Survey: Student Bassists Report Pains
70–90 percent reported physical symptoms
Life can be particularly hard on student bassists, an informal survey of 520 bassists has found. Linda Gilbert, a certified yoga instructor who specializes in musicians at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and writes a regular health column in the International Society of Bassists’ magazine Bass World, conducted the study using the website surveymonkey.com. College, high school, and middle school bassists accounted for 20 percent of the participants. Gilbert says 70–90 percent of these students reported symptoms in their back, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands. Among them, 50–70 percent reported moderate to extreme levels of pain and tension. “Seeing that [pain] at a younger age is a wake-up call for teachers to modify and adjust their students’ posture and relax places that are stressed,” Gilbert says.
Also of interest: French bow players most often reported pains on the right side of their bodies, while German bow players reported pains on their left side.
Singer Falls on Cello
A new threat to your stringed instrument’s well-being: opera singers. During a performance at the Glyndebourne Festival, Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez accidentally fell off the stage into the orchestra pit and landed on a cello. Martinez emerged unharmed, but the cello is being repaired.
Cello Concerto
Composer Sally Beamish has written Cello Concerto No. 2 (“The Song Gatherer”) in celebration of British cellist Robert Cohen’s 50th birthday. The concerto, which Cohen commissioned, was to be premiered by the cellist and the Minnesota Orchestra under conductor Osmo Vänskä in November.
Thornton School Celebrates 125 Years
The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music received some hefty presents for its 125th anniversary in September, including a $1.25 million gift for the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Scholarship for string students as well as a Steinway and Sons grand piano that belonged to Jascha Heifetz.
Bows Donated to Teachers
Connecticut string teachers were treated to ten Coda violin and viola bows in August, compliments of Potter Violin Company through the American String Teachers Association. The bows have been valued at more than $4,300. In 2008, ASTA gave company president L. Dalton Potter the Traugott Rohner Leadership in the Music Industry Award.
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