Robert Oppelt - The Double Bass - Encore! Dragonetti Waltzes Nos. 7-12 and Other Works (2020)

Robert Oppelt is Principal Bass with the National Symphony Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Born in Richmond, Kentucky, he began playing the piano and violin at an early age. His parents, both professional musicians, encouraged him to try the double bass when he was 15. He discovered an immediate affinity with the instrument. Oppelt attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts briefly in high school and later completed his Bachelor of Music degree there in three years. In 1982, at age 21, he auditioned for the National Symphony Orchestra and was invited by the eminent cellist and Music Director Mstislav Rostropovich to join the double bass section. He was promoted to Assistant Principal Bass in 1984, then to Principal Bass in 1996 by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. Oppelt has appeared as soloist with the NSO in performances of Mozart’s Per Questa Bella Mano, Paganini’s Moses Fantasy and Koussevitsky’s Concerto for Double Bass. Chamber Music collaborations include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Hillary Hahn and the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. In addition, Oppelt taught his craft for 16 years at the University of Maryland. He plays more than 140 concerts a year and has toured throughout the United States and in 32 foreign countries with the NSO. He has performed at the White House for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.