Full Bio

Victoria Bakewell is a double bassist, educator, researcher, and arranger whose work explores the many ways the double bass can serve as both a foundation and a creative voice in music. Her career brings together performance, teaching, historical scholarship, and repertoire development, with a particular interest in how traditions of bass playing have shaped the instrument’s role in the orchestra and the ways it is taught today.

Originally from Fargo, North Dakota, Victoria holds degrees from Concordia College, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, where she earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the mentorship of Dr. Brian Powell. As a performer, she has appeared with ensembles and festivals throughout the United States and abroad, including the Frost Symphony Orchestra, Frost Wind Ensemble, Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, MahlerFest, and Festival Napa Valley, as well as international tours in Austria and Greece. Her performance experience spans orchestral, chamber, and collaborative settings, and she has participated in masterclasses with bassists including Scott Pingel, Rob Kassinger, Joe Lescher, and Gabriele Ragghianti.

Victoria’s interest in the history of the double bass grew from a desire to better understand the traditions underlying modern bass playing. Her research examines the development of double bass pedagogy and the exchange of ideas among regional schools of bass playing, particularly during the nineteenth century. Her project, The Double Bass: Becoming the Foundation of the Orchestra, received first place in the 2024 International Society of Bassists Research Competition (Student Division), was presented at the 2025 International Society of Bassists Convention, and was subsequently published in the Online Journal of Bass Research. Her doctoral essay, Interwoven Traditions: Cross-Influence in 19th-Century Western European Double Bass Pedagogy, further investigates the relationships among major European traditions and their influence on modern instruction. Her broader scholarly work includes archival research, historical translation projects, and efforts to make underrepresented bass literature and pedagogical resources more accessible to performers and teachers.

This interest in connecting past and present also informs Victoria’s work as an arranger. Through her arrangements and editions, published by Double Bass HQ, she seeks to expand the repertoire available to bassists while creating opportunities for musicians to approach familiar music from a new perspective. Her work as an arranger reflects the same curiosity that drives her research: an interest in discovering what the double bass can do and finding new ways to place it at the center of musical experiences.

As an educator, Victoria is committed to helping students develop not only strong technical foundations, but also the independence and curiosity needed to become thoughtful musicians. She currently serves on the bass faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and has taught students of varied ages and experience levels through university programs, summer festivals, and private instruction. Her previous teaching includes a fellowship with Lutheran Summer Music and work with the University of Colorado Summer Music Academy, where she coached chamber music, led sectionals, and taught technique classes.

Across her work as a performer, teacher, researcher, and arranger, Victoria approaches the double bass as an instrument with a rich history and an evolving future. Whether exploring historical sources, developing new repertoire, performing with an ensemble, or working with a student in the studio, she is interested in the same fundamental question: how can a deeper understanding of the instrument help bassists become more capable, curious, and expressive musicians?