Andrew Tait
Double Bass
Andrew joined WASO in 1989.
He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (1981-85) where he obtained a Bachelor of Music Degree majoring in performance. His teacher was John Gray, a former Principal with the London Symphony Orchestra and a founding member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Before joining WASO Andrew was Associate Principal Bassist with the State Orchestra of Victoria for four years. In 1995 Andrew travelled to Chicago to study with Joseph Guastafeste (Principal Bassist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), and in 1999 Andrew took his family to Norway for four months where he played with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
Andrew’s career as a double bass player has been closely aligned with his development as a luthier.
Having begun his studies with Harry Vatiliotis in Sydney, Andrew won a Churchill Fellowship in 2006 to "Study the art of Double Bass making and restoration" with Roger Dawson in London. The Churchill Fellowship included a trip to Rome where Andrew catalogued the outstanding collection of old Italian double basses in the National Museum of Musical Instruments. In 2009 Andrew won a development grant from the Department for Culture and the Arts to design and build an orchestral five stringed double bass under the direction of Roger Dawson in his Deptford studio. 2011 saw Andrew receive a Simon Lee scholarship to study early music performance practices and Baroque instrument building techniques in Europe and London. Six double basses of Andrew's make are played in WASO, along with a Cello played by Rod McGrath and a violin played by Shaun Lee-Chen.
Andrew’s chief hobby is racing/cruising on his old wooden yacht that was built in Battery Point, Hobart in 1932.