Christopher Keach, a New York-based professional musician, educator, and researcher, is the Assistant Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. He is a multi-talented performer with experience in classical, jazz, and Afro-Cuban music. Christopher has performed with the Segal Centre Theatre organization, the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, the Orchestra of Northern New York, the Northern Symphonic Winds, and in the New Works Recital at the 2023 International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference. As a soloist, Christopher had the honor to open for the Nakariakov-Kashimoto-Meerovich trio. He has worked with artists such as Ed Carroll, Sergei Nakariakov, James Thompson, Septura Brass Septet, Fabio Brum, Caleb Hudson, Jim Wilt, Nikki LaBonte, and Anthony Plog.
Christopher is as versatile an educator as he is a performer. He has experience teaching a variety of age groups and settings, including K-5 general music, as well as 9-12th grade jazz band and symphonic band. At the 2021 MasterWorks festival, Christopher performed with the faculty brass quintet, the symphony orchestra, and the brass ensemble, and had the privilege of coaching one of the collegiate quintets. Since the summer of 2022, Christopher has taught at the Bay Shore High School Summer Music Program where he teaches lessons to beginning and high school instrumentalists. He continues to expand on the knowledge and experience of high school musicians and creates a curriculum for beginning musicians to learn and explore musical literacy on a new instrument. Additionally, in his private studio he teaches both jazz and classical trumpet lessons to students of all ages.
Along with his teaching and performance experience, Christopher has a great interest in research, specifically in the fields of performance science and electronic music. He has worked as the research assistant for McGill's Applied Performance Sciences Hub where he explores healthy learning and stress management techniques for musicians. Additionally, his doctoral research focuses on the realm of performance science, where he is studying different practice techniques and their effect on long-term memory and retention. Christopher received the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT) Student Award to pursue research in electronically augmented trumpet performance.
Christopher has received world-renowned recognition for his performances and research. He was awarded second place in the 2022 ITG Wind Band Excerpt Competition and was selected as a finalist for the 2024 McGill Concerto Competition where he will perform the Pakhmutova Trumpet Concerto with the McGill Wind Orchestra. Additionally, Christopher was a finalist in the first Trumpeter's Multi-Track Competition (TMTC) and competed at the 2022/23 National Trumpet Competition Small Ensemble Division with McGill University's trumpet ensemble. Christopher was also the recipient of the 2020-2021 International Grant Writing Competition for Music Performance at McGill University.
He is completing his DMus degree in trumpet performance at McGill University, Schulich School of Music, in the studio of Professor Richard Stoelzel, where he received his MMus in trumpet performance. Christopher also holds his B.M. in Trumpet Performance and B.M.E. from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he studied with Dr. John R. Ellis.