Randol Alan Bass
ASCAP

Mr. Bass, the composer, has achieved an impressive array of performances and commissions by prestigious ensembles throughout the United States, among these: the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. The New York Pops Orchestra under Skitch Henderson premiered his Gloria at Carnegie Hall in 1990; this same composition has been recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra with Keith Lockhart and can be heard on their latest Christmas CD release, Holiday Pops.

His arrangement of Conquest of Paradise, by Vangelis, was commissioned by the Boston Pops Orchestra and can be heard on their 2000 CD re-release Summon the Heroes, under the baton of eminent film composer John Williams. Additionally, the Tanglewood Chorus, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Grand Rapids Symphony and Chorus, the Dallas Symphony and Chorus, as well as numerous other orchestras and choruses throughout the U. S. and Europe, have performed his works. Active since the late 1970’s as an arranger, Mr. Bass is now focusing his talents on original composition, largely due to the demand for his music. His most recent work, prior to High Adventure, was an extensive Christmas cantata, commissioned and recently premiered by the First Methodist Church of Lancaster, PA.

Mr. Bass, the performer, sings regularly with the Dallas Symphony Chorus. During the summer of 1997, he toured with that ensemble on their Israeli tour, performing Mahler’s Symphony #8 under the baton of Zubin Mehta. Most recently, he performed as solo pianist with the Coast Guard Academy Band in New London, CT, in his own wind transcription of Ernst von Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune.

Born in Fort Worth in 1953, Mr. Bass grew up in Midland, Texas, studying piano, working in community theater and singing with local choral ensembles. A longtime student of choral music, Mr. Bass earned his Bachelors Degree in 1976 from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting in 1980 from The College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, OH, and pursued doctoral studies in choral and wind conducting at both Ohio State University's Robert Shaw Institute and the University of Texas at Austin.

While at the University of Cincinnati, Mr. Bass’ original aim was to obtain a Masters Degree in Wind Conducting and later pursuing a career as a college-level band director. He found, after he arrived, that his "heart" was really in the world of choral music, artistically speaking, so after one semester he changed the emphasis at CCM to Choral Conducting, but kept is assistantship with the Bearcat Band program. He arranged many pieces of music for the Bearcat Bands, some that the current bands perform, including Cheer Cincy. He also assisted the Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi in writing a membership education program, the same idea that the current chapter uses. Because of his affiliation with Kappa Kappa Psi at the University of Texas and the fact the chapter had sunk to a very paltry few, not-very-enthusiastic-or-organized fellows, the UC band director (in 1978) asked him to work with the Upsilon bandsmen as a supplementary sponsor. With lots of hard unflagging devotion and determination of those first few guys, Upsilon had grown to a whopping 37 people and was a very strong and unified body of service-oriented comrades in a matter of 18 months.

Mr. Bass has historically worked actively in his various communities to further the non-professional musician’s understanding and appreciation for the musical arts. He has founded several civic wind and choral groups during his career, helping to provide other musicians the opportunities he enjoyed as a young performer in civic orchestras, bands and theater groups. He founded the Austin Symphonic Band in 1982 and was its Music Director and Conductor for four years. That group continues to perform as the official musical ensemble for the City of Austin.

Mr. Bass currently serves as Music Director and Conductor for the Metropolitan Winds of Dallas, a community-based civic wind ensemble, regularly providing arrangements and compositions for that organization as well as other bands, choirs and orchestras in North Texas and elsewhere.

Randol Bass Music