Dennis Whittaker,

Principal

Dennis Whittaker wears many hats as a professional bassist and educator. He is the Principal Double Bassist for the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, is the Bass teacher and String Chamber Music Coordinator for the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, has a full private teaching studio, and is a bass pedagogy consultant. He has appeared on seven world premiere compact discs with the Houston Grand Opera, various recordings with Houston artists, and on recordings as principal Bass with the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. He was the winner of the Gary Karr Foundation National Double Bass competition in 1987. He has performed recitals, concerts and master classes in Japan, China, Italy, Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, Los Angeles, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas and Louisiana. Mr. Whittaker performs as a substitute bassist with the Houston Symphony. Mr. Whittaker earned his Bachelor’s in Music Education from Baylor, his Masters in Music from Northwestern. His teachers include Paul Ellison, Eugene Levinson, Jeff Bradetich, Mark Whitney and Michael Cameron. Mr. Whittaker’s students are represented in the National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Colorado Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, San Diego Symphony, New World symphony, Aspen, Tanglewood, Domaine Forget and the Pacific Music Festival.