Musician Spotlights - Carlos Valdez, Bass

Happy August, everyone! As we near the one month mark from our first return to a concert hall (woo-hoo!) we want to use August to spotlight our bass players, starting with Carlos Valdez.

My name is Carlos Valdez and I am from Lima, Peru. I just finished my master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and I am planning to pursue a post-graduate degree at SFCM as well. Currently, I am spending my summer break with my family in Peru. 

I used to play electric bass with my high school friends in a rock band. After I graduated from high school, I decided I wanted to play electric bass as a career, but since the only professional school was the Conservatory of Music, I began studying the double bass. 

One of my favorite pieces is Johannes Brahms Symphony 1. It was the first piece I played with a guest conductor and it was the first time I realized that I wanted to play in the orchestra for my entire life. 

I enjoy playing with my bass colleagues. Everyone is so welcoming at the orchestra, from the staff members, musicians, conductors, sponsors, audiences. I am very grateful to everyone. The fact that we can play 3 times each repertoire in different cities is great! Driving up to Ashland from the Bay Area is beautiful! Watching Mount Shasta on the road is something I really enjoy. 

I am a sports fan. I play soccer when I can and I watch English soccer games all the time. I really enjoy walking large distances around every city I visit. I would not call it hiking necessarily. I enjoy teaching orchestra repertoire to my bass friends in Lima. With the pandemic, it has been easy to get used to doing online teaching. 

Since I live in San Francisco, it takes almost 6 hours to drive to the Rogue Valley so my friend and I spent all that time listening to entire symphony cycles to make the time shorter. 

Unusual fact: I do enjoy listening to rap and stand-up comedy podcasts.