Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma presents:
 

George Speed

Upcoming performances: George Speed

Bassist George Speed enjoys a career that combines teaching with solo, chamber, and orchestral performing.  He is Assistant Professor of Double Bass at Oklahoma State University and Principal Bass of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. 

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Mr. Speed earned his Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt University and his Master of Music degree from Boston University.  Additional studies include two summers at both the Aspen Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center, where in 1999 he received the Rose Thomas Smith Legacy Prize.  His principal teachers have been William Scott, Edgar Meyer and Edwin Barker. 

As a soloist, Mr. Speed won the SC All-State Concerto Competition, the Jackson (TN) Symphony Concerto Competition, and twice won the Vanderbilt Concerto Competition.  As part of the 1998 Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Mr. Speed was a featured performer for Composer-in-Residence Henri Dutilleux’s chamber work Les Citations.  In 1999, the Pierre Boulez Workshop at Carnegie Hall selected him to participate in a performance of Schoenberg’s Kammersymphonie, Op. 9 in Weill Recital Hall under Maestro Boulez.  Mr. Speed also performs regularly with the Oklahoma City-based chamber ensemble Brightmusic. 

In the orchestral sphere, Mr. Speed held a tenured position with the now-defunct Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.  Recently appointed Principal Bass with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, he also is a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and a substitute player with the Boston Symphony.  Additional orchestral experience includes: Boston Classical Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, and the Fort Worth Symphony.  Mr. Speed plays on a late 19^th century Neapolitan bass by Carlo Loveri.