Timothy Cobb

Biography

Timothy Cobb is the principal bass of the New York Philharmonic and a former principal bass for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. A native of Albany, New York, Timothy graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Roger Scott. While at Curtis, he was a substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in his senior year became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti. 

He has appeared at numerous chamber music festivals worldwide, including the Marlboro Music festival, through which he has toured with the Musicians from Marlboro series. A faculty member of the Sarasota Music Festival, he is helping to launch a new bass program for the Killington Music Festival in Killington, Vermont. Timothy also serves as principal bass for Valery Gergiev’s World Orchestra for Peace, an invited group of musicians from around the world who donate their time biannually and perform to promote international harmony. Timothy has been designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace from his affiliation with the World Orchestra. 

Timothy has an ongoing collaboration with actor Stephen Lang, for whom he recorded a solo bass sound track for Lang’s animated short film The Wheatfield, which depicts a human drama from the Battle of Gettysburg. The two were invited to Gettysburg in July 2013 on the 150th anniversary of the battle to perform in the Salute to the States event held there, and they will continue to collaborate for future events. Timothy serves as bass department chair for The Juilliard School as well as on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, Purchase College, and Rutgers University. He is also a distinguished visiting artist for Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. He is a frequent guest instructor internationally and his students can be found all over the world. 

Timothy can be heard on all Metropolitan Opera recordings released after 1986, as well as on a recording of Giovanni Bottesini’s duo bass music with bassist Thomas Martin on the Naxos label. 

In his bits of free time, Timothy enjoys jogging, an occasional round of golf, and, in the summer months, sneaking off to the beach.