ABOUT CHRIS BASSETT

Chris Bassett is a Baltimore-based composer of concert music and music for film, theatre, and multimedia.  No one has gotten around to calling Chris something quote-worthy like "a bold new musical voice for his generation," but his mother once called him "the Derek Jeter of music," so there's that.  

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Chris’ music has been featured on PBS and Maryland Public Television, Baltimore's ARTScape Festival, and various independent films in Baltimore, DC, and New York City.  His concert music has been commissioned by the Excelsior Trombone Ensemble, Lisa Albrecht, Spotlighters Theatre, the St. Paul's School theatre program, the Dulaney High School Concert Strings, and the Newtown High School (CT) Choral Program. His brass quintet "Schmlud's Last Ride" was a winner of the Brass Initiative composition prize.

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Chris studied composition with Chris Theofanidis at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and with Justin Dello Joio and Ken Valitsky (Walicki) at New York University, where he was personally selected by composer Alan Menken to be the first recipient of the Alan Menken award.  At Peabody, Chris was the receipient of the Denes & Mary Agay Piano & Composition Scholarship and the Randolph S. Rothschild Award for Composition.   

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Chris currently lives in Baltimore with his wife, Laurel, and two children. He teaches Digital Instrumental Music at Carver Center for Arts & Technology, and composes and conducts for various ensembles and productions in the Baltimore-Washington area.  

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In his spare time Chris enjoys writing autobiographical statements in third-person.