursday night, Saturday morning, boom, you’ll have to perform it.
That was great because so many schools throughout the world, and even some professional orchestras, take so much time to prepare a piece of music. Four or five, six, seven plus rehearsals. This was just so professional. And, uh, if you came in unprepared, especially if you were a wind or brass player, Mueller was going to rip you apart or just throw you out, which was common.
So it was a very old-school mentality, but wow, I mean, I was whipped into shape so quickly. Um, And that’s, I mean, if you’re going to be an orchestral musician, that’s what you do. I mean, when we returned to work in September, we’re in one week, we’re playing Mozart 40, Beethoven 5, Mahler 1, Pictures at an Exhibition, Leonora Overture.
I think there are a few other things even on the program. So you have to be ready to do a lot of music well in a very short amount of time. So, that was kind of a typical week at Curtis. As the years went on, you know, my schedule became much freer by the time I, I had my senior year, I was just taking lessons and playing orchestra, which was fun.
Um, I was getting ready for auditions at that time. So it worked out very well that I had all this time to practice, but also was In a supportive environment and still taking lessons and studio class and all that stuff.
Beginning on the Audition Circuit
Jason: When did you start auditioning for professional jobs?
Alex: My first professional audition was a sub-list audition for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. And that was my freshman year of school.
Alex: I really wanted it. I wanted to get on the list so badly. Um, so that was my first audition, and, um, I got really nervous, and just, it did not go well. I remember Jeff Turner telling me I could tell, he said, I could tell you’re a good musician, but it’s just something you’re not ready for yet.
I’m very hard on myself with that experience to this day. I’ve achieved a pretty high level of playing, but this is probably the case for most people. But, hearing myself play on the recording, it’s always like that’s all right, but I could’ve didn’t do this better.
I think that’s just the nature of what we do. But I took that really hard when I didn’t get on that sub-list, in Pittsburgh my freshman year. I kept going, I persevered, and the next year, there were other sub-auditions. One was for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and then there was another one for the Pittsburgh bass section because I don’t think many people got on the first round or the first year they did it.
And I was successful at both of those. That was a real shot in the arm for me. You know, here I was, 19 years old, and I was on the A-list sub-list for the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony. So I started playing with those orchestras, and that was great. Being a student at Curtis and, you know, just walking down the street and playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra was so cool.
I got to do some great concerts too. I remember my very first show with them was Also sprach Zarathustra. It was an all-Strauss program. Hal, you know, just always has so much excitement about his students. So he made sure that I would be on the fourth stand to start the fugue, you know, and so here I was, I mean, I was 19 years old, my first day with the Philadelphia orchestra.
And I’m basically like playing in this solo, you know, with my stand partner, it was Robbie Kesselman, another fantastic bass player. That was a really fun experience. I started playing with those orchestras, which would give me a lot of experience to see what the rhythm is like and, you know, how to behave, how to dress, and more.
I knew all this stuff, but it would just help to have confidence in doing it. During my junior year at Curtis, I took an audition for the Cleveland Orchestra. I went back and forth as to whether I even wanted to take the audition or not. And I remember Max Dimoff was like, pretty upset, (well he wasn’t really upset with me) he was probably a little annoyed with me because, you know, they only invite a limited number of people to that audition, and I continued playing for Max throughout my Curtis years. He invited me to the audition, and then I said, you know what, I’m too young. You know I should just stay at Curtis and not take the audition, and then I went home for a winter break. My parents were really upset with me.
So, like, this is the only job you get that would be close to home, and it’s a great orchestra. You know, my mom was in tears, and I kind of realized she was right. You know, I’ve got this great opportunity. I mean, what do I have to lose? So I called Max. I said, Hey, it’s too late. At this point, the audition was maybe two or three weeks away.
