Hello and welcome! I’m Andrew William Brown. I teach music, design and build stringed instruments, and keep busy playing bass, performing as a singer-songwriter with the guitar, and most recently with the accordion. I create things from oil paintings to kitchen cabinets, bathrooms and complete home renovations, and also manage real estate.
Curriculum Vitae (Music)
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
Instruction: experienced class teacher at elementary school and university levels, specializing in the Kodaly Method and stringed instruments. Former faculty member, Washington D.C. Youth Orchestra Program, double bass instructor. Instrumental and vocal conducting, composition and arranging of children’s and popular songs for solo, ensemble and orchestra pieces.
Research: scientific studies of violins, guitars and double basses using DSP, Fourier spectral analysis, laser vibrometry and listening tests. Publications and presentations at international academic conferences.
Performance: experienced double bass performer with a variety of musical styles, ranging from orchestra to avant garde chamber music, jazz and pop. Additional skills on the electric bass, guitar, voice, sousaphone, accordion, recorder, keyboards, cello, and percussion.
EXPERIENCE:
German School Washington, D.C., 2004-2017. Elementary School music teacher, department head. Leader of the school recorder ensemble, choir and (Orff) instrumental group. Teaching general music pupils to transcribe simple melodies by the fourth grade. Frequently write, arrange, prepare and perform music for concerts.
Brulee, 2008-present. Bassist, composer and singer with local band. (www.bandbrulee.com). Actively composing, performing and recording in the D.C. area.
University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Vienna, Austria: Seminar Instructor, “Acoustics of Stringed Instruments”, Summer Semester 2004.
Institut fuer Wiener Klangstil, Vienna, Austria 1999-2004. Research assistant (Lehrbeauftragter). Helped develop the VIAS stringed instrument acoustic measurement system (www.bias.at). Presented research papers at international conferences (ISMA, SMAC, AAA). Developed recording, measurement and digital signal processing skills (Sound Forge, ADAT, S-Tools).
Vienna, Austria, 1991-2005. Successful free-lance double bassist in a variety of styles. Genres included classical orchestra, opera and chamber music (Vienna Chamber Opera, Wiener Johann Strauss Orchester, Akademietheater, Wiener Operettensommer, etc.), contemporary chamber music (Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble), big band and combo jazz ensembles (Salonorchester Alhambra, pop group “SM”, backing combo for tap artist Michael Seida), tours with avant-garde puppetry (Figurentheater Karin Schaefer), and as a soloist and singer-songwriter.
Conductors: Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Gielen, H. W. Henze, Jan Latham-Koenig and many others.
Festival Orchestras: Pacific Music Festival, Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. Music Acoustics, 2004. University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Vienna, Austria: Awarded a perfect score on Dissertation, “An Acoustical Study of Flat- and Round-Backed Double Basses”. GPA: 4.0.
Magister Artium (Master’s Degree), Double Bass Performance, 1999. University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Vienna, Austria: Studies with Ludwig Streicher and Josef Niederhammer.
Bachelor of Music, Double Bass Performance, magna cum laude, 1991. Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.: Studies with Bill Vaughan of the National Symphony Orchestra. GPA: 3.58. Member of Musicians’ Honor Society Pi Kappa Lambda, Beta Rho Chapter.
ADDITIONAL SKILLS:
Software skills include Finale, Sibelius, Sound Forge, Logic Pro, Word, Excel, Power Point, File Maker, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Quicken, WordPress and others.
Languages: English and German, some Italian and Spanish.
Other Interests: stringed instrument new construction and repair, wood working, web design, artistic pursuits such as drawing, painting and printing, sound recording.
Now for the long-hand blah blah…
After completing an Bachelor’s Degree in Double Bass Performance at Catholic University in D.C., I took off for Vienna, Austria in 1991. It was fascinating to study with Ludwig Streicher by day, while sneaking to rehearsals and gigs with the indie rock band, Bomb Circle evenings and weekends. The lively arts scene in Austria offered so many interesting projects! I played in orchestras, joined an avant-garde puppet theater as a composer and bassist, joined a number of contemporary classical music ensembles, and also co-founded Salonorchester Alhambra, a top-shelf 20’s and 30’s repertory band that is still working twenty-five years later. For example, one evening I found myself on the stage of Brahms-Saal in the Musikverein performing Friederich Cerha’s Septet, only to rush off across town to play an Elvis show the rest of the night!
If I lacked the focus to slavishly master audition excerpts, I had to admit it was because I was having too much fun doing other stuff. My occaisional sublime moments as a bass soloist did not reach the consistency necessary to nail auditions, though I did try a few in Spain, Vienna, Berlin and Munich. By the age of thirty, I found myself an employee of the MDW music university in Vienna, doing acoustics experiments on violins, guitars and of course, basses. During that time I was gigging 4-5 days a week and also working part-time at the violin shop of Christine Eriks near the city broadcasting center in the fourth district. Many fine instruments came through that shop, such as Stainer, all the Viennese masters like Thir, Stadlmann, Geissenhof and Lemboeck, and famous Italian names like Cappa, Pressenda, Rocca, Amati, Ceruti, Guadagnini, Testore, Guarneri and Stradivari, too. Christine catered to the Wiener Philharmoniker crowd and other prestigious clients, so it was an excellent education to be there. My main job was working with bows.
While working, I took advantage of the reform of the then “Hochschule” to pursue a Ph.D. in Music Acoustics, and was one of the very first MDW students to receive a doctorate degree. But it became increasingly clear to me that my heart was back in the D.C. area, so I left Vienna to take a job offer at the German School Washington, D.C. in Potomac, Maryland. Thus ended that fascinating chapter as a student and resident in Austria.
I taught at the German Elementary School for twelve years. I treasured the satisfaction of relating with very cool young people through music and working with a great teamof teachers. I found that I had a knack for communicating, and eventually learned to manage the classroom effectively (the toughest part of the job). Moments like the holiday concerts, theater projects and even everyday classroom routines brought a lot of joy. I taught many, manynprivate lessons after school, too.
Soon, I finally found my friend, partner and future wife, Beth. We have had many an adventure since marrying in 2006. The school job paid twelve months, though I only worked nine, which allowed us to try our hand at home restoration. We saved an 1891 Takoma Park tear-down from demolition in 2006, and haven’t slowed down since. The work has kept me very busy with construction, carpentry and painting. Eventually I resigned my school job of thirteen years to pursue my long-time dream of making basses. I am confident that playing professionally, acoustically understanding, and applying my craftman’s skills to the instrument position me uniquely among luthiers specializing on the double bass.