Dr. Phillip W. Serna - Double Bass,

Viola da Gamba, Bass Guitar, Guitar,

Performer & Teacher

A native of Houston, Texas, Dr. Phillip W. Serna (double bass and viola da gamba) is an active and enthusiastic performer of early music, as well as the contemporary, solo, orchestral, and chamber repertoires. Studying with Jeffrey M. Hill, Dr. Serna earned his high school diploma from the Instrumental Music Department at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX. Afterwards, he earned his Bachelor of Music in double bass performance with Stephen Tramontozzi at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1998. Phillip later completed his Master of Music at Northwestern University School of Music in 2001 as a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Graduate Fellow. In 2007, Phillip Serna received the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University where he studied double bass with international soloist DaXun Zhang and formerly with Chicago Symphony Orchestra member Michael Hovnanian. Phillip studies viola da gamba with Newberry Consort founder Mary Springfels.

Since 2003, Dr. Serna has been principal double bass of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra and has has been recently elected to a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Phillip has performed regularly with other orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonic Orchestra, Racine Symphony Orchestra, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. In March of 2007, Dr. Serna performed Giovanni Bottesini’s Concerto No.2 in b-minor with the Waubonsie Valley High School Orchestra in Aurora, IL after having already performed Estonian composer Eduard Tubin’s stirring Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra with Northwestern University’s Summer Orchestra under the direction of Robert Hasty in July of 2003. Dr. Serna is a member of the board of the Early Music Chicago arts advocacy and performance organization, as well as the current president of the Viola da Gamba Society Third Coast, the Chicago chapter of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. Dr. Serna regularly performs on viola da gamba and period double bass/ violone with period instrument ensembles and organizations such as the Apollo Chorus, Ars Antigua, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Bottom Line Continuo Consort, Chicago Early Music Consort, Period Opera Cosi fan Tutte with Chicago Opera Theater, Classical Arts Orchestra, Comic Intermezzo, Early Music Chicago, the Janus Ensemble, the Newberry Consort, the Evelyn Dunbar Memorial Early Music Festival at Northwestern University, the Oriana Singers, the Second City Musick, the Spirit of Gambo - a Chicago Consort of Viols, the Viola da Gamba Society of America Conclave Consort Cooperative, as well as the Concert for Compassion Viol Consort and the Forces of Virtue Ensemble and Choir, dedicated to raising money for disaster relief and other charities. In January 2007, the Viola da Gamba Society awarded Dr. Serna a grant as part of its Grants-in-Aid to Young Artists which will assist in Dr. Serna’s many early music endeavors. Dr. Serna was formerly an editor and officer in Michael Hovnanian's music publishing company, Discordia Music, specializing in the publication of well-researched editions of new works and transcriptions for the double bass with the goal of expanding the performance possibilities of the instrument. Dr. Serna has contributed to articles published in the Viola da Gamba Society of America News, Early Music America Magazine, the American String Teacher, Illinois ASTA’s the Scroll, the American String Teachers Association String Teacher’s Cookbook – Creative Recipes for a Successful Program, and Bass World – the Official Magazine of the International Society of Bassists.

Dr. Serna was formerly an editor and officer in Michael Hovnanian's music publishing company, Discordia Music, specializing in the publication of well-researched editions of new works and transcriptions for the double bass with the goal of expanding the performance possibilities of the instrument. Dr. Serna has contributed to articles published in the Viola da Gamba Society of America News, Early Music America Magazine, the American String Teacher, Illinois ASTA’s the Scroll, the American String Teachers Association String Teacher’s Cookbook – Creative Recipes for a Successful Program, and Bass World – the Official Magazine of the International Society of Bassists. Additionally, Dr. Serna is also an active contributor to the Contrabass Conversations podcast and the online bass resource DoubleBassblog.org. Furthermore, with his co-conspirator Martin Simmons in New Braunfels, TX, Dr. Serna is active in web design, concept art, as well as in writing and recording on double bass, viola da gamba, and guitar for their ongoing collaborative recording project Wizard Weird.

In addition to his intense performance schedule, Dr. Serna teaches lessons on double bass, bass guitar, guitar, viola da gamba, and presents master classes and workshops on modern and period double bass, most recently for the Illinois American String Teachers Association Teacher Enrichment Workshop in Aurora, IL. As a passionate advocate of early music, Dr. Serna has championed the viola da gamba with his initiative ‘Viols in Our Schools,’ bringing solo and chamber music for viols into Chicago area classrooms. Additionally, Dr. Serna joins the viola da gamba faculty at the Music on the Mountain Workshop, Whitewater Early Music Festival and becomes Ad Hoc Consort Coordeinator at the Viola da Gamba Society’s Summer Conclave in 2008. Dr. Serna currently teaches at Carl Sandburg High School in School District 230, Glenbard East High School and Glenbard South High School in School District 87, Willowbrook High School in DuPage High School District 88, Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville’s Indian Prairie School District 204 and Wheeling High School in School District 214. Dr. Serna formerly taught at Beautiful Music in Downers Grove, Chicago’s Sherwood Conservatory of Music, the Illinois Math and Science Academy and at Maine Township West High School, Maine Township East High School, and Maine Township South High School in School District 207. Dr. Serna lives in Plainfield, IL with his best friend and wife, Magdalena.