Patrick Neher - Double Bass player, Composer, Professor of Music, Clinician

Patrick Neher
Professor, Composer, Soloist, Multi-Media Artist, and Clinician

Patrick Neher, double bass player and professor, is recognized as one of the world's leading virtuoso soloists and composers of music for double bass. He received his Master of Music Degree with Honors from the Juilliard School of Music in 1981, under the esteemed tutelage of the late David Walter. In 1996 he received the coveted Diplôme from François Rabbath and the International Rabbath Institute, Paris, France.

He has been with the faculty of the University of Arizona since1984. He founded the Arizona Double Bass Symposium in1988, and the Arizona Bass Players Festival in 2005. He is a former member of the San Diego Symphony, the New Mexico Symphony, the American Philharmonic, the New Orleans Symphony, the New 20th Century Players, and for ten years he was Principal Bassist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. For almost two decades, Mr. Neher was Principal Bassist with the Santa Fe Orchestra and the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra.

Prof. Neher's solo concert career has taken him to England, Scotland, Australia, France, Canada, East and West Germany, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and throughout the USA. As an active chamber musician, he has performed with numerous festivals, including: the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Sedona Chamber Music Festival, the Grand Canyon Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the California New Music Festival, the CalArts Contemporary Music Festival, the Green Umbrella Series, the Santa Fe Opera, and the Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix symphonies' summer festivals. Mr Neher a founding member of Trio Giovanni and Crossing Barriers Group.

Patrick Neher has produced several recordings: Music 4 Friends, Romanze e Valzer, Soliloquy, Grand Bassery, UpFront, Romantic Songs, Music for Dance, Bass Ascending - vol.1 and Bass Ascending - vol.2. Available at CDBaby, Apple's iTunes, and direct from ISG Publications

Patrick Neher gives clinics on double bass performance and composition around the world, has been one of the Directors of the International Society of Bassists, and has been listed in International Who's Who in Music since 1989. He has served twice as Head of the Solo Competition Jury for the International Society of Bassists, and for three years he was the Double Bass Forum Editor for American String Teacher magazine. As an active member of ASCAP he is an avid composer, arranger, and editor with music and recordings published by Liben Music and ISG Publications. Prof. Neher's articles on double bass and its players, and reviews of his compositions, have been published by Double Bassist Magazine, American String Teacher, Strings Magazine, and Bass World, the journal of the International Society of Bassists. He is presently serving as a forum expert for"Ask a Pro" on TalkBass.com

With a solo repertory of over 300 works that span four centuries, and performances lauded as "creative, inspiring, and theatrical," Patrick Neher performs exlusively on a Charles Quenoil model double bass made by Christian Laborie (France), with strings made by Pirastro (Orginal Flat Chrome or Permanent) and Savarez (Corelli medium). For mixed-media performances, he uses electronics by Roland, Boss, Behringer, Sennheiser, Nakamichi, Digitech, and Apple-Macintosh.