Joel Quarrington’s Highlights

By | | Double Bass

Artist Profiles, Joel Quarrington

1955:

  • Born in Toronto, Canada.

1966:

  • Started with the double bass to form a bluegrass/folk trio with his brothers.

1973:

  • Appointed solo bassist of the Chamber Players of Toronto (Victor Martin, concertmaster).

1975:

  • The University of Toronto, Eaton Graduating Award (Outstanding Graduate).
  • Private studies with Franco Petracchi in Rome, Italy.

1976:

  • 1st Prize at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) “Talent Festival” Competition.

1977:

  • Started studies at the Vienna Academy of Music under Ludwig Streicher.

1978:

  • Isle of Man Competition, Award for Performance Test Piece (David Ellis Sonata).
  • Geneva International Music Competition, Silver Medal (Highest Award given).

1979:

  • Launched his solo career.

1980:

  • Appointed principal bass of the Hamilton Philharmonic (Boris Brott).

1981:

  • Released the album Duos for Cello and Bass (Crystal Records), with Coenraad Bloemendal.
  • Recorded the film soundtrack for The Wars with Glenn Gould.

1983:

  • Began learning German Bow to play the Koussevitzky Concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
  • Began teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (Glenn Gould School).

1987:

  • Began learning fifths tuning, Viennese tuning, 5-string bass (low B).

1989:

  • Appointed principal bass of the Canadian Opera Company (Richard Bradshaw).

1991:

  • Appointed principal bass of the Toronto Symphony (Gunther Herbig).

1993:

  • Began teaching at the University of Toronto.
  • Began to play in fifths tuning full-time.

1995:

  • Faculty of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (until 2002).

1996:

  • Released the album Bottesini: Music For Double Bass And Piano, Vol. 1 (Naxos) with Andrew Burashko.
  • World premiere of the Raymond Luedeke Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Jukka-Pekka Saraste).

1997:

  • Released the album Virtuoso Reality (CBC Records) with Jacques Israelievitch (violin), Steven Dann (viola), Andrew Burashko (piano), Eric Robertson (harpsichord), and members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Timothy Vernon).

1999:

  • Began teaching at the Glenn Gould School of Music.

2001:

  • Appointed Professor at the Orford Musique Master Classes in Québec, Canada.

2006:

  • Appointed principal bass of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Pinchas Zukerman).
  • Released the album Bottesini: Music for Double Bass and Piano, Vol. 2 (Naxos) with Andrew Burashko.
  • Participated in the album Schubert Piano Quintet “Trout”, Mozart Piano Quartet in E flat (Sony) with Pinchas Zukerman (violin), Jethro Marks (viola), Amanda Forsyth (cello), and Yefim Bronfman.
  • World premiere of the John Harbison Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Hugh Wolf).
  • Faculty at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

2009:

  • Began trial as guest principal bass of the London Symphony Orchestra.

2010:

  • His album Garden Scene (Analekta, 2009) with Andrew Burashko (which includes the first recording of the Weinberg Sonata) wins the Juno Award in the category of Best Solo Classical Recording of the Year.
  • International Society of Bassists, “Outstanding Recognition Award for Solo Performance.”
  • Publishes The Canadian School of the Double Bass, Book 1 “Daily Studies.”

2013:

  • Releases the album Brothers in Brahms (Modica Music) with David Jalbert, and wins the Prix Opus in the category of Best Solo Classical Recording.
  • Appointed principal bass of the London Symphony Orchestra (Valery Gergiev).

2014:

  • Appointed visiting artist at the Royal Academy of Music in London, United Kingdom.

2015:

  • International Society of Bassists. “Outstanding Recognition Award for Orchestral Performance.”

2016:

  • Publishes the digital version (iTunes) of The Canadian School of the Double Bass.
  • World premiere of the Peter Paul Koprowski Chamber Concerto with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Diego Matheuz).

2017:

  • Releases the album Schubert: An die Musik (Modica Music), with David Jalbert.

2018:

  • Appointed professor of Contrabass at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.
  • Releases the video J.S. Bach Sixth Suite BWV 1012 on his YouTube Channel.

2020:

  • Publishes The Canadian School of the Double Bass, Book 2 “Intervals, Chords, Arpeggios, Scales”, Fifths edition.
  • Releases the video J.S. Bach Preludio for Violin Partita No. 3 BWV 1006 on his YouTube Channel.

2021:

  • Releases the album Rossini: 6 Sonate a Quattro (Leaf Music), with Mark Fewer (violin), Yolanda Bruno (violin), and Julian Schwarz (cello).
  • Publishes The Canadian School of the Double Bass, Book 2 “Intervals, Chords, Arpeggios, Scales”, Fourths edition.
  • The Canadian School of the Double Bass presents Erich Korngold’s Garden Scene for double bass and piano, transcription by Joel Quarrington.
  • The Canadian School of the Double Bass presents J.S. Bach’s Sixieme Suite for double bass.

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