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Stanley Dodds – Violinis...
Liza Lim, Composer and Educato...

Matthew McDonald, Principal Bass Berlin Philharmonic

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The Canberra-born musician Matthew McDonald is the principal double bass of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.  He started out his musical career playing violin, but at a very early age became fascinated with the huge double bass’ dark, mellow sound.  Matt studied in Canberra and Sydney before taking up a scholarship at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. From there, engagements followed in Denmark, Berlin’s Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and with Ensemble Modern before he became principal bass of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. 

In this podcast, Matthew tells Breandáin about his journey from Canberra to becoming a principal player with one the world’s most prestigious music ensembles. He reflects on the effects the current pandemic has had on musicians and shares a hilarious story about taking a swim at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on his way to perform a Mahler Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

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“The lockdown… I think a few weeks in you start to doubt if you can play anymore. It was just so unsure. You crave it and we didn’t know when we would have to play again.”

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