After a few years playing the piano and violin, Douglas Johnson (b.1966) switched to the double bass and earned a bachelors’ degree in music performance from Northwestern University while studying with Jeff Bradetich. During his college years, Douglas was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Institute and the Bach Aria Festival. Upon graduation, he became Associate Principal Bass with the Honolulu Symphony and, after one season, returned to Chicago where he continued performing and started composing.
He has performed with the bass sections of three “Big Five” American orchestras (Boston, Chicago and Cleveland), as well as the orchestras of Milwaukee, Elgin, and the Chicago Philharmonic. He is active in chamber music as well, and regularly performs with Access Contemporary Music in Chicago and the Bach Cantata Series at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, IL.
Douglas has written music for the River North Chicago Dance Company and the Dutch National Ballet Project, is the bandleader of the “free rock” improvisational group, Gunnelpumpers, and is a member of both Origin of Animal and The Growlers.
The Open Sea has great energy and drive, with something of interest for each player, and is aimed at the intermediate-advanced Double Bass Quartet.
The Open…
The Open Sea has great energy and drive, with something of interest for each player, and is aimed at the intermediate-advanced Double Bass Quartet.
The Open Sea began as a rough sketch on a four-track cassette recorder in the early 1990s. In 2007, the composer transcribed the recording, developed the second half of the piece, and premiered the work on November 7, 2007, at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois, as a member of the Chicago Bass Ensemble.
Although it is not an explicitly programmatic work, it travels to many places in a short amount of time. It draws much of its inspiration from down-home fiddlin’, heavy metal, and the innate lyrical nature of the double bass.
