Oliver Spalter
Oliver Spalter
Born in Auckland, 18 year old double bass player Oliver Spalter is preparing to move to Chicago, Illinois to begin his undergraduate degree at the prestigious Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Oliver first picked up the double bass at the age of 14 and immediately found himself in love with its sonorous tone and incredible ability to sing in all registers. Starting the bass wasn’t Oliver’s first introduction to the beauty and power of music though, rather the result of a life of being exposed to all kinds of art and culture through his Jewish identity.
Oliver’s mother Nadine, who herself is revered in the creative world as a renowned ceramic artist, recalls Oliver’s reaction to classical music as a newborn. She would play the piano for him, and one piece in particular; Schumann’s Arabesque in C major, would stop Oliver crying in his tracks, and would leave him immersed in its musical story, even bringing him to laughter every time the more ‘comedic’ variation would be played. He started on the piano at a young age, but was never pushed into being a musician. Instead he was allowed the freedom to explore a range of genres and instruments, ranging from jazz organ to national anthems on the french horn, but no matter what he played one thing stayed the same; music was a constant in Oliver’s life.
Oliver’s Judaism has always been incredibly important to him, and listening to the melodies the Rabbi would sing at shul was a powerful factor in Oliver’s eventual pursuit of music. Soon after picking up the bass, Oliver was exposed to the music of Ernst Bloch in double bassist Gary Karr’s recording of ‘Prayer’ from the ‘Jewish Life’ suite, when he was just a teenager on Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Young People’s Concerts’. This piece holds a great significance to Oliver to this day. Fast forward a few years and Oliver is sitting as the principal bass of the National Youth Orchestra, playing Mahler’s 1st Symphony, which includes a principal bass solo at the beginning of the third movement. The solo starts with timpani alternating between the tonic dominant, before the bass comes in after 2 bars playing the ‘Frère Jacques’ melody in a minor key. This being Oliver’s first orchestral solo, the piece already held a special place in his heart, however he would soon come to find a much deeper meaning in the piece, connecting to Mahler, Oliver’s favorite composer’s Jewish roots.
Mahler was born into a Jewish family in Bohemia in 1860, and would experience belittlement and antisemitism, preventing his career as a conductor from advancing, forcing him to convert to catholicism. However, in his music he often references his Jewish upbringing, like in the third movement from his first symphony. The other main theme of this piece is the Klezmer dance, which throughout the piece becomes a symbol of Mahler’s suffering as a young Jewish boy, and how he remembers hearing the Klezmer bands in the street.
Oliver Spalter’s Career
Oliver has performed as the principal double bass player of the Auckland Youth Orchestra since 2020, throughout this time, participating in the National Youth Orchestra every year. The more Oliver played, the more his love of orchestral music grew, and in 2023 he would find himself playing with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra as a substitute in a professional capacity. However, Oliver’s passion for solo playing was never pushed to the side. Upon joining the Auckland Youth Orchestra after having played the bass for a mere few months, Oliver participated in the Auckland Youth Orchestra’s Concerto Competition within his first year in the Orchestra, playing the Koussevitzky Double Bass Concerto, winning second place. One year later he participated again with Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto no.2, also winning second place, but would end up performing this piece with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in August of 2022.
Oliver won a spot in the NZSO’s Young Artists Showcase, where he got the opportunity to perform the first movement of Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto no.2 in B minor with a highly established and professional orchestra like the NZSO. This opportunity built Oliver’s confidence as a concerto soloist, and helped to set him up for an incredible opportunity offered to him in 2023.
Composer Ben Hoadley, one of the judges in Oliver’s first entry of the concerto competition, felt inspired by Oliver’s playing, to write his own concerto for double bass. It would be the first full scale concerto for solo double bass and symphony orchestra, written by a New Zealand composer. His plans to compose this piece came to fruition, and Oliver had the privilege of giving its world premier in Orewa on the 19th of June, then to a sold out audience in the Auckland Town Hall on the 24th. The chance to premier a concerto is incredibly rare for any musician, but for bass players who already rarely get the opportunity to perform as a concerto soloist, it’s a once in a lifetime occasion. Furthermore, Oliver was granted the ability to write his own cadenza, the section of the piece without orchestral accompaniment, where he utilizes the opportunity to showcase his Jewish roots through his music, by using the ‘Phrygian’ scale, which is generally used throughout Jewish music.
Oliver’s dream is to win a job in a full time, professional symphony orchestra as the Principal Bass, and going to college in America will expose Oliver to the world of professional orchestral auditions efficiently, in a highly supportive group of peers. His college auditions, under the instruction of his teachers John Mietus and Gordon Hill, were an enormous success, ending in him being the top pick for some of the worlds most competitive universities and music schools. Beginning in September, he will be learning with Andrew Raciti, the Associate Principal Bass of the Milwaukee Symphony, who’s students have seen incredible success in Orchestras such as the St.Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony and more.
Linked below is Oliver’s recording of the Bottesini Concerto with the NZSO, as well as his RNZ interview with Ben Hoadley where he discusses the premier of his concerto and the process of learning it. A link to his ‘Boosted’ campaign can be found too, an initiative to help him and his family fund this incredible journey to becoming a professional orchestral and solo double bass player.