UNCSA Double Bass Day

Paul Sharpe and the UNCSA Double Bass Studio are hosting UNCSA Double Bass Day 2023 on Saturday, September 9, 2023. 

Bass Day is geared to all levels of bassists, from middle school to professional. Explore the Bass Violin Shop with Cody Rex and his team, offering a splendid selection of instruments and bows for purchase and rental. Don't miss this exceptional celebration of the artistry of double bass with Nina DeCesare, Mikyung Sung and Paul Sharpe, promising a day filled with passion, inspiration, and exceptional music.

Registration

The registration fee for this event is $35.  

Register Here

Included with the registration fee:

1. Participation in Double Bass Day
2. T-shirt
3. Lunch
4. Two complimentary tickets to recital with Nina DeCesare and Mikyung Sung at 3 p.m. (Value: $40)

If you have any questions about the registration, please email Paul Sharpe at sharpep@uncsa.edu.

UNCSA Double Bass Day Schedule

Guest Artists

Nina DeCesare

Nina DeCesare, joined the bass section of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in September 2020 after five years in the Oregon Symphony bass section. She has also performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Sun Valley Music Festival, the Knights Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Oregon Bach Festival. Equally comfortable as an orchestral musician, soloist, and chamber musician, Nina regularly performs with Chatter ABQ, Third Angle New Music,45th Parallel, Chamber Music by Candlelight, and Classical Up Close. In 2023, Nina presented a headliner recital at the International Society of Bassists Convention at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

Alongside her busy performing schedule, Nina is passionate about teaching and mentorship and in 2022, she was appointed to the faculty at Peabody Conservatory. Nina is also on the faculty of Domaine Forget Academy and the National Orchestral Institute and previously served on the faculty at NYO Canada. She has presented masterclasses at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Pittsburgh Bass Symposium, Michigan State University, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, James Madison University, and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She has been featured as a recitalist and faculty member at the SF Bass Bash, Golden Gate Bass Camp, KC Bass Workshop, the Twin Cities Bass Camp, and the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles.

 

Nina began playing the bass while studying with renowned pedagogue George Vance, later working closely with Ira Gold and Hal Robinson. In 2011, Nina made her solo debut with the Chesapeake Orchestra in Southern Maryland, performing the Vanhal Concerto. In 2014, Nina completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Rice University, studying with Paul Ellison. During her time at Rice, she spent her summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, Sarasota Music Festival, Moritzburg Festival Academy, Wabass Institute and Domaine Forget International Academy.

Mikyung Sung

Mikyung Sung, a twenty-nine-years-old native from Seoul, South Korea, is forging a unique performing career as a solo double bassist. Since her professional solo debut at age 11 with the Guri Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), Ms. Sung has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, Colburn Orchestra, Philharmonia Corea, the Concordia College Orchestra, Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Korea National University of Arts Orchestra, and the Sunhwa Arts School Orchestra.

 

Ms. Sung has already established herself as a renowned concertizing solo bassist in South Korea. She has performed solo recitals at the renowned Kukje Art hall in 2019, The House Concert, Kumho Art Hall in 2010 and 2007, PyeongChang Music Festival as well as on the Changsoo Park concert series and the Korea National University of Arts concert series.

Born into a musical family, Ms. Sung enjoys collaborating with other musicians and performing a variety of musical genres. During the summer of 2015 she performed at the Ditto Festival in Korea with a double bass quartet with her brother In March 2015, Palm Springs Festival in California with Sarah Chang, and she performed a double bass duo recital at the Sierra Madre Playhouse in the Los Angeles area with a mixed program of classical standards and arrangements of film scores. Her performance has been broadcasted on KBS 1TV Classic Odyssey and Masterpiece scandal.

 

The Strad has praised Mikyung’s Frnak Violin Sonata by Double Bass. Ms. Sung has received First Prize in numerous competitions in Korea, and in 2010 she was awarded First Prize, Audience Prize, and the Special Jury Prize at the Johann-Matthias-Sperger International Double Bass Competition in Germany. Not only that, she also competed at the International Society of Bassists in Colorado 2015, and was awarded second place for the solo competition and first place for the Bottesini prize. In 2017, Ms. Sung was awarded Honorable mention and the online audience favorite prize in the 2nd Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Competition. In addition, she auditioned at the Seoul Philamonic Orchestra in 2015 and got accepted as the Assistant Principal Bassist. She has also performed in master classes for renowned artists such as Janne Saksala (Berlin Philharmonic principal bassist), Rinat Ibragimov (London Symphony Orchestra principal bassist), Klaus Trumpf, Arnold Steinhardt, Hans Jørgen Jensen and Peter Wiley.

 

Ms. Sung earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Korea National University. She has recently graduated from the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles achieving Artist Diploma.

 

Ms. Sung previously served as a principal double bass at Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and a Faculty at Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Academy. She is currently an active female double bassist has gained international recognition as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician.