virtuoso..." by Donal Henahan of the New York Times, "...an extraordinary musician..." by the Washington Post, "...stupefying..." by L'Est Vaudois and "...one of America's outstanding virtuoso double bass players" and "...eloquent playing, reinforced by his marked beauty of tone across the range..." The Strad (magazine), 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, Virginia and Baton Rouge Symphonies, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the New York Chamber Symphony and the Washington Chamber Symphony. He has toured twce 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 --which later became the Washington Chamber Symphony. He 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, NC; Seattle, WA; a recital and master class at Southwestern University in Austin, TX; and in Italy. For several seasons he was a member of Newman and Friends with harpsichordist/organist Anthony Newman at Alice Tully Hall, also recording the Bach Brandenburg Concerti amongst other works for Columiba Records with the group. 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, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Bargemusic, Yo-Yo Ma, Carol Wincenc, Heidi Lehwalder, Christopher O'Riley, Anton Nell, Anne-Marie McDermott and Michelle Levin.

Ever seeking to expand the solo double bass repertoire, this artist has been the inspiration for such compositions as a Sonata and Suite by Kenneth Benshoof, sonatas by Paul Tufts and Jan Bach and a Concerto by Alvin Brehm. He also commisioned both John Carbon and William Thomas McKinley to write concerti for him. With the Slovak Radio Orchestra, Kirk Trevor conducting, in Bratislava, Fredrickson recorded the Carbon Endangered Species, McKinley Passacaglia and the Vittorio Gianinni Psalm 130 (first time recorded) on the MMC label. In 2005 he also performed and recorded in Bratislava another 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.