IMPROMPTU
IMPROMPTU
David Sheets
BASS
HAVE BASS— WILL TRAVEL
Associate Principal Bass David Sheets chose his instrument at age 14 in part as a way to stand out from the crowd.“ I played cello and didn’ t really like it a whole lot because there were so many cellos already. I was going to be the only bass player, so I did that instead,” says Sheets.“ I didn’ t realize I’ d have to carry it.”
Sheets, who proclaims a love of travel, began playing professionally in 1991, and music has taken him to a number of destinations ever since. Originally from Kansas, he played in the Rochester Philharmonic and the St. Louis Symphony before settling in Baltimore in 1996.
A highlight of his time with the BSO took Sheets to Berlin, one of his favorite cities.“ We played at the Philharmonie in Berlin with Temirkanov doing the‘ Eroica’ Symphony with nine basses,” says Sheets of his favorite concert memory.“ It was really awesome. There have been a lot of good performances, but that was big.”
While bass-playing can sometimes be an impediment to traveling(“ I have to practice, so I can’ t bring a bass everywhere with me”), it has also opened up opportunities for Sheets that might not have otherwise materialized.“ I teach over in Hong Kong in the summers, and this last summer we went on a tour of the whole world, so I was able to go to a bunch of places I had always wanted to go.” Sheets and some of his students( pictured) were even featured in the film In Search of Perfect Consonance, a 2016 documentary about the Asian Youth Orchestra.“ I even have an IMDb entry now, go figure.”
Sheets’ other preferred destinations include Tokyo, London, Amsterdam and Vienna, and a summer trip to Italy sparked a new interest in that country:“ I recently spent the most time I’ ve ever spent in Italy and liked everywhere I went there,” says Sheets. And as for what ' s up next on his list? " I would love to see some places in Africa and the Middle East, and after going to Cuba with the Minnesota Orchestra a couple of years ago, I would like to explore the Caribbean."
MITRO HOOD
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