Anthony Manzo — Double Bass

Anthony Manzo’s vibrantly interactive and highly communicative music-making has made him a prominent figure on the international classical stage. He has appeared at leading venues including Lincoln Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, and he performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and across the United States.

Manzo is the solo bassist of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra and a frequent guest with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and A Far Cry. He also collaborates regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Society, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra when near his home in Washington, D.C. Abroad, he was formerly the solo bassist of the Munich Chamber Orchestra and has served as guest principal with Camerata Salzburg, where highlights included a residency at the Salzburg Festival and two tours as soloist with bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff in performances of Mozart’s Per questa bella mano.

Equally at home in historically informed performance, Manzo has appeared with ensembles such as the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, and Opera Lafayette in Washington, D.C. His playing has been praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as “endowed with beautiful and unexpected plaintiveness.”

A dedicated educator, Manzo serves on the double bass and chamber music faculty at the University of Maryland. He performs on a double bass made circa 1890 by Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy in Paris, outfitted with a removable neck for travel.