Artist-Teacher of Double Bass
University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC http://uncsa.edu
The UNCSA School of Music is the first state-funded conservatory in the nation and has graduate, undergraduate and high school programs. Graduates of UNCSA perform with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and virtually every major professional symphony orchestra in the United States.
 | Paul Sharpe is the Artist-Teacher of Double Bass at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and is active internationally as an orchestral and chamber musician and as a soloist. As a student of Jeff Bradetich he received the B.M. degree in Performance from Northwestern University, and he earned the M.A. degree in Music from the University of Iowa studying with Diana Gannett. While in school he received fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival (Sapporo, Japan). Recent performances and engagements have taken him all over the world, including recitals and masterclasses at the Paris Conservatory, Institutes of Music in Curitiba and Porto Allegre in Brazil, the University of Iowa, Cleveland Institute of Music, World Bass Convention (Wroclaw, Poland), University of North Texas, University of Michigan, Interlochen Arts Academy, and two of Brazil’s International Double Bass Encounters in Pirenopolis, Brazil. Solo engagements with orchestra have included appearances with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra de Camara Theatro Sao Pedro (Porto Allegre, Brazil), Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Orchestra, and Aspen Young Artists Orchestra. He has been a guest artist at MusicFest (Arizona), Pine Mountain Music Festival (Michigan), the Anchorage Festival of Music, the Festival of Two Worlds (Spoleto, Italy), and 20th Century Unlimited (Santa Fe, NM). He has been a prizewinner at several solo competitions, including the International Society of Bassists (ISB) Solo Competition in 1997, and winner of the Aspen Music Festival's Double Bass Concerto Competition in 1996, and is a founding member of the bass quartet Bad Boys of Double Bass, all former prizewinners of the ISB International Solo Competition. Currently, he is the Artist-Teacher of Double Bass at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Principal Bass of the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra. He served as Principal Bass of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra from 1996-2007, and performed frequently with the Fort Worth Symphony and San Antonio Symphony while living in Texas. Before coming to UNCSA he held faculty positions at Texas Tech University, the University of North Texas, Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), and the Preucil School of Music (Iowa City, IA). |
In addition to studying at UNCSA, there are other opportunities to study with Mr. Sharpe in summer:
UNCSA Double Bass Workshop, last week in June for ages 13 through adult
http://www.uncsa.edu/summersession/music.htm – for application/registration and other specific info.
Also information on it can be found on the "Carolina Bassline" Facebook group page and on the Facebook event page.
And, please consider the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. I love this festival!!! It has a great spirit about it! I always take students out to Denali National Park for some exploration…it is like a National Geographic documentary there every day. Not only is it in Alaska, but we work hard on the bass the rest of the week — daily technique classes, chamber music, chamber orchestra, and playing in orchestra with me. There are also many venues for public performances of students…it is the perfect place to get lots of solo performing in before very supportive audiences. I'm absolutely willing to help with logistics – there a bassists available there to use, and significant scholarships available. Don't hesitate to contact me with questions at sharpep@uncsa.edu. For information and applications: http://fsaf.org
I have a great interest in double bass pedagogy, and have written Bassic Technique (no, I have not made a spelling error - I think that I am being clever!), which is currently in its fourth edition (just over 60 pages...and growing). Contents include the following:
2. Scale fingerings are presented in a manner that allows the student to memorize all 12 major scale fingerings within a day or two. Three varieties of major scales fingerings are presented (with open strings, without open strings, and a universal fingerings that works for all major scales except E and F major).
3. Arpeggio fingerings are also presented in a manner that allows the student to memorize all twelve major or minor arpeggios within a day or two.
4. Many technique drills that develop tone, left hand speed, hand shape, thumb position, intonation, agility, strength, and accuracy. Most drills are based on scales or arpeggio work, but several exist outside of particular keys.
If you are interested in receiving a copy, please send me an email at sharpep@uncsa.edu. They are nice, spiral bound volumes with a vinyl cover, and cost me about $15 to make. I charge $20 - to cover the cost of putting them together plus postage.
Low and Lower
"Low and Lower" is a cello/bass duo made of Brooks Whitehouse, Artist-Teacher of Cello at UNCSA, and myself. We present programs that are diverse and eclectic, including hilarious theater pieces, stunningly beautiful arrangements of classical repertoire, and fiery virtuosic works. Please contact one of us directly if you wish to book us for a performance or masterclasses.
