Robin Kesselman

Robin Kesselman was appointed principal bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra in 2014. He has performed as guest principal bass with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic, and travelled internationally with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Kesselman frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician and presents recital programs and classes at the nation’s top universities. He has appeared multiple times as soloist with the Houston Symphony, in subscription performances of Koussevitzky’s Concerto for Double Bass, Missy Mazzoli’s bass concerto Dark with Excessive Bright, and Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante with Gil Shaham. Recent festival engagements include leading the bass sections of the Grand Teton, Mainly Mozart, Arizona Musicfest and Aspen Festival orchestras, while serving as faculty coach for the National Youth Orchestra-USA since 2017. He recently released Bow Speed Geography, a method book and video series dedicated to the improvement of legato and sustain from the standpoint of bow speed. Kesselman holds the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. His teachers have included David Allen Moore, Harold Robinson, Edgar Meyer, Paul Ellison, Chris Hanulik, and Virginia Dixon.