History will be made this weekend as the Boston Symphony Orchestra will feature an electric bass soloist for the first time. Grammy-winning bassist Victor Wooten will showcase an original concerto. Wooten and Thomas Wilkins, Boston Symphony Orchestra’s artistic adviser for education and community engagement, joined Jim Braude on Greater Boston to discuss what it means for classical music.
Wilkins praised Wooten's artistry. “He’s been the best bass player there is since he was 11 years old when I first met him,” he said, also noting that the BSO players are excited to learn Wooten’s concerto. “They have played all the standard concertos forever and the minute you put something different in front of them, they light up.”
Wooten said it’s an honor to be playing with the “legendary” orchestra, where jazz and classical can come together. “Music is a great representation of how life should be lived,” he said.
“An orchestra is built out of differences — we don’t force the flute to be like a snare drum. We don’t force the bass player to be like the trombone. We recognize the differences, and we know that the orchestra is better because all the instruments are different. Isn’t that the way life should be?”
CRB Classical 99.5 will air a live audio stream of the BSO concert on Saturday, October 30th, at 8pm on the radio and online at ClassicalWCRB.org.
WATCH: First Electric Bass Soloist To Be Featured At Boston Symphony Orchestra This Weekend
