Double bass students win orchestral positions
Three students from the double bass classes of Prof. Gunars Upatnieks and Prof. Matthew McDonald have taken up permanent positions in renowned symphony orchestras. The 24-year-old Swedish double bass player Astor Cortabarria, who is currently completing his master's degree in Prof. Gunars Upatnieks' class, has been offered a permanent position as assistant principal double bass with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen. It is the most renowned symphony orchestra in Denmark and is one of the oldest and most traditional radio orchestras in the world.
Double bassist and master's student Vojislav Veselinov, born in Serbia in 1998, who has also been studying in Prof. Gunars Upatnieks' class since 2017, won the audition for a permanent position as assistant principal double bassist in the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford in February and took up his post there in August. He had already gained experience in several professional orchestras such as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau.
Tamir Chuzhoy, 28 years old and currently a master's student in Prof. Matthew McDonald's class, has won a tutti position in the hr-Sinfonieorchester, the orchestra of the Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt am Main. The Israeli double bassist, who came to the Eisler in 2021 to begin a Bachelor's degree, has also been a member of Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra since 2017.