It was over a Christmas break. So I was at home, and he said, fine like I’ll call the personnel manager, see if I can make something happen. It was very sweet that he did that. So I took that audition, and I got to the finals, and I did really, really well. Scott Dixon ended up winning that job and he was obviously the best guy for that job.
That was a great experience because I realized, you know, I was in the finals with Joe Conyers and Scott Dixon and all these wonderful people. Really great bass players who I never thought I would be on their level. You know, I’m a very humble guy, and I’m very hard on myself. So I just thought, oh my gosh, like Joe Conyers, like, forget about it.
Principal Double Bass Audition for Detroit Symphony
I think the same year, in spring of that year, uh, there was an audition for Principal of Detroit. There was a lot of chatter about that audition because I think it was the third or fourth time they had had it. The position was open in 2001, I think, when Bob Gladstone passed away. This was 2007 or something around that time. So, they had tried a few people out, and it just wasn’t working. So Hal said, you know what, go for it. You know, see what happens. Again, I got pretty far.
They didn’t call it a final round, but it was a second or third semi-final round. And it was just me and two other gentlemen from other great orchestras. And so again, I got close and was confirmed that I deserve to be there, but I didn’t quite do it.
I didn’t seal the deal, which ended up being fine. So, it was my senior year. There weren’t very many auditions that year. The Detroit audition happened again. They invited me right to the semis again. So, in the spring of 2008, I played a round. And, uh, again, me and two other gents advanced to the finals.
They had just hired a music director, Leonard Slatkin. So it seemed like, you know, maybe they’ll have some more leadership there and something was going to happen. In May 2008, I graduated from Curtis. Then, in June, I played in the finals and got the principal job for Detroit. So it was like, you know, if you could dream up a story.
Jason: That’s a good setup.
Alex: Yeah, it was so great. I went off to the Verbier Festival that summer. I won the audition in June, and they wanted to try me out in the orchestra in August. And so I went off to Switzerland, studied with Leigh Mesh for that summer, and played out there and then I flew home early to do the trial week with Detroit.
Alex’s First Week with the Detroit Symphony
I played the week, it was fine, and I got the job. I remember many people calling me that summer and, and telling me all these things, you know, like: Oh gosh, you know, they haven’t hired anybody in five or six years, you know, you gotta do this, or you gotta show them that, or you gotta play this way and all this stuff.
Deep down inside, I just didn’t take any of that advice. I just showed up, and I was a nice, warm person, which I strive to be every day. And I played my ass off, you know, and I just did my best. And, uh, I got the job. So I started in September, the next month after that trial week. And so it was just this beautiful, seamless transition from school to being the principal bass of a really great orchestra.
Principal Bass vs. Section Bass
Jason: So what, what’s it like being principal bass versus section bass? What have you discovered about having a couple of those jobs now?
Alex: Depending on your personality, it can be more fun. Um, I think it’s a lot more fun. Um, I mean, it’s just very different. Um, you get to play all the solos. Um, you have a more, um, kind of involved relationship with all the conductors and you’re are expected to lead the section in many different ways.
I find that the most important part of being principal is just playing at your absolute highest level all the time. And if you think about being a section player, nobody wants to be told how to play. And this is something I strive for, uh, in being principal bass.
Wherever I’m playing principal, I want everyone to play, and I want everyone to play out, you know, I don’t want anyone to follow me, per se.
I remember Simon Rattle talking about the Berlin Philharmonic once. Someone asked him a question: “Look at the Berlin Philharmonic, you know, this is an orchestra of just like maniacs, you know, they’re all playing as soloists and stuff like that, taking this music director post, how are you going to tame and rein in this orchestra?”
And he said, “I’m going to do the opposite. I’m going to set them free. Because that’s why they’re great.” And I think that’s exactly what every section leader should do. Um, you know, you should empower your section. Now, of course, there’s going to be times when, you know, things disagree or don’t line up or something like that.
Even when solving those problems, you want to make everyone feel empowered and on the same page in a very positive way. I think that’s the most important part of my job.
