American composer Leslie Bassett was born on 22 January 1923 and studied composition with Homer Keller at Michigan University, where he was later the Albert A Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition.
Bassett's Variations for Orchestra won him the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for Music. His students include the American pianist and composer Gabriela Lena Frank.
He died on 4 February 2016, aged ninety-three, at home in Flowery Branch, Georgia.