Brendan Kane

Double Bassist Brendan Kane has performed extensively throughout North America, South American, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia. In the spring of 2022, Mr. Kane was appointed Principal Bass of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra by Music Director Lahav Shani. Prior to the IPO, he was a member of the MET Orchestra for nine seasons, under the direction of Music Directors James Levine and subsequently Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Previously, Mr. Kane held the positions of Principal Bass of the Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil, Assistant Principal Bass of the Vancouver Symphony in Canada and performed as Guest Principal Bass of the Hong Kong Philharmonic at the invitation of Edo de Waart. For over a decade he has been touring the world as Principal Bass of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (VFCO) under the direction of Music Director Gábor Takács-Nagy, including annual residencies at the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) and Schloss Elmau (Germany). Additionally, Mr. Kane is a regular guest with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at the invitation of Maestro Iván Fischer and performs every January at the St. Barths Music Festival in the Caribbean. He has also performed with the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Mr. Kane has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at the Verbier Festival, Schloss Elmau, toured with the International Sejong Soloists and appeared at numerous festivals on both sides of the Atlantic alongside musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Leonidas Kavakos, Tabea Zimmerman, Misha Maisky and Sir András Schiff among others. He was Principal Bass of the New York String Orchestra Seminar as well as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, where he has returned numerous times as visiting faculty to coach and perform alongside current fellows at the invitation of Michael Tilson Thomas. A passionate educator, Mr. Kane has served as the Bass Coach for the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra and currently serves as the Bass Coach of the Pan Caucasian Youth Orchestra (PCYO) at the Tsinandali Festival in the country of Georgia in collaboration with Music Director Gianandrea Noseda. He is frequently invited to give masterclasses and lectures at conservatories and universities around the US, Europe, Brazil and Israel. Mr. Kane’s teachers have included Tim Cobb, Don Palma, Brian Liddle, Leigh Mesh and Jim Orleans. He holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School.