You know, there’s the bowings and stylistic stuff. I try to keep that stuff as quiet as possible. I don’t like changing bowings during rehearsals. I think it’s my job to change those bowings. So, as often as I can, I take the parts or tell the library to change them during the break or before or after a rehearsal so that we don’t miss anything from the conductor or anything else like that. So it’s a lot of work, though. Keeping your playing up at a high level and continuing to grow.
I’ve been principal bass of orchestras for eight years (now 17)—four years in Detroit and going on four years (now 13 years) in Chicago. You know, it, it’s, it’s a very challenging job, very, very challenging because I mean, you know, I look at both of the bass sections that I’ve had the gift of, of leading, and they’re full of monsters.
I mean, these are some of the best bassists in the world. So, sometimes you have to say to yourself, you know, who am I to lead them? But, at the end of the day, you show up and do your best. And, as Hal always says, you play your ass off. That’s the best way to do it!
How Alex Practices
Jason: People that listen to this are always interested in hearing about audition preparation and what, if you could just speak a little bit about what, what you did or what advice you’d give to people out there.
Alex: In the practice room, you should make every effort to perform all the time. You know, the word practice kind of has a mindless connotation for some people, which I think is really bad.
This is actually kind of a Bud Herseth quote. You know, you never practice. Always perform. My piano teacher used to tell me this, too, when I would come into a lesson and play something a little uninspired. She said that I had a musical button and she would just push it.
It’s kind of that thing where you engage and start to, maybe it’s like a right brain, left brain thing, but you always want to have that button turned on. Whether you’re playing scales and Simandl or you’re playing the Koussevitzky concerto, you want to be performing all the time.
Breaking your practice up into smaller chunks is really effective. I love David Morris’s idea; I think he recommends 50-minute practice sessions. You know, you can even set a timer. I think that’s a really great number. So these are all great methods for practicing in general. I can tell you a little bit about how I prepared for auditions.
Audition Preparation
Let’s just take, for example, the Chicago audition, which was announced, I think, in the summer of 2010. So I got the announcement in August, of that year, and that was a pretty big moment for me, you know, opening up the union paper, and I was like, “Well, there it is!”
Jason: Last time that job was posted, who was the president?
Alex: Seriously. Well, Eisenhower! The job had probably never even been posted. That was back when it was kind of on recommendation. I was thrilled. I mean, I remember just holding that paper. I saw it, and I read it a few times. Then I kind of closed it and looked up, and I just started pacing around the house.
It’s like, okay, like I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. Like, what am I going to do? It was a very thrilling moment for me. I remember my bass was in the shop. At that moment, I couldn’t practice. And so I finally got my bass back, and it was all cleaned up. I got the fingerboard all set up, and I was practicing like a madman.
I mean, I really started practicing. I was practicing at a whole other level than I had ever done before. So, we (Detroit Symphony) were off for the summer at that point. You know, most orchestras don’t play in August or early September. So, I wasn’t going on vacation or anything. I would drive downtown to the hall. Nobody was there because we’re on vacation, and I was practicing five or six hours a day.
I would get up really early and get down there, probably around nine, 9:30. And I’d practice until about four or five. Um, you know, I was drinking lots of coffee. Um, and, uh, it was fun. You know, it was just so fun to be down there at the hall. Nobody was there. And I still had a lot of time before the prelims, too.
I mean, the prelims were in, I think, late November. So, that’s a lot of time. I also didn’t have the list yet, but I knew, you know, I just want to start getting better. And so I would practice Bach Suites and standard excerpts, Concerti, all this stuff, and I was really pushing. I was also really honest about my weaknesses.
I’m good at Brahms 2nd Symphony, letter E. That’s kind of like one of my excerpts that’s always in the pocket. I wasn’t practicing that. I was practicing Mendelssohn’s 4th Symphony, which is extremely challenging to me, and I was pushing, and sometimes I would spend a whole day on one excerpt. Really picking it apart.
