The idea behind this website is simply to share my work; if music is to be considered a form of communication, then it needs an audience… I welcome anyone to use my transcriptions and compositions free of charge, and hope these may be of particular interest to other double bassists seeking accessible repertoire for the instrument.
My transcriptions are pieces that I consider to be ‘viable’ because they are not already commonly performed, and don’t suffer too much musical compromise in being subjected to performance on the double bass (‘too much’ of course, like milk and vibrato, being a matter of taste).
My Micro Essays are just compositions for which I haven’t found the right notes yet.
The concentrated bio:
Much to his surprise, Alexander Verster was born in South Africa, but soon ended up in New Zealand, and eventually London, where ambitions of becoming European have been indefinitely postponed. What started off as a serious attempt at being a jazz bass guitarist/drummer eventually resulted in Alexander becoming a professional classical musician, but life is full of pleasant contradictions, such as ‘double bass solo music’, or ‘third-person autobiography’. In his spare time, he enjoys going to work.
The reconstituted bio:
After coming to the timely realisation that I wanted to play in a symphony orchestra, I first picked up the double bass aged 23. My previous experience as jazz bass guitarist and drummer offered me little towards that end, so I dropped everything and practised intensively, full-time, for one year before auditioning successfully for Masters study at London’s four conservatoires.
This absolutely would not have been possible without loads of other peoples’ money, and I remain extremely grateful for the generous support of the Patricia Pratt Scholarship for Musical Performance, the North Harbour Club AIMES Award for Music, my parents, and the Duet Foundation, as well as a full scholarship from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, which allowed me to move to London, buy a double bass, and get to work.
I have been playing in professional orchestras all over the UK ever since, and generally enjoying the predictably unpredictable freelance musicians’ menu while occasionally working on the things featured on this website.
Alexander Verster 