ISB 2023 Convention Presenter — Isaline Leloup

Summary: Was the Viennese tuning used in the orchestral works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn, and is it possible to link the composers and the use of this tuning in their writing style for the 16' instrument?

For Isaline, the Viennese double bass is an opportunity to convey emotion and awaken the imagination.

Born in 1986, she obtained in 2012 her Master's degree in classical double bass with Christian Van der Borght at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. 

Meeting double bass and violone player Benoît Vanden Bemden opened the way to interpretation on period instruments. Isaline learns with him the violone and studies the classic romantic repertoire on historical double bass with the members of the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées de Paris. She is not only learning the technique, but also researching musical treatises and studying the style. In 2017, she went to the Schola Cantorum in Basel to study the Viennese double bass with David Sinclair. She will obtain her Specialized Master's degree in June 2019. She is currently specialising on the 8th foot violone with Margaret Urquhart. 

The practice of the historical repertoire is nowadays an important part of Isaline's professional life. She performs in several historical ensembles such as Anima Eterna Brugge, Vox Luminis, Ensemble Ausonia, Les Agrémens, I Tempi ( Basel). She is the founder of the project "A Viennese afternoon" and released its first album in May 2021.