Eliot Wadopian

Two time Grammy Award winning bassist Eliot Wadopian has earned the title of professional musician since 1977. Eliot Wadopian furnishes performances, recording, and instruction on string bass as well as fretted and fretless bass guitars.  No musical  idiom is out of bounds. Eliot loves the exploration of music in its entirety whether improvised or notated, enjoying the richness of multiple musical styles from Jazz, Rock, Blues, Country, Folk, Symphonic Classical literature, and Opera,  as well as ethnic styles from India, the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Eliot is one of those extraordinary musicians that can bring a lifetime of varied musical experiences to any performance venue, educational setting or recording opportunity.  His extensive career has taken him throughout the United States, Europe and Asia with several professional ensembles and has contributed his talents to well over 100 professionally released record albums.

Eliot has toured throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, holding the bass chair for such artist as: Paul Winter and the Paul Winter Consort, world-fusion trio Free Planet Radio,  cellist/composer Eugene Friesen, choral composer and pianist Paul Halley,  jazz saxophonist Donald Harrison, trumpet virtuoso Jon Faddis,  jazz pianist/composer Hal Galper,  world percussionist Glen Velez, west coast jazz pianist/pedagogue Mark Lavine,  pianist/humorist Steve Allen,  legendary jazz guitarist Gene Burtoncini,  Russian vocal group the Dimitri Pokrovski Ensemble,  Pianist/composer Paul Sullivan,  Brazilian guitarist/producer Oscar Castro-Neves, Brazilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins, Brazilian guitarist/songwriter Renato Braz, vocalists Judy Collins, Clay Aiken, Theresa Thomason, Danny Rivera, Fabiana Cozza, Liz Wright, virtuoso flutist Rhonda Larson and her group Ventus, the Cab Calloway Big Band, Zimbabwean Shona mbira master Chris Berry, uilleann piper Davey Spillane to name a few. 

As an educator for over thirty years, Mr. Wadopian teaches privately, and formerly on the  adjunct faculties of Western Carolina University and Mars Hill University. He performs regularly in the bass sections of the Asheville (NC) Symphony and Greenville (SC) Symphony Orchestras and is a substitute bassist for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Visit him at www.eliotwadopian.com or www.freeplanetradio.com.