We're having a celebration to ring out the year, with old friends and new friends coming together for food, drink, and fun. Hostess Sheila Donohue will perform her holiday-themed spoken word, and classical trombonist, Christopher Bill is coming to town (much like Santa) bringing his musical gifts along with him. Chris will demonstrate his musical use of technology, blending live performance techniques and classical training to create in-the-moment, cross-genre hybrids. Wheeee!
Chris is an up-and-coming musician based outside of New York City. He has been playing piano since he was 6 years old, trombone since he was 10, and he has been composing/arranging since he was 12. He studied classical trombone performance at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music in New York. While at the conservatory he studied with critically acclaimed trombonists Weston Sprott (Metropolitan Opera), Denson Paul-Pollard (Metropolitan Opera), John Fedchock (Grammy Nominated Jazz Trombonist), and the absolutely incomparable Timothy Albright.
Chris is best known for his all-trombone arrangements of popular songs. His YouTube Channel has been gaining popularity since the summer of 2012 when he posted his version of Owl City's Fireflies for six trombones. More recently, a cover of Pharrell Williams' Happy (see video above) where Chris uses a looping station to compose the song on the spot went viral in the spring of 2014. His videos have since amassed over 6 million views and a following of over 50,000 subscribers. In April 2014, Chris independently released his first cover album, Breakthrough.
There will be other special guests involved as well. Stay tuned!
We had a great time! Thank you to Mark Miller for helping to organize and playing, and to Christopher Bill for a wonderful performance after his long, long day. Below are a few photos that Jason Greenberg was kind enough to share.
