Iowa native Deb Spohnheimer began early music studies with her mother, an accomplished piano teacher and band leader. Now a New Yorker, she performs widely in genres ranging from early performance practice to orchestra, operetta and ragtime. Ms. Spohnheimer has held Principal Bass positions with the Virginia Philharmonic and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, anchored orchestras from the Jewish Repertory Theater (Kuni Leml) to big Broadway productions (Aspects of Love, Carousel) and film soundtracks (Age of Innocence, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X), and toured extensively in Europe, Africa, across the U.S. and Canada.

Ms. Spohnheimer earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and credits her major teachers, Oscar Zimmerman and John A. Schaeffer, for lifetimes of learning imparted via long hours in the studio. Aufbau praised the color of her ‘obbligato contrabass’ in Raphael Crystal’s song cycle "Love Songs for Hard Times," based on Brecht poems. Ms. Spohnheimer’s work can also be heard on recordings with the New Jersey Symphony, New York Philomusica, and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. She is a member of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players and a founding member of Quentre, a nontraditional quartet.