Drew, Lucas
Lucas Drew, after a distinguished career of more than 40 years of teaching and performing is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Miami Frost School of Music and Principal Double Bass Emeritus of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. Also, he is Founder/Artistic Director Emeritus of the Highlands – Cashiers (NC) Chamber Music Festival (1982-1999). Dr. Drew studied double bass with Allen Warner, Dmitri Shmuklovsky and Edward Krolick and later, coached with Frederick Zimmermann. He is a graduate of the University of Miami, University of Illinois and Florida State University. Many of his former students are active in the music profession.
As a principal bassist and chamber music collaborator, he has performed with many of the world’s great musicians. As a soloist he can be heard in more traditional repertoire on two CD samplers (originally recorded on 3 LPs in the early 1970s by Coronet Recording Co.), which were designed primarily for students and the CD- 20th Century Sampler for Double Bass. All three CDs are now available through St. Francis Music Publications.
Dr. Drew has premiered a number of 20th century compositions including Carlos Surinach’s Double Concerto For Flute, Bass and Chamber Orchestra (Centaur CRC-2256) and Jose Serebrier’s – Fantasia and Variations – “George and Muriel” (ASV-CCDDCA-774). He has appeared on the NBC Today Show, BBC TV, NPR, PBS, and with the Contemporary Baroque Trio in concerts in New York, Chicago, Cincinnati and Salzburg. Summer guest faculty/performances include the Brevard Music Center, Dartmouth College, Indiana University, Stetson University, Sarasota Music Festival and workshops throughout the U.S. and in Europe and Latin America.. He is among the artists included in Samuel Applebaum’s “The Way They Play”. Dr. Drew served as editor for the International Society of Bassists (1974-1982) and as President of the American String Teachers Association from 1982-1984. His many published editions of music for solo double bass, chamber music, and string orchestra are played throughout the world. He is co-author of the book “About the Symphony Orchestra – A Handbook for Concertgoers”.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Drew also served at various intervals during his long tenure at the UM Frost School of Music as Founder/Director of the Preparatory Division in the 1960s (which grew to more than 1000 pre-college students), Artistic Director of the Faculty Chamber Players and as a Department Chairperson. In 1976 for the Bicentennial Celebration, he helped organize the Third Century Festival of American Music for Miami-Dade County and later in 1982 and 1983, the Latin American Chamber Music Festival at the University of Miami. In 1996 he received the Frost Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship. His premiere performance of the Double Concerto for Flute and Double Bass by Carlos Surinach with the Florida Philharmonic was broadcast in the U.S. on the “Alamo Classical Music Hour” in the 1990s. Also, he produced three one-hour radio programs entitled “The Double Bass” with announcer Lyn Farmer. They were broadcast on the internet radio program of the Bradetich Foundation in 2012, featuring more than 25 bassists worldwide. Dr. Drew is now editor for St. Francis Music Publications (established in 2001 with harpist Valerie Von Pechy Whitcup – www.stfrancismusic.com) and continues to be dedicated to enhancing the literature for double bass. He helped secure several nationally recognized collections of double bass music and recordings for the University of Miami Weeks Music Library.
