Rick Bassett is a composer, pianist, arranger and orchestrator in New York City. Rick and his collaborator, lyricist/playwright Jessica Fleitman, received the 2018 BMI Harrington Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre. Their songs have been featured in cabarets and concerts throughout New York City and elsewhere, including such venues as The Lori Beechman, Cornelia Street Café, and the BMI Smoker. They are the recipients of commissions from the Well Songs Project and JCP Downtown. Now in the BMI Advanced Workshop, Fleitman and Bassett are adapting Fleitman’s play – “The Average-Sized Mermaid” – into a new musical comedy.
Rick's orchestrations have been performed by Sutton Foster with orchestras including the New York Pops, Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, and the National Symphony Orchestra, and are featured on Ms. Foster's 2018 CD, "Take Me To The World." On Broadway, Rick was a co-orchestrator for “Violet,” “Caroline, or Change” and “Twelfth Night” at Lincoln Center. Rick's keyboard programming credits include Classic Stage’s “Pacific Overtures,” ”Fiddler On The Roof” (Broadway), "Dames At Sea" (Broadway), "Big River," "1776" (Encores), and Ahrens and Flaherty’s “Little Dancer” (Kennedy Center).
Rick's orchestrations have been performed by Sutton Foster with orchestras including the New York Pops, Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, and the National Symphony Orchestra, and are featured on Ms. Foster's 2018 CD, "Take Me To The World." On Broadway, Rick was a co-orchestrator for “Violet,” “Caroline, or Change” and “Twelfth Night” at Lincoln Center. Rick's keyboard programming credits include Classic Stage’s “Pacific Overtures,” ”Fiddler On The Roof” (Broadway), "Dames At Sea" (Broadway), "Big River," "1776" (Encores), and Ahrens and Flaherty’s “Little Dancer” (Kennedy Center).
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Rick was a 2013 Fellow at the John Duffy Composers Institute at the Virginia Arts Festival and a nominee for a 2016 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) Award. He is the composer of "Burning Up!" (performed at the 2016 NY Sound Bites festival) and wrote the music, book, and lyrics to the musical comedy entitled “Hope,” which was produced in Uganda.
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Fleitman & Bassett
photos by Aaron Phillips |
Copyright © 2018 Rick Bassett, All Rights Reserved.