Richard Fredrickson, bass

Hailed as a “…virtuoso…” by Donal Henahan of The New York Times, “…an extraordinary musician…” by The Washington Post and “…stupefying…” by L’Est Vaudois (Switzerland), Richard Fredrickson made his Carnegie Recital Hall debut at the age of 24 after winning the Concert Artists Guild award. This marked the first time the award had ever been presented to a double bassist.

Mr. Fredrickson has been a guest artist with such orchestras as the Seattle, Omaha and Baton Rouge Symphonies, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the New York Chamber Symphony and the Washington Chamber Symphony. He has toured twice in Italy as soloist with the Orchestra of the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he also taught in the summer program. He has toured in Europe and appeared several times at the Kennedy Center, to great critical acclaim, with the Handel Festival Orchestra (now known as the Washington Chamber Symphony). He has also toured in the United States with Mitch Miller and his orchestra performing the Paganini Moses Fantasy.

In recital, he has been heard in such venues and cities as the 92nd Street Y in New York, both the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Seattle, Washington; and in Italy. For several seasons he was a member of Newman and Friends with harpsichordist/organist Anthony Newman at Alice Tully Hall and with whom he also recorded the Bach Brandenburg Concerti. His festival engagements include the New Hampshire White Mountain Festival, Aspen, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and the Fredericksburg Festival of the Arts.

Chamber music has always been a special passion for Mr. Fredrickson. He has appeared with such groups and artists as the Philadelphia String Quartet, “For the Love of Music”, the Copenhagen String Trio, the Muir String Quartet, the Lyric Piano Quartet, Bargemusic, Yo-Yo Ma, Carol Wincenc, Heidi Lehwalder, Christopher O’Riley, Anton Nel, Anne-Marie McDermott and Michelle Levin.

Ever seeking to expand the solo double bass repertoire, he has been the inspiration for such compositions as a Sonata and a Suite by Kenneth Benshoof, sonatas by Paul Tufts and Jan Bach and a Concerto by Alvin Brehm. Recently, he commissioned both John Carbon and William Thomas McKinley to write works for him. With the Slovak Radio Orchestra, Kirk Trevor conducting, Fredrickson recorded the Carbon Endangered Species, McKinley Passacaglia and the Vittorio Giannini Psalm 130. The CD was released in 2005 on the MMC (Master Musicians Collective) label. In May, 2005 Fredrickson also performed and recorded a new work written for him by McKinley for clarinet, double bass and orchestra, as well as the Bottesini Duetto with clarinetist Richard Stolzman and the Slovak Radio Orchestra. The Bottesini Duetto was released in October 2009 on the Navona Records label.