As you get closer to the audition, you want to be going through the rep, pretty consistently. All of it, on a consistent basis. But, starting so early, I had a great opportunity to bring my playing to a higher level. So, I did that practicing schedule for several months. And then we went back to work and I was playing with the Detroit Symphony. Actually, excuse me, that was the year we were on strike.
So that vacation extended. So, I just had all this time to practice, and used every bit of it. My wife had a full-time job then, so it was just me and the dog. And sometimes, I would even take the dog to a friend’s house, just not to be distracted. I took it really seriously.
Um, then approaching the audition, you know, I played for many people—a lot of people in the Detroit Symphony, a lot of former teachers, and I performed the audition list. So that’s kind of my audition prep. It gives you a little idea of what that’s like.
How to Organize Audition Repertoire
I always split the list into four groups. On one day I’ll do half the list in the morning, and then the other half in the afternoon or evening. And then of that B list. So I’ve got A and B list, and then on the second day, I do the B list half in the morning and A list half in the afternoon.
Jason: Do you group them with some sort of stylistic logic or just break them down alphabetically or do you?
Alex: Yes. Stylistically I like to split them up. Let’s say that Mozart 39, Mozart 40, and Heldenleben and Don Juan are all on the list. You know, I’ll do one Mozart and one Strauss on one day and then one Mozart and one Strauss on the other day. I also found it to be really helpful to take one complete day off every seven days.
So, I have one day off a week where I don’t play the bass at all, and then I like to never go more than three days straight without doing a half day. So, a half day being, I’ll just practice a couple hours in the morning, and then I’ll be done.
I’ll do something fun the rest of the day. Uh, and that half day turned out to be kind of a nice crutch or relief because sometimes, you know, I would even do one day after a day off and think to myself, I am burnt out.
You know, there’s no inspiration coming out of me right now. I’m just going to do a half day. That way, you can still get something done and not feel guilty or beat yourself up about it. Then you go back after that half day thinking, “I’m fresh now, I can put three big days on here.”
Usually, by the third day, I was getting pretty crazy, you know, and kind of frustrated with what I was doing. But that was a great schedule and I did that from August until late November. And my playing during that time improved like you wouldn’t believe. I was starting from a pretty good place too, you know, it’s not like I stunk before I did that, but the list was so in my fingers and so confident. It just really felt great!
The Final Round for the Chicago Symphony Principal Double Bass Audition
Jason: What’s the final round for a CSO principal job like?
Alex: think it’s seven rounds of auditions for this job, not including the trial weeks that I had. So, three preliminary rounds, one pre-final round, and then three final rounds.
Throughout something like a year and a half or two years. So, the final, final round, you know, when you go out there, the final round is not screened. So the screen comes down, and you see maestro Ricardo Muti sitting out in the audience among many of the other musicians of the Chicago Symphony that you’ve heard about or seen and heard over the years.
So you go out there, and CSO is a little unique in that they don’t tell you what you’re gonna play until right before you’re gonna play it. So, you know, I went out there, I played a movement of Bach and then I played probably nine or ten excerpts. Some standard things, some not so standard things. An excerpt from Mahler’s 5th Symphony, of course, you know, you always play Beethoven’s 5th, Scherzo and Trio.
I think I played the recits from Beethoven 9th Symphony. Maestro Muti always wants to hear Otello. He was asking me to do things a little differently, testing me out to see if I was a one way street. I can do things slightly differently.
And then he did something unique at the end of my audition.
Apparently, this is something that Toscanini used to do during his auditions. He asked me to play a three-octave E major scale, articulated with eighth notes. He wanted me to do it as loud as possible. And when he asked me to do that, I was a little thrown off. I’d never done that in an audition before.
So I put a lot of rosin on, and I just really blew my brains out. And, I don’t know, maybe that’s what sealed the deal. I don’t know. I wonder!
