Leslie Raymond Bassett (22 January 1923 – 4 February 2016) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. Bassett received the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Bassett had a lifelong relationship with the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

School of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

. He received the MM there, and in 1956 was the recipient of the University's first DMA. Bassett was a member of the University of Michigan faculty from 1952 until 1992. Upon retirement from active teaching in 1992, he held the title of Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition until his death in 2016.

Biography

Early life and education

Leslie Bassett was born in 1923 in

Hanford, California Hanford is a city and county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 53,967 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History ...

. He was a member of the Gamma Pi chapter of

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

at California State University-Fresno, 1942. After studying piano, cello, and trombone, Bassett served in the U.S. military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Bassett served as a trombonist, composer and arranger with the 13th Armored Division Band. After his military service, Bassett attended the

where he studied composition with

Homer Keller Homer T. Keller (b. Oxnard, California, February 17, 1915; d. Upland, California May 12, 1996) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He graduated from Oxnard Union High School in Oxnard, California in 1933, after which he ...

and

Ross Lee Finney Ross Lee Finney Junior (December 23, 1906–February 4, 1997) was an American composer who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. Life and career Born in Wells, Minnesota, Finney received his early training at Carleton College a ...

. A Fulbright fellowship in 1950 supported study in Paris at the Ecole Normale de Musique with

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

and also with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

. He went on to teach for more than forty years at the University of Michigan.

University of Michigan Career

Bassett's compositional and academic career was made largely at the

in Ann Arbor. Bassett first joined the U-M faculty in 1952. He chaired the composition department in 1970, and was named Albert A. Stanley Professor in 1977. In 1984, Bassett was named the Henry Russell Lecturer at the University of Michigan, that University's "highest faculty honor." Bassett was a founding member of the U-M electronic music studio, as well as director of the Contemporary Directions Performance Project until his retirement in 1991. At his death, Bassett was the

's Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition.

Compositional work and achievements

Bassett received the Prix de Rome (1961-63) and 1966

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

for his '' Variations for Orchestra''. Basset was also honored with a Distinguished Artist Award from the State of Michigan, two Guggenheim fellowships, a Fulbright fellowship, and honors from the

Koussevitzky Foundation Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling " Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevi ...

and

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

. In 1968, Bassett received a grant from the Koussevitzky Foundation, which provided funds for the ''Sextet'' for strings and piano, commissioned by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

' Koussevitzky commissions program. Bassett was one of 16 composers to receive a commission supported by the

' Bicentennial Commissioning Grant program, which resulted in the premiere of Bassett's ''Echoes from an Invisible World'' by the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

as part of the Bicentennial.

References

External links

Leslie Bassett official site

Interviews

June 11, 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Leslie 1923 births 2016 deaths 20th-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers California State University, Fresno alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters People from Hanford, California Pulitzer Prize for Music winners University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni University of Michigan faculty 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians United States Army personnel of World War II