Joel Quarrington (born January 15, 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

player, soloist and teacher. He is the former Principal Double Bass of the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Career

He was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and began playing the double bass at the age of eleven in order to complete a bluegrass trio with his brothers,

Paul Quarrington Paul Lewis Quarrington (July 22, 1953 – January 21, 2010) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician and educator. Background Born in Toronto as the middle of three sons in the family of four of Bruce Quarrington,

and Tony Quarrington. At the age of thirteen, he began to study with Thomas Monohan, who was at the time the principal bassist of the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

. After he received a degree in music from the University of Toronto, he went on to Austria and Italy to study under two renowned double bass pedagogues, respectively

Ludwig Streicher Ludwig Streicher (26 June 1920 – 11 March 2003) was a contrabassist from Vienna, Austria. Familiar to many as the former principal bass of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and bass soloist, he is also known as an instructor and as the author o ...

and

Franco Petracchi Franco Petracchi (born September, 1937) is an Italian double bass soloist and teacher. He is a native of Pistoia, Tuscany, and the author of ''Simplified Higher Technique''. In his method, he introduces some conventions to playing in the thumb-pos ...

. Quarrington has won numerous music competitions, including first prize in the CBC talent festival in 1976, and second prize in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1978 (first prize was not awarded that year). He played as principal bass with the

Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Hamilton, Ontario. The orchestra gives concerts primarily at the FirstOntario Concert Hall. History The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1949. Its first c ...

between 1979 and 1988, and the Canadian Opera Company between 1989 and 1991, and then proceeded to become principal bass of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Since September 2006, he has been the Principal Bass of the

National Arts Centre Orchestra The National Arts Centre Orchestra (NAC Orchestra) is a Canadian orchestra based in Ottawa, Ontario led by music director Alexander Shelley. The NAC Orchestra's primary concert venue is Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Since its incepti ...

and he became Principal Bass of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2013. Quarrington plays on a 1630 Giovanni Paolo Maggini double bass, and is well known for his unusual practice of tuning his bass in intervals of fifths, like a cello, but an octave lower. His wife is cellist Carole Sirois who has played in the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

, the Toronto Symphony and the

and is presently a professor at the

Conservatoire de Musique The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

in Montreal. Joel Quarrington teaches at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

and is a Visiting Artist at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

in London. Throughout his career, Quarrington has been active in commissioning new works for Double Bass. A notable commission in 1997 was for

Raymond Luedeke Raymond Luedeke (born 1944) is an American / Canadian composer of contemporary classical music. Praised for his idiosyncratic instrumental writing and for his orchestration, Luedeke has more recently concentrated on works for music theatre. Althou ...

's Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra.Hume, Christopher. “And this bass stands alone”
‘’The Toronto Star’’
.Toronto, 10 November 1997. Retrieved on 5 November 2018.

References

External links

Joel Quarrington website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quarrington, Joel 1955 births Classical double-bassists Living people Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Solo or Chamber Ensemble winners Male double-bassists 20th-century Canadian double-bassists 21st-century Canadian double-bassists 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians Musicians from Toronto