Today's episode features Ted Botsford.  Ted is currently a bassist in the Seattle Symphony and just won a position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  Ted played in the Oregon Symphony prior to joining the Seattle Symphony. Ted studied with George Vance while growing up in the Washington, D.C. area and continued his studies with Paul Ellison in college. We talk about all sorts of topics, including: taking an audition when you’re already holding down a full-time job and how that’s a different approach the when you’re a student struggling in auditions and a book recommendation from Paul Ellison that helped attending BUTI, studying with Rick Barber, and participating in the National Symphony Youth Fellowship program while in high school developing the bow from the beginning, starting with really good habits so you don’t have to do remedial teaching later what Ted does to keep himself in shape and how he varies his warm-ups to keep things fresh working with Chris Hanulik in LA prior to winning the Oregon audiiton and the impact it had on his playing Links to check out: Performing in the Zone by Jon Gorrie - book recommendation from Paul Ellison other books Ted found helpful: Inner Game of Tennis and Inner Game of Music Ted Botsford on All Classical On-Air (in Portland) Rhapsody by Rabbath - performed by Ted Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to your inbox! Learn how you can support the show at contrabassconversations.com/support Thanks to our sponsors! This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D’Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets. Enter our latest string giveaway for Helicore strings at contrabassconversations.com/strings! Hosting for Contrabass Conversations is provided by Bass Capos.  Bass Capos are an excellent choice for any bass player using or looking to implement a double bass extension. Easy to install and adjust, cheaper and more reliable than hand-built latches, also lighter and quicker in operation.