Announcing the 2026 Jane Little Scholarship recipient:
Congratulations to Marfa Baratatava of Wroclaw, Poland! 🎉
Marfa Baratava was born in Minsk, Belarus. She began her musical education on violin when she was 7 years old, then switched to the double bass at age fourteen. Studying with Vladimir Pulenkov, Marfa made rapid progress and was soon entering competitions and performing in public. After relocating to Poland in 2021, Marfa continued her musical education while adapting to a new country, language and educational system. She studied under Marek Politański and continued her training with Czesław Kurtok at the Karol Szymanowski Music Lyceum. Throughout her studies, Marfa has been actively involved in orchestral, chamber, and solo performance. She served as principal double bass in her school orchestra and has performed in ensembles and masterclasses and at festivals. In addition to classical music, Marfa is deeply engaged in jazz, playing bass guitar in a big band and participating in jazz ensembles and collaborative projects.
After five years of studying double bass, Marfa has been accepted to study at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Eastman School of Music, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.
Members of the scholarship committee, chaired by Tom Knific and including Diana Gannett and Patricia Wetzel, were impressed and moved by the achievements of all the applicants, both musically and in terms of character as evidenced by their statements and references.
The $10,000 scholarship, given annually to a female double bass major entering college as a freshman, was established in 2022 with the generous support of an anonymous donor. The scholarship is given in honor and memory of Jane Little, former member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and celebrated as one of the longest serving professional orchestra musicians in the world.
Honorable mentions were awarded to Margaret Lynch of Indianapolis, Indiana, Lila Tasdemir of Farmington Hills, Michigan and Mia Bayardo of Midland, Michigan.
For more information, contact [email protected].
Our next ISB CenterStage event is all about one of our favorite ISB traditions: Build-A-Bass! Join us on zoom this Saturday, April 18. Link in bio to register
April 11! We’re so glad we could reschedule this free CenterStage event with Susan Hagen. This session will cover turning ideas into reality, designing a method book for modern students, and working with music publishers. Registration link in our bio!
Join us this Saturday, March 28, for a special ISB Center Stage Event- Women in Bass. This is in collaboration with @artemisbassinitiative 🎵 We are very excited to see you all there, along with these awesome panelists.
From Concept to Publication: Creating and Publishing Music Resources 🎵
Discover how to turn your musical ideas into published works in this Center Stage Event! Led by Susan Hagen, author of BASSics of Bass: 8 Warm-Ups for Players of All Ages, this session covers turning ideas into reality, designing a method book for modern students, and working with music publishers. You’ll also get practical tips on organizing content and reaching your audience. Ideal for musicians who want to share their work through publication.
This Saturday, December 20th, join us on zoom for our next Center Stage Event featuring Shawn Conley! Uncharted is a newly released album that places Bach’s First Cello Suite in dialogue with original improvisations for double bass, inviting listeners into a space where tradition and spontaneity meet. In this conversation, Shawn Conley reflects on the artistic choice to pair a canonical work with improvised music, how Bach has shaped his musical voice, and what it means to explore familiar repertoire in unfamiliar ways.
2pm Eastern! See you there!
It’s GARY Tuesday!
If it is within your means, we would appreciate your donation this Giving Tuesday for the Gary Karr Next Generation Scholarship Fund.
As an educator and mentor, Gary delighted in recognizing and encouraging talented young bassists. He held his famous Karr Kamp for 20 summer seasons, and during COVID generously gifted over $250,000 in grants to support bassists unable to work. After the death of his husband and musical partner Harmon Lewis, Gary donated over $50,000 to the Harmon Lewis Collaborative Keyboard Artist Grant Program to help individual bassists and the ISB pay for the services of professional pianists for performances and recordings.
Our goal is to raise $100,000 for this new endowment, which will provide convention scholarships for bassists under the age of 18 who have not yet entered college. Recipients will be known as Gary Karr Scholars, and the ISB will track their progress over the years as they pursue their studies and embark on their careers. The program will serve as an enduring reminder of Gary’s impact on the instrument he loved the most, and honor his philanthropic legacy by contributing to the success of future generations of bassists.
If you have already supported the endowment, thank you! If you have not yet made a gift, click here and select the “Gary Karr Next Generation Scholarship Fund” when designating your online donation. If you prefer to mail a check or pledge, click here to download that gift form.
Donations in any amount will be gratefully received. The ISB is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
Donate at the link in our bio.
Thank you for your consideration.