Jason: Why the three-octave E major? Like, of all the things you could do!
Alex: Well, Muti loves bass. In fact, some of the guys in the section have told me that in the past, he’s said if he played in the orchestra, it would be the bass.
Muti and the Double Bass
So he has a real respect for the double bass. I know that he was very close with Franco Petracchi. He is still is close to him and he loves the low notes. I remember during my trial week, there’s a few really awesome low E fortissimo whole notes in Brahms 2nd Symphony, and, he would just like twirl over and like, look at me!
He gives us a really strong downbeat and of course, you know, the CSO bass section we just crank it out. He just loves it. We can never give him enough! So, I think he wanted to hear that low E and make sure that I could play those notes really big. Muti loves bass, so I’m very, very thankful for that.
Jason: Yeah! Well, there are a lot of, a lot of, It’s kind of like, I call them like short answer geeky things that bassists are always interested in. So, let me just throw a couple of things your way. What’s your favorite rosin?
Alex: The freshest Pops available, which I send to my house whenever they make a new cake.
Yeah. I get it. It doesn’t work as well during the summer, but it’s the best all round rosin. I like Kolstein Soft a lot. It works better than Pops, and it sounds better than Pops, but I find it gets caught in the hair, So it’s, it’s kind of a trade-off, but I end up using Kolstein.
It’s very important when using Pops to know how much and how often to put it on. I think it’s much better just to do, like, even just one swipe at the beginning of a concert, maybe one swipe at intermission. That’s it. I really don’t like having grit in my bow hair.
The bumblebee sound. I don’t like that because when I want to goose the bass and get a whoosh sound, I feel like that’s all I hear. So, Pops has been great for that, and I really like it.
2025 update: The rosins I use are fresh pops, and sometimes I’ll use Big Dog rosin as well
Jason: What strings are you using these days?
Alex: Um, I love Pirastro’s strings. I think they’re really great quality.
It’s a wonderful company that’s been around for centuries. So, I almost always use, uh, Pirastro strings. In fact, I do only use Pirastro strings. In the past I’ve experimented with Bel Cantos which is a domestic string. I think they feel great, and they’re fun to play, but something is missing with the quality of the sound.
I think that for modern instruments, Bel Cantos work very well. They have a way of bringing out a nice quality of sound in modern instruments. But in older instruments, which I use almost all the time, I like Pirastro strings. So, the Pirastro strings I’m using now are Flexcore Originals on the G, D and A strings. I have a Pirastro Permanent string on the extended E.
I’m in a bit of a transition with that. I want to try, um, perhaps all Permanent strings or like the Pirastro Flat Chromesteel, something that has. A little bit more pop in it so I can use more bow more quickly.
With Flexocor originals, you have to kind of muscle and dig in. I’m just exploring a different concept of sound these days. So I might switch to something, but if I don’t, I love those strings. They’re just really dark, really juicy. But they are not easy to play, and you have to work for it. But I think it’s worth it.
2025 update: I use different combinations of strings on different instruments but my favorite combos are all Evah Pirazzi or Flexocor Original G, D & A with a Permanent extended E string
Standing vs. Sitting With the Double Bass
Jason: Yeah. How about standing or sitting? What have you done throughout your career so far?
Alex: So in high school, I always stood, and then when I got to Curtis, I started sitting. I sit for everything. I did a concerto with an orchestra in July and I kind of toyed with the idea of standing just because when you stand, I just feel so much more free.
You know, when you sit, I feel when I sit, I feel very locked in and I can’t move, you know? Your feet pretty much have to go one place. I don’t like that about sitting, but I love the fact that you’re completely in control of the instrument. So, I sit for everything.
I’ve been using a yoga block for my left leg. Not so much that I don’t like having the rung of the stool support my foot, but I like that I can move when my leg goes with the block. So it’s nice to have that freedom. Andy Raciti was really nice and loaned me a bent end pin – the egg pin.
