Karr, Gary (Michael)
Karr, Gary (Michael)
Karr, Gary (Michael) , outstanding American double bass player; b. Los Angeles, Nov. 20, 1941. He was born into a family of double bass players, and at 8 began formal lessons with Uda Demonstein. He gained experience by playing in local synagogues; subsequently took cello lessons with Herman Reinshagen, Gabor Rejto at the Univ. of Southern Calif, in Los Angeles, and Stuart Sankey at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y.; he also was a scholarship student at the Aspen (Colo.) Music School. In 1962 he made his N.Y. recital debut and in 1964 he toured Europe. He founded the International Inst. for the String Bass in 1967 and subsequently taught in the U.S. and Canada. His instrument, the 1611 Amati, was once owned by Koussevitzky and was given to Karr by Koussevitzky’s widow. Karr’s career was the subject of the BBC-TV documentary “Amazing Bass” (1985). In addition to performing the Classical repertoire, he has done much to enlarge the literature for his instrument by commissioning works from Henze, Schuller, Wilder, Arnold, and other composers; he also includes in his repertoire folk-inspired pieces, as well as modern rock and dance forms.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire