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 on the MMC label.
REVIEWS
For CD:
"This fascinating disc vividly showcases the alluring talents of one of America's outstanding virtuoso double bass players. ... Fredrickson's eloquent playing (of the Giannini), reinforced by his marked beauty of tone across the range, perfectly captures the prevailing urgent, questing mood. ... Carbon's scoring has a wonderful transparency and yields up countless opportunities for Fredrickson's beguiling solo voice to speak through the piece's beautifully refined textures."
--The Strad Magazine, Roderic Dunnett
"Richard Fredrickson's prodigious technical resource and interpretative imagination here stand up to the utmost scrutiny... Fredrickson offers a vibrant, moving account of Vittorio Giannini's Psalm 130... Its moods (the Carbon) and content are deftly conveyed, ranging from the lamenting of the opening solo soliloquy through a playful scherzo section to a lyrical love song. ... its (the McKinley) ten variations provide Fredrickson with an ideal vehicle to demonstrate his enviable technical facility and intelligent musicianship."
-- Double Bassist Magazine, Robin Stowell
"... this unusual release deserves your fullest consideration and ultimate purchase. A terrific job, brilliantly well done."
-- Fanfare Magaine, Paul A. Snook
"But of course, the star of the show is the bass player who manages to pull it all together. Both the Carbon and McKinley pieces were written for him, and he plays them with great intensity. This is an unusual and attractive program."
-- American Record Guide Magazine, D. Moore
For Concerts:
"... virtuoso ... a double bassist of great proficiency and self-assurance ... tone, beautifully dark and sonorous... could take on a cello's sheen on top."
-- The New York Times, Donal Henahan
".. drew such sweetness from his double bass that for a time it seemed no other instrument mattered..."
-- The Washington Post
"...stole the spotlight...he became the wonder of a capacity audience in the Terrace Theater... is an extraordinary musician... Fredrickson's left hand was leaping all over the long fingerboard of his mammoth instrument...should not be missed."
-- The Washington Post, Joseph McClellan
"...Richard Fredrickson knew how to enthuse the public with neck-breaking, perfectly mastered fingerboard acrobatics and ironic detached superficialities of salon music..."
--Der Neue Tag, Weiden Germany
"The public was taken up to witness mountains of virtuosity (the bass player was stupefying) punctuated by glissandi and diabolical volleys."
-- L'Est Vaudois, Vevey, Switzerland
"... displayed impressive virtuosity in dealing with the demands of his instrument and of the concerto."
-- The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA
"... he exploits possibilities of his instrument that most concert audiences never dream exist."
-- The Morning Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA
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