Patrick Neher, Professor of Music, is recognized as one of the world's leading double bass soloists and composers of music for double bass. He received his Master of Music Degree with Honors from the Juilliard School of Music in 1981, under the esteemed tutelage of the late David Walter. In 1996 he received the coveted Diplôme from the Intl. Rabbath Institute, Paris, France. He has been with the faculty of the University of Arizona since1984. He founded the Arizona Double Bass Symposium in1988 and the Arizona Bass Players Festival and Workshop in 2005. He is a former member of the San Diego Symphony, the New Mexico Symphony, the American Philharmonic, the New Orleans Symphony, the New 20th Century Players, and for ten years he was Principal Bassist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. For eighteen years he performed as Principal Bassist with the Orchestra of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra.
Prof. Neher's solo concert
career has recently taken him to New Zealand and Australia, England, Scotland,
France, Canada, East and West Germany, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and
throughout the USA. As an active chamber musician,
he has performed with numerous festivals, including: the Santa Fe Chamber
Music Festival, the Sedona Chamber Music Festival, the Grand Canyon Chamber
Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society,
the Grand Teton Music Festival, the California New Music Festival, the CalArts
Contemporary Music Festival, the Green Umbrella Series, the Santa Fe Opera,
and the New Orleans and Phoenix symphonies' summer festivals. Mr Neher is
a founding member of Crossing
Barriers Group a multi-media, multi-genre, collaborative ensemble
that performs regularly in Tucson with guest artists from around the country.
Prof. Neher gives clinics on double bass performance and composition around
the world, has been one of the Directors of the International
Society of Bassists, and has been listed in International Who's Who
in Music since 1989. He has served twice as Head of the Solo Competition
Jury for the International Society of Bassists, and for three years he was
the Double Bass Forum Editor for American String Teacher magazine.
As an active member of ASCAP he is an avid
composer, arranger, and editor with music and recordings
published by Liben Music and ISG
Publications. Prof. Neher's articles on double bass and its players, and
reviews of his compositions, have been published by Double
Bassist Magazine, American
String Teacher, Strings Magazine, and the ISB Journal.
With a solo repertory of over 300 works that span four centuries, and performances lauded as "creative, inspiring, and theatrical," Prof. Neher performs exclusively on a Charles Quenoil model double bass made by Christian Laborie (France), with strings made by Pirastro (Orginal Flat Chrome or Permanent) and Savarez (Corelli medium). For mixed-media performances, he uses electronics by Roland, Boss, Behringer, Sennheiser, Nakamichi, Digitech, and Apple-Macintosh
Professor Neher's instruction
results in mulit-talented musicians who have been placed in major music positions
around the world.
Check out Bass Boot Camp!
Patrick
Neher's compositions have recently been released on his latest CD: "Music
4 Friends" (ISGBA0200806). All the music on the CD was commissioned by
the performers including UA Faculty - Mark Rush and Tannis Gibson; Accessible
Contemporary Music Ensemble (Chicago) members - Hulya Alpakin and Emi Tanabe;
and Melbourne, Australia's Peter Sheridan on contrabass flute!, Neher, and
Chanwook Park, pianist.