Contrabassist Bertram Turetzky earned his M.A. in Music History at the University of Hartford. Currently the senior professor of Music at UCSD, Turetzky has been a distinguished clinician and pedagogue for over three decades, giving master classes, seminars, and workshops nationally and internationally. Bertram Turetzky’s knowledge of repertoire, performance style, and his unique approach to technical, psychological, and physical problems has made him a highly sought-after teacher. Turetzky’s master classes have been referred to as "life-altering."
Bertram Turetzky has been a featured contrabass soloist in the music centers of the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia. The response to his many concerts, recordings, lectures, writings and his unique sonic vocabulary has taken the contrabass from its traditional role to assume the position of a major solo instrument.
More than 300 compositions have been written for, performed by, and recorded by Turetzky, making him one of the few performers, in all of music history, to have created a large and impressive repertoire of music for his instrument. Bertram Turetzky is a prolific recording artist and has recorded for Nonesuch, Finnador, Son Nova, Desto, Music and Art, Incus, 9 winds, Advance, Vanguard, New World, and others as soloist, improvisor, chamber player, Jazz player, orchestra player, and Klezmer artist. Turetzky is also an acclaimed scholar/researcher in the fields of Jazz History, 18th Century Chamber Music and the author of many reviews, articles and the now classic book "The Contemporary Contrabass." After the success of his book, Turetzky was named co-editor of "The New Instrumentation Series" [UC Press].
Bertram Turetzky is also a published composer, editor, transcriber and arranger of music for the contrabass. His compositions are published, reviewed and recorded. Turetzky has received many awards for composition from ASCAP plus grants from the NEA and Meet the Composer as composition from ASCAP plus grants from the NEA and Meet the Composer as well as many commissions.