Paul Bresciani
principal
BPO principal bassist Paul Bresciani is a native of Napa, California. His mother was an anesthesiologist; his father, a heavy equipment mechanic. Born into a musical family, Paul received early piano lessons with his grandmother and was introduced to the guitar by his mother. But his greatest enthusiasm was for the snare drum, on which he took lessons at age six. Without missing a beat, Paul admits that he wanted to be just like Ringo Starr of the Beatles. In fact, it was not long before he began serious percussion lessons with Jim Staats, the principal percussionist of the Napa Valley Symphony. All of this was in addition to formal piano lessons with Patricia Stabio, which he took from the third grade through his sophomore year in high school.
While in the sixth grade Paul placed second in a Bay Area Piano Competition. For him, second place was a terrible tragedy. The following year, while in the public schools he began instruction on string bass with Janice Schmutz, later pursuing advanced instruction in the eleventh grade with S. Charles Siani, the principal bassist of both the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. In his senior year of high school Paul made his first solo debut with an orchestra, performing Dittersdorf's Concerto for Contrabass and Orchestra with the North Bay Philharmonic under the direction of Bertil van Boer.
After graduating from Vintage High School, Mr. Bresciani attended the San Francisco Conservatory for one year and then transferred to the Indiana School of Music (IU) on full scholarship to study with noted pedagogue Murray Grodner. While at IU he won the school's concerto competition, and performed Bloch's Kol Nidre. Paul graduated from Indiana in 1985 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance with high distinction. He was also awarded Indiana University's rare and coveted Performer's Certificate.
Upon graduation from IU, Mr. Bresciani played for two years with the New American Chamber Orchestra under Misha Rachlevsky, during which time he toured extensively as their solo bassist, with concerts in Israel, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Spain, and at the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France. In 1988, Paul was a prizewinner in the 1988 Los Angeles International Double Bass Competition. In 1991 he was invited to join the world renowned Grand Teton Music Festival, a gathering of the finest principal and tutti orchestral musicians from around the world. In August of this year, Paul was the Festival's featured soloist for the world premiere of a work for amplified bass and percussion by composer Brian Prechtl. In addition, he took this distinguished orchestra's principal chair for the first time, in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony.
Mr. Bresciani was appointed as the BPO's principal bassist in 1992 during the tenure of Maximiano Valdes. Paul had previously performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Columbus Symphony. Mr. Bresciani has made several appearances as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, including performances of Koussevitsky's Concerto for Contrabass and Orchestra with Maximiano Valdes, "Orange Blossom Special" with Doc Severinsen, and Bottesini's Passioni Amorose with both Arie Lipsky and Wes Kinney.
To wide critical acclaim in 2001, Toronto based recording label Phoenix Records released Mr. Bresciani's debut CD, "Two Octaves Down" with pianist William Crawford. In the spring of this year Paul traveled to Mantova, Italy where he played a concerto, a solo recital and gave four master classes during Il Contrabasso 2002, Incontri con I Solisti, a course of study with four of the world's foremost solo/principal bassists. In the fall of this year, Mr. Bresciani will record his second CD for Phoenix Records which will feature his own transcriptions of the cello sonatas of Brahms, Schubert and Grieg.
On a personal note, Mr. Bresciani performs on a contrabass made in 1731 by Paulo Antonio Testore. His hobbies include building computers and surfing the internet via his Macintosh computer. At times he has admitted to having in his youth surfed the skies as a skydiver and hang gliding enthusiast. Paul currently resides in Hamburg, New York, with his better half, BPO Principal Violist Valerie Heywood.
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Paul Bresciani
principal
BPO principal bassist Paul Bresciani is a native of Napa, California. His mother was an anesthesiologist; his father, a heavy equipment mechanic. Born into a musical family, Paul received early piano lessons with his grandmother and was introduced to the guitar by his mother. But his greatest enthusiasm was for the snare drum, on which he took lessons at age six. Without missing a beat, Paul admits that he wanted to be just like Ringo Starr of the Beatles. In fact, it was not long before he began serious percussion lessons with Jim Staats, the principal percussionist of the Napa Valley Symphony. All of this was in addition to formal piano lessons with Patricia Stabio, which he took from the third grade through his sophomore year in high school.
While in the sixth grade Paul placed second in a Bay Area Piano Competition. For him, second place was a terrible tragedy. The following year, while in the public schools he began instruction on string bass with Janice Schmutz, later pursuing advanced instruction in the eleventh grade with S. Charles Siani, the principal bassist of both the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. In his senior year of high school Paul made his first solo debut with an orchestra, performing Dittersdorf's Concerto for Contrabass and Orchestra with the North Bay Philharmonic under the direction of Bertil van Boer.
After graduating from Vintage High School, Mr. Bresciani attended the San Francisco Conservatory for one year and then transferred to the Indiana School of Music (IU) on full scholarship to study with noted pedagogue Murray Grodner. While at IU he won the school's concerto competition, and performed Bloch's Kol Nidre. Paul graduated from Indiana in 1985 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance with high distinction. He was also awarded Indiana University's rare and coveted Performer's Certificate.
Upon graduation from IU, Mr. Bresciani played for two years with the New American Chamber Orchestra under Misha Rachlevsky, during which time he toured extensively as their solo bassist, with concerts in Israel, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Spain, and at the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France. In 1988, Paul was a prizewinner in the 1988 Los Angeles International Double Bass Competition. In 1991 he was invited to join the world renowned Grand Teton Music Festival, a gathering of the finest principal and tutti orchestral musicians from around the world. In August of this year, Paul was the Festival's featured soloist for the world premiere of a work for amplified bass and percussion by composer Brian Prechtl. In addition, he took this distinguished orchestra's principal chair for the first time, in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony.
Mr. Bresciani was appointed as the BPO's principal bassist in 1992 during the tenure of Maximiano Valdes. Paul had previously performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Columbus Symphony. Mr. Bresciani has made several appearances as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, including performances of Koussevitsky's Concerto for Contrabass and Orchestra with Maximiano Valdes, "Orange Blossom Special" with Doc Severinsen, and Bottesini's Passioni Amorose with both Arie Lipsky and Wes Kinney.
To wide critical acclaim in 2001, Toronto based recording label Phoenix Records released Mr. Bresciani's debut CD, "Two Octaves Down" with pianist William Crawford. In the spring of this year Paul traveled to Mantova, Italy where he played a concerto, a solo recital and gave four master classes during Il Contrabasso 2002, Incontri con I Solisti, a course of study with four of the world's foremost solo/principal bassists. In the fall of this year, Mr. Bresciani will record his second CD for Phoenix Records which will feature his own transcriptions of the cello sonatas of Brahms, Schubert and Grieg.
On a personal note, Mr. Bresciani performs on a contrabass made in 1731 by Paulo Antonio Testore. His hobbies include building computers and surfing the internet via his Macintosh computer. At times he has admitted to having in his youth surfed the skies as a skydiver and hang gliding enthusiast. Paul currently resides in Hamburg, New York, with his better half, BPO Principal Violist Valerie Heywood.