
Dr. Mark Morton
Artistic Director |
Mark Morton is Principal Bass of
the Columbus
Symphony Orchestra, and is the first prize winner of the
International Society of Bassists Solo Competition in New York
City. Morton is currently instructor of bass at Capital
University (Bexley, Ohio). Formerly, he was the assistant
double bass instructor for Gary Karr at the Hartt School
of Music.
A busy recitalist and concerto performer, Morton has been
a featured double bass soloist on radio and television broadcasts
including NPR's "Performance Today." He recently
released his “Thresholds” album, a compact disc
of standard solo bass repertoire. He also shares a compact
disc with world-renowned bassist Gary Karr of solo double
bass music by Paul Ramsier. It was with that CD that Classical
CD Reviews hailed him as “a most artistic representative
of the new generation [of bassists] developed in the last
half century.”
An accomplished pianist, Morton began his musical studies
on both the double bass and piano. By the age of seventeen
he had performed as piano soloist with several orchestras
including the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He then focused
his musical energies on the double bass, earning the undergraduate
and graduate degrees from the Juilliard School in New York.
He subsequently went on to be only the second bassist to
receive the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the history
of that institution.
As an author, he has written and published the "Dr.
Morton" series of books on the art of bass playing.
He has had many articles appear in Strings, Bass
World, American String Teacher magazines, as
well the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Mark Morton is the Artistic Director of the American School
of Double Bass®, housed in a century-old restored firehouse.
The American School of Double Bass® draws students, teachers,
and professionals from all over the United States to its
summer retreats, private lessons, workshops, and masterclasses.
As a soloist, Mark Morton performs on a string bass made
circa 1775 in Naples, Italy by Gennaro Vinnacia. When playing
in the bass section of the Columbus Symphony, he performs
on a large double bass, also made in Naples, by Antonio Gagliano
in 1805. |