The event on Sunday, Feb. 25 is developed for bassists of all ages and skill levels, and is organized by Fredonia bass Associate Professor Kieran Hanlon. “Each year, we welcome professional players, college students, high school students, teachers, and adult learners for a day of performances and classes, with opportunities for networking and bass fellowship during the day,” said Hanlon.

The fee is $50 and includes the full day of workshops, performances, and dinner. Sign up by going online at https://www.fredonia.edu/academics/colleges-schools/school-music/music/community/bassfest

The Fredonia Bass Fest will again offer a unique Pre-Professional Intensive designed specifically for high school-aged bassists who are interested in learning more about possible career paths in music. The Pre-Professional Intensive (PPI) is an opportunity to meet with Fredonia Bass Fest faculty members, play for faculty and receive feedback, ask questions, and learn about the collegiate and professional music world. Students must apply for consideration and will be invited to participate based on submitted application materials. There is no additional cost to participate in the Pre-Professional Intensive, but Bass Fest registration is required. The PPI will take place the morning of Bass Fest on Feb. 25. Interested students should submit a 5-minute (max) recording representative of their playing and musical interests (uploaded as unlisted YouTube video and emailed to Associate Professor Hanlon), along with a 300 to 500-word statement about why they would like to be considered for the program and how participating would support and inform their specific goals as a pre-professional. The deadline to apply for the Pre-Professional Intensive is Feb.1.

Another special element to this year’s event is the addition of a bass studio alumni reunion. All Fredonia bass studio alumni are encouraged to contact Associate Professor Hanlon via email at Kieran.Hanlon@fredonia.edu for more information.

Kristin Korb

Sponsors of Bass Fest include the Carnahan Jackson Fund for the Humanities of the Fredonia College Foundation, the Fredonia Bass Society and Fredonia Jazz Workshop, both Student Association groups, the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, and Michael Griffin of Luthier’s Care, and partners with the International Society of Bassists.

Korb has been described as one of those artists who make you forget that she is playing the bass when you hear her crystalline voice. Inspired by the days when music was romantic and made people want to dance, Kristin and her trio embody that spirit and carry their audiences along for the ride. Love eventually brought the American bassist and vocalist to Denmark in 2011. In 2021, Korb released a double CD entitled “What If?/Why Not?” reflecting the pop and jazz sides of Korb’s personality. On “What if?” Korb departs from her Great American Songbook tradition and dives deep into the exploration of pop tunes that burst with Korb’s trademark exuberance and inspired arrangements.

Wagner aims to liberate his instrument from its existence in the shadow of the cello and present new facets of the double bass. He succeeds not only with an engaging stage presence, impressive virtuosity, and vocal melodic delivery but also through his tireless efforts to expand the repertoire, whether through commissions or the search for rarities, he makes the double bass sound in a new variety. For example, together with his father, the composer Wolfram Wagner, he arranged Dvořák’s fragments of the Cello Concerto in A major into the Double Bass Concerto in D major, which he premiered at the KKL Lucerne in the summer of 2023. In just his mid-20s, Wagner is a scholarship recipient of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and an ECHO Klassik winner. In 2022, he was awarded the Opus Klassik as Young Talent of the Year. He has also won prizes in almost all double bass competitions, including the Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition, the ARD International Music Competition, and the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition.