Franky Rousseau is a composer, arranger, and guitarist based in New York City.

Born in Montréal, he studied guitar at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. His producing credits include Fred Hersch’s Breath by Breath and Emma Frank’s Interiors. He has written and conducted for ensembles including the Reykjavík Big Band, l’Orchestre National de Jazz de Montréal, the Jazzrausch Big Band in Munich, and the Keio Light Music Society in Tokyo, collaborating with artists such as Aaron Parks, Ben van Gelder, and Arthur Hnatek.

Rousseau has contributed to projects with Chris Thile, Nico Muhly, Philip Glass, Jon Batiste, Phoebe Bridgers, Kelsey Lu, Gabriel Kahane, and others. He served as house arranger and chart-maker for the final two seasons of American Public Media’s Live from Here, and now serves in that role for Audible’s The Energy Curfew Music Hour, hosted by Chris Thile and Punch Brothers. He has also worked on orchestral projects involving the music of Andrew Bird, Jónsi, and Rhiannon Giddens, and has contributed arrangements to television and film projects for Apple TV+, HBO, and Netflix.

As a composer, he released Hope in 2012, written for the late pianist Austin Peralta and large ensemble. With Dominic Mekky, he co-wrote April, a multimedia music drama about a singer facing irreversible hearing loss and the emotional fallout in her closest relationships. Rousseau and Mekky also arranged Kaïa Kater’s Strange Medicine, winner of the 2025 Juno Award for Best Contemporary Roots Album.

He is currently working on The Mile, a musical audio drama, with Dominic Mekky and Tristan Cooley.