That’s kind of a work in progress for me. I’m not sure if that’s something that I will explore, but, at first, I can tell you I was really turned off. I was like, what is this!? The bass is like flying to the other corner of the room. But, Andy and so many other players seem to have a great balance with that.
So I want to figure that out and be able to do it so I can definitively say, um, I like this more than standing, or sitting, but that’s, that’s kind of a work in progress. But the short answer to your question is sitting with a yoga block.
Staying in Shape
Jason: What did you do besides practicing when you were getting ready for auditions? Did you work out or did you keep. How did you balance your life? I mean a year and a half for those prelims and final rounds. It’s a long time for an audition process. How did you keep from going, going crazy in the practice room?
Alex: That’s a good question. And I’m still perfecting that, as the years go on.
A few things I found to be very, very helpful. I think you have to exercise. I know very few people who play the bass and are healthy but don’t exercise. I think it’s really important to strengthen your legs and your back for the bass. So when I was getting ready for my auditions, I was doing a lot of running.
Occasional yoga, um, and just thinking back to the Chicago audition, yoga was a big thing for me during those years. The day of my final audition, when I got the job, I woke up an hour early and, you know, did a yoga DVD in my hotel room.
I find the first thing in the morning to do or meditation or something like that sets a great tone for the day. You know, you’re starting from a place of peace and relaxation. It’s just, it’s like you’re starting at a hundred percent instead of starting at, Oh my gosh, the auditions today, you know, what’s going to happen, blah, blah, blah.
Even if it’s just five minutes of closing your eyes, doing some deep breathing right at the beginning of the day, I remember, when my alarm would go off the day of an audition, I would be so excited. You know, I mean, do you ever have that feeling?
Jason: Oh yeah. Or it’s just like, you’re just, today’s the day.
Alex: You want to have that feeling. I guess that comes from preparation and experience. But, uh, you know, that set me up for success that day. I was really into yoga during those years, since then I’ve realized that yoga is fantastic. I’ll never stop doing it entirely, but, it really kind of thins you out, and doesn’t build a whole lot of strength.
Throughout my Curtis years and actually throughout the first four or five years of my professional career, I’ve had on and off, you know, pain, aches and pains here and there where you start to wonder, “Oh my gosh, is this tendonitis?” You know what’s happening to me? Um, and I think I was having those cause I wasn’t building a lot of upper-body back strength.
Ever since I got here, a wonderful friend and colleague in the bass section, Rob Kassinger, had been telling me I should check out this CrossFit gym. I finally signed up to do it, and that’s changed a lot for me. You know, it’s a really fun way to lift weights, do cardio, and do a variety of exercises.
That’s helped me out big time. It’s given me so much more energy in my playing. Playing three or four-hour-long operas. It’s no big deal. Um, so, yeah, so today I’m doing, you know, CrossFit probably three or four times a week I try to go to like one class a week to keep my muscles flexible and it’s also kind of a nice way to relax.
But something to get you active because if you’re not, you know, if all you’re doing is, you know, not eating well, not exercising, you’re going to have problems. Eating well is another big one. For students in college, I think it’s really important. My diet at Curtis sucked. I mean, it was embarrassing.
You know, I was just like inhaling coffee and, you know, eating junk food and all this stuff. And then I would wonder why I’m on the verge of tendonitis or something like that. You know, to care for yourself just like an athlete would. I mean, it’d be very silly to see an Olympic athlete, you know, not eat right.
So why do you think the musician would be any different? So, this is very long answer to your question, but just some kind of activity to keep the blood flowing.
Jason: That’s great. Hey, well, it’s been such a pleasure having you do this. I just really, really appreciate it. I think, I think, uh, folks are going to love checking this out.
Alex teaches at DePaul University in Chicago and is the Princiapl Double Bass of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
This article was published in January 2025. The interview was recorded in Fall of 2015
