Music of Remembrance - Remembering Holocaust Musicians

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Gary Karr

“With nearly 50 religious, racial or economic wars still raging, we are constantly reminded of man’s most profound flaw which is his willingness to commit murder. Few organizations address this point more vividly than Music of Remembrance, with its focus on one of the greatest travesties in human history.”

Gary Karr, acclaimed as “the world’s leading solo bassist” (Time magazine), is the first solo doublebassist in history to make that pursuit a full time career. Karr has expanded the repertoire of works for the doublebass with orchestra through commissions to such American composers as John Downey, Robert Rodriguez, and Lalo Schifrin.

Since his debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Karr has performed with orchestras worldwide, including the Chicago Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Hong King Philharmonic, the McGill Chamber Orchestra (Montreal), the Simon Bolivar Orchestra (Caracas, Venezuela) the Jerusalem Symphony, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, and each of the major orchestras of Australia.

Gary Karr’s legendary influence on concepts of instrument design and of playing technique has raised the standards of performance on the doublebass around the world. Following thirty years of teaching at Juilliard, Yale, the New England Conservatory, including twenty years at the Johannesen International School of the Arts in British Columbia, where he now lives, Karr has begun his own international summer school for the doublebass. The Karr Doublebass Foundation was formed in 1983 to ensure that its assemblage of fine instruments would be played by talented artists, at no cost to them. Gary Karr’s personal collection, including his 1611 Amati, previously owned by Serge Koussevitsky, will be in the Foundation’s legacy.

On November 4, 2000, Music of Remembrance presented Mr. Karr in the world premiere performance of Lori Laitman's Holocaust 1944, a song cycle for baritone voice and doublebass, composed specifically for him. In addition, Mr. Karr's belief in MOR's mission inspired him to "step out of retirement" to perform as doublebass soloist in Ernest Bloch's soulful Prayer at MOR's November 4, 2007 concert. Gary Karr joined MOR's Advisory Board in December 2000.

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