Sean O’Hara
Adjunct Instructor - Double Bass
Windgate 177
Dr. Sean O’Hara joined the University of Central Arkansas in 2023. He has been a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since 2012 and has served as principal bass of the Missouri Symphony’s Firefly Music Festival in Columbia, Missouri since 2013. Dr. O’Hara holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with renowned double bass pedagogue Homer Mensch. Following graduation, he was awarded a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Prior to his appointment with the Memphis Symphony, he earned his Master of Music degree at Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Jeffrey Turner and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. During his tenure in Memphis, he completed his DMA at the University of Memphis with professor John Chiego. The subject of his dissertation was the role of the double bass in the continuo of Handel’s Messiah.
Dr. O’Hara has also performed with the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Detroit. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Artsophere Festival Orchestra in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Past festival appearances include the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the National Orchestral Institute. For two summers, he served as principal bass of the Castleton Festival Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel.
In addition to performing with the Memphis Symphony, Dr. O’Hara has been active in community engagement throughout the Memphis Music Initiative and has served as a coach with the Memphis Youth Symphony Program.