Special Performance by Chris Martin

October 9th, 2018

The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts looks forward to a special performance in spring 2019 by Chris Martin, principal trumpet for the New York Philharmonic

Christopher Martin joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Trumpet, The Paula Levin Chair, in September 2016. He served as principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for 11 seasons, and has enjoyed a distinctive career of over 20 years in many of America’s finest orchestras. He has served as Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Associate Principal of The Philadelphia Orchestra—a post he won at age 22.

Praised as “brilliant…impeccable” by the New York Times and a musician of “effortless understated virtuosity” by The Chicago Tribune, Martin made his New York Philharmonic solo debut in October 2016, performing Ligeti’s The Mysteries of the Macabre, led by then Music Director Alan Gilbert. Christopher Martin has appeared as soloist multiple times nationally and internationally with the Chicago Symphony and music director Riccardo Muti. Highlights of Mr. Martin’s solo appearances include the 2012 World Premiere of Christopher Rouse’s concerto Heimdall’s Trumpet; Panufnik’s Concerto in modo antico, with Mr. Muti; a program of 20th-century French concerti by André Jolivet and Henri Tomasi; and more than a dozen performances of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. Other solo engagements have included Mr. Martin with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa’s Saito Kinen Festival, Atlanta and Alabama Symphony Orchestras, and the National Symphony Orchestra (OSN) of Mexico.

Christopher Martin’s discography includes a solo trumpet performance in John Williams’s score to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012), the National Brass Ensemble’s Gabrieli album, and CSO Resound label recordings including the 2011 release of CSO Brass Live. 2018 sees the release of John Mackey’s Antique Violences, a concerto for trumpet and wind ensemble written for Martin, with Jerry Junkin conducting the Dallas Winds. Dedicated to music education, Mr. Martin has served on the faculty of Northwestern University and coached the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In 2016 he received the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation from the American Bandmasters Association for outstanding contributions to the wind band genre. Martin and his wife Margaret, an organist and pianist, enjoy performing together in recital.