The Canberra-born musician Matthew McDonald is the principal double bass of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He started out his musical career playing violin, but at a very early age became fascinated with the huge double bass’ dark, mellow sound. Matt studied in Canberra and Sydney before taking up a scholarship at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. From there, engagements followed in Denmark, Berlin’s Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and with Ensemble Modern before he became principal bass of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
In this podcast, Matthew tells Breandáin about his journey from Canberra to becoming a principal player with one the world’s most prestigious music ensembles. He reflects on the effects the current pandemic has had on musicians and shares a hilarious story about taking a swim at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on his way to perform a Mahler Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.