ABOUT
Christopher Kachian, guitarist, has performed throughout Europe, the Americas, South and Central America and the Far East, as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist. His American performances have included a significant number of works written in the last twenty-five years, many of them commissions. These include over thirty works for guitar including 20 concerti. He has written Composer's Desk Reference for the Classic Guitar in consultation with over 25 composers, published by Mel Bay Publications. He has been heard on Minnesota Public Radio, National Public Radio and American Public Media (including several appearances on A Prairie Home Companion).
Notable premiere recordings include Conrad Susa'sCarols and Lullabies (RCA 1995), David Baker's Images, Shadows and Dreams (Collins Classics 1996 and Clarion as Dance Like the Wind, Music of Today’s Black Composers), Woodwind Music (Innova 1997), phoenix ensemble#1 (Valve-Hearts [Germany] 1998), Falls Flyer(10,000 Lakes 2002), Cyprus, First Impressions (Innova 2006), The J.S. Bach Sonatas for Gamba and Harpsichord for Guitar and Harpsichord by Chris Kachian and David Jenkins (2007), A Night in Vienna, (10, 000 Lakes 2011). With the Arpeggione Duo he has recorded Wanderer Sonata and Folklore (Ars Nova [Stockholm] 2006, 2009). Numerous other recordings of music ranging from blues to Christmas music are in his discography. Since 1984, Dr. Kachian has directed one of the largest guitar programs in the USA at the University of St Thomas where he is professor of music. He has lectured in music of Europe, the Americas, the Twentieth-Century, the World, the United States, Film, Protest, Mathematics, and Guitar Pedagogy and Guitar Literature. He is the founder of the UST Music Business, Recording Arts, and the Popular Music degrees. 2001 - 2005, he served as Director of Guitar Studies for MMTA for whom he lead – authored and edited the nation’s first comprehensive, multi-genre guitar pedagogy syllabus. In 2011, he wrote the film score for Per Bianca, which won Best Film at the Minnesota 48-Hour Film Festival and won a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Recent notable USA premiere performances are Astor Piazzolla’s Double Concerto and Franz Schubert’sArpeggione Sonata. The ongoing series of Baroque concerts, with keyboardist, David Jenkins, with theSociety for the Doctrinal Affectation of Baroque Music, an early music ensemble and the Arpeggione Duo, a Stockholm-based cello and guitar duo specializing in new folk music, round out his concert career. Rounding out his biography occurred in 2012 when he received national recognition by the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity as a National Arts Associate and Distinguished Member. In 2019, he will tour to Israel, Greece, Egypt and Italy. |