Henry Fraser performs Orexis, a new arrangement of his ongoing solo work made for Lampo. Beginning with the physical properties of the double bass—its resonances, tactility, and scale—Fraser explores the relationship between player and instrument, bringing the smallest details of the bass into focus: the sympathetic vibration of a string against a fingernail, the texture of fingers passing over a string, or beating patterns that emerge between tones.

Fraser draws on musical languages as disparate as Black American music, spectralism, Deep Listening, Gaelic psalm singing, and harsh noise. Rather than treating these as a succession of styles or techniques, he grounds them in a shared approach to the instrument, using microphones, EQ, and close listening to reveal layers within the sound.

Planned material and improvisation move through the same framework, with Fraser, as he puts it, “collaborating with the bass” and inviting the audience to listen its way into the music alongside him.

Henry Fraser (b.1991, Boston, Mass.) is a double bassist, composer, and improviser based in New York. His work centers on improvisation and collaboration and draws on a wide range of musical forms and practices. Since 2019, Fraser has focused intensively on solo music for the double bass, exploring resonance, physical gesture, and the acoustic properties of the instrument.

Collaborators include Ka Baird, John Zorn, Uniform, Mary Halvorson, Randall Dunn, and Joey Arias. Performances include Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, New York; National Concert Hall of Ireland, Dublin; and Unsound Festival, Kraków, among others. His latest solo album, Pneuma, was released by Kou Records in June 2026.

Fraser was an Art Omi Music Fellow in 2021 and a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow finalist in Music/Sound in 2022. He held residencies at Pioneer Works and The Stone in 2025. Since 2023, he has worked as a teaching artist with Carnegie Hall’s Future Music Project, leading music workshops with incarcerated youth in New York City.

Presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation