Introducing Distinguished Guest Artists of Double Bass Blake Hinson and Michael Martin
Learn about Hinson and Martin!
About Blake Hinson:
Blake Hinson (pictured left), assistant principal bass of the New York Philharmonic since 2016 and a section member since 2012, maintains a dynamic career as a performer, recording artist, and educator based in New York City. Prior to his arrival in New York, Mr. Hinson served as Principal Bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony.
Beyond his work with the Philharmonic, Mr. Hinson has been a member of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center (formerly the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra) and Gerard Schwarz’s All-Stars Orchestra during their 2022 and 2023 seasons. His playing can be heard on the soundtracks of major motion pictures, including Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021), In the Heights, and Don’t Worry Darling.
An active chamber musician, Mr. Hinson performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Philharmonic’s Merkin Hall Chamber Music series, and has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach.
A dedicated educator, Mr. Hinson joined the college and pre-college faculty at the Manhattan School of Music in 2024. He previously served on the double bass faculty at Stony Brook University from 2016 through 2023. He has given masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, the Royal Conservatory of Music, Bard Conservatory, the Hartt School of Music, and NYU, and serves as a regular coach for the New York Youth Symphony.
About Michael Martin:
Michael Martin (pictured right) is a section double bassist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, having joined the orchestra in 2025. Previously, he was Principal Bass of Chicago Sinfonietta. He has appeared with orchestras across the country, including the Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Sphinx Virtuosi, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, and San Diego Symphony, among many others. Formerly, he was a fellow with the New World Symphony for three seasons, a CCM/CSO Diversity Fellow, and holds degrees from Northwestern University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He lives in Northside, Cincinnati with his wife Rose, their newborn son, a beloved tuxedo cat named “Tofu”, and an ever-expanding collection of houseplants.
Michael began his study of the double bass with Suzuki pedagogue Domenick Fiore, and quickly discovered a deep love of the instrument in all its capacities. He has since studied with a number of mentors and professors, including Joseph Conyers, Tracy Rowell, Andrew Raciti, Owen Lee, and Alexander Hanna. Throughout his undergraduate and graduate degrees, Michael developed a passion for string pedagogy, and is currently on faculty at Bass Works Maryland (of which he is an alum) during the summer and maintains a growing private studio at home. As part of his graduate degree, he studied string pedagogy with cellists Hans Jørgen Jensen and Cornelia Watkins-Dyer, whose seminal insights on the art and science of string playing continue to inform his approach to the double bass. He is also the creator of Black Reflections, a three-part panel discussion series on racial justice in music, featuring Black luminaries of classical music and jazz such as Chi-chi Nwanoku, Christian McBride, and Dr. Tammy Kernodle. Michael plays a modern instrument made for him in 2019 by Christopher Savino, and a bow by celebrated French bowmaker Jean Grunberger.