The Penn Stater Magazine

Help—We’re Being Overrun by Bass Players

June 11, 2009 at 3:00 pm Tina Hay Leave a comment

Summertime at University Park often brings a wide range of conference-goers—this morning, for example, I encountered dozens and dozens of high school kids in those classic blue-and-gold Future Farmers of America uniforms streaming toward Eisenhower Auditorium. I checked the Web, and sure enough, their annual “FFA Activities Week” is taking place right now at Penn State.

Northwestern University student Samuel Suggs tries out one of the string basses for sale during the International Society of Bassists Convention at Penn State. (Photo by Andy Colwell/Department of Public Information)

But the conference that intrigues me the most is the biennial convention of the International Society of Bassists—you know, people who play the musical instrument known as the upright bass or double bass.

All week long, there have been bass-intensive recitals (both jazz and classical), lectures, and jams all over the place: Schwab Auditorium, the Music Building, Eisenhower Chapel, the Pavilion Theatre. One recital featured a piece of music written for eight upright basses! And the lectures run the gamut from “History of the Double Bass in Argentina” to “Careers in Early Music” to (my favorite) “Injury Prevention.”

Altogether, there are most than 1,200 bass players from 44 countries here. One guy on Twitter referred to it as “Double Bass Geek Utopia.”

We’re on deadline with the magazine this week (OK, we’re actually past deadline, but not yet finished, which is worse), so things are a little hectic around the office. But I’m hoping to get up to see a performance or two tomorrow. If so, I’ll report back.

Tina Hay, editor

Entry filed under: Campus events, The Penn Stater magazine, University Park campus. Tags: double bass, Eisenhower Auditorium, FFA, FFA Activities Week, Future Farmers of America, International Society of Bassists, Samuel Suggs, standup bass, upright bass.