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Charles Gambetta

Charles Gambetta earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he was the assistant conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra from 1996-98. He returned to conduct the University Orchestra in a performance of Enescu's Rumanian Rhapsody in A Major, Op. 11, No. 1 on May 1, 2000 as winner of the 2000 UNCG Conducting Competition and has since appeared as guest conductor with the Royal Conservatory Festival Orchestra of Toronto in summer 2001 and 2002.

Gambetta began his conducting studies with Ansel Brusilow in 1974 at the University of North Texas where he was also Associate Conductor and Arranger for the One O'clock Lab Band. Completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance at California State University, Hayward in 1977, he served as double bassist and arranger with the United States Military Academy Band. After three years of distinguished military service, Mr. Gambetta established a fellowship program for emerging orchestral musicians, the Young American Symphony Orchestra of Lowell, Massachusetts, and served as its Music Director from 1986 to 1995. In addition to his work with American and Canadian ensembles, Dr. Gambetta has conducted orchestras in Italy, Bulgaria, Ukraine and most recently in Romania where he performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra “Mihail Jora” of Bacau. Following his most recent guest conducting appearance in Romania, Charles accepted an appointment to the faculty of the prestigious International Institute for Conductors.

Always in demand as a bassist, Gambetta has performed with many legends of jazz including Joe Henderson, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Rosolino, Joe Williams, Kai Winding and others too numerous to list. Recognized as one of the premiere bass teachers in the Southeastern US, he is presently on the music faculties at Greensboro College and Guilford College.

Awards

2002 Teaching Excellence Award, Music Academy of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC. 2000 Winner, annual UNCG Conducting Competition. 1976 Fellowship recipient, Bennington Summers Program, Bennington College, Bennington VT. Composition studies with Ernie Wilkins and Jimmy Giuffre; performances in Vermont and Boston with Jaki Byard, Jimmy Owens, Ernie Wilkins, Beaver Harris, Jimmy Ponder, Larry Young, Billy Taylor. 1976 Outstanding Composer, Wichita Jazz Festival for composition “Bebop and Burritos.” 1976 Outstanding Composer award for original compositions for jazz band, “Pássaro Azul” and “Bennington Calypso,” Central Valley Jazz Festival, Central Valley, CA. 1976 Outstanding Performer (bass), Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, Berkeley, CA.

Gear

Hand carved Johann Rauner double bass, Thomastic Spirocore strings, David Gage Realist pickup and Galen-Kruger amp, Doug Irwin custom 6-string electric bass.

Take Five With Charles Gambetta

by Charles Gambetta
August 27, 2014

Meet Charles Gambetta: I've been playing bass for nearly 50 years, composing and arranging for over 40 years and conducting for 40 years as well. It has been an incredible journey with many surprises, unexpected turns and several major turning points that have shaped my growth as an artist and person. The first of these came in 1965 when my music teacher told me I should play bass. The second came in 1972 when I started playing jazz at ...

Primary Instrument

Bass

Location

Greensboro

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

EDUCATION 2005 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA at Greensboro, NC Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting 2003 CATANIA UNIVERSITY, Catania, Italy Corso di Alto Perfezionamento per Direttore D’orchestra 1996 TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York, NY Master of Arts in Music and Music Education 1977 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY at Hayward, CA Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance on double bass 1971-75 NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, Denton, TX Studies in conducting, double bass, music theory and jazz studies 1974 SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE, Santa Rosa, CA Associate Arts in Music with double bass concentration TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2006 - present GUILFORD COLLEGE, Greensboro, NC - Double Bass/Electric Bass Individual instruction for music majors and non-majors. 2003-04 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA at Greensboro, NC - Lecturer in Music Teaching instrumental conducting in classroom setting. 1996-04 THE MUSIC ACADEMY OF NORTH CAROLINA, Greensboro, NC – String Faculty Private instruction in double bass, electric bass, conducting, jazz improvisation and orchestration, served as faculty representative on Board of Directors; taught at Guilford College as part of Academy Consortium. 2001 - present GREENSBORO COLLEGE, Greensboro, NC – Adjunct Faculty Private instruction on double bass/electric bass and jazz appreciation. 1996-99 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA at Greensboro, NC - Teaching Assistant 1976-77 CAL STATE HAYWARD JAZZ ORCHESTRA - Conductor/Resident Composer Hours: Flexible Rates: $25/30 min lesson, $45/hour lesson Beginners through advanced students welcome.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Primary Instrument

Bass

Location

Greensboro

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

Clinic/Workshop Information

Foundations of Improvization: introducing young, inexperienced players to the fundamentals of jazz improv. Sessions include thinking melodicly, thinking harmonically, building a vocabulary of improvization, understanding scales and their relationships with chord changes. Jazz Bass-ics: Learning the fundamentals of strong, melodic bass lines that also define the harmony, connectiong between chord changes, learning to fill the intervals between chord changes, exploring inversions and using them to create greater melodic diversity. Arranging and Orchestration: writing for small group, line writing and contrapuntal techniques, orchestration for jazz band and orchestra, reharmonization, using quotations to spice up your arrangements, writing for vocal soloist and jazz band.

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