String Bass

Charles Block is an active freelance musician around the Twin Cities and can be seen performing with the Minnesota Sinfonia, Broadway shows on Hennepin avenue, and playing extra with ensembles such at the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera. He is currently serving as Principal Bass of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in Madison WI and teaching at UW-River Falls. In past years he has served as Principal Bass of the Duluth Symphony, Assistant Principal Bass of the Memphis Symphony, and has been fortunate to have performed as an extra player with the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. Internationally Charles has performed with ensembles such as the RTE National Symphony in Dublin, Ireland, the Macau Orchestra and the the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Charles learned to play the bass with Shinji Eshima at SFSU and Bruce Bransby at IU. He lives in Minneapolis with his family, and his wife Kathryn Nettleman is Associate Principal Bass of the Minnesota Orchestra.