Biography

Claudia Botterweg has been assistant principal bassist in the Arizona Opera Orchestra since 1989 and is a busy freelance musician in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff. A winner of the Young Artists Competition, she was the first double bassist to play a concerto with the Toledo (Ohio) Symphony. She studied double bass with Theron McClure and Paul Robinson at The Ohio State University, and with Dan Swaim at Arizona State University. Claudia played in the Columbus Symphony from 1977-1980, and in the Memphis Symphony from 1980-1988.

Yearning for melody playing, Claudia put together a one-woman show in 1994. As a member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts' Artist Roster with her solo bass extravaganza called Bassic Entertainment, she has introduced the bass to thousands of people in Arizona and California. Claudia has performed as a soloist on concert series, at schools, libraries and retirement communities. During the Bassic Entertainment program, Claudia plays classical, jazz and world music, along with stories and poems accompanied by the bass. The program can be customized for any group from ages 3 to 93.

Some of Claudia's private students have gone on to study at Julliard and to play professionally.  She was instructor of double bass at the Scottsdale Community College Summer Music Camp for 13 years and enjoys working with adult beginners.

While playing in the Columbus and Memphis Symphonies, Claudia accompanied Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Atkins and many other luminaries, and played under the the batons of Arthur Fiedler and Gunther Schuller.

Since 1989, Claudia has performed with artists that come through Phoenix, including Stevie Wonder, the Moody Blues, Yanni and Wynonna Judd.  She’s played in the pit for touring shows like Peter Pan and Annie Get Your Gun with Cathy Rigby, My Fair Lady with Richard Chamberlain, Damn Yankees with Jerry Lewis, The Will Rogers Follies with Mac Davis, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Ralph Macchio, Camelot with Robert Goulet, The Music Man with Barry Williams, Showboat, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Other interests include knitting, making beaded objects and selling them, watching two sons grow into men, and taking care of a grumpy old husband and a grumpy old cat.

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