Turetzky, Bertram (Jay)

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Turetzky, Bertram (Jay)

Turetzky, Bertram (Jay), American double bass player and composer; b. Norwich, Conn., Feb. 14,1933. He was a pupil of Joseph Iadone and Josef Marx at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Conn, (graduated, 1955), and also studied privately with David Walter. He studied musicology with Sachs at N.Y.U. and took courses in music history at the Univ. of Hartford (M.M., 1965). On Oct. 19,1964, he made his N.Y. recital debut in a program featuring specially commissioned works for the double bass. In subsequent years, he toured widely as a virtuoso double bass player in programs largely devoted to avant- garde scores. He publ. The Contemporary Contrabass (1974). Among his compositions were pieces for double bass.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire