Chris Galvan Bio
Chris Galvan began classical guitar studies at the age of 5 and jazz studies at the age of 15. Christopher graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music in 1997. While at Berklee, he studied jazz performance and composition. Chris has written and recorded for film, radio, television, and digital media.
Chris studied guitar with Mick Goodrich, Jon Damien, and Garrison Fewell,and composition and counterpoint with renowned Yugoslavian composer Vuk Kulenovic. From these diverse influences, Chris has developed a unique compositional and improvisational style that reflects the newest and most cutting- edge concepts in modern jazz and modern classical music. Chris has led groups and performed with groups that have contained many extraordinary musicians. With the Chris Galvan Trio,he sought to use the guitar as a larger instrument than it is normally considered,to replace the incomparable piano. This group played with a dangerous, explorative intensity not generally heard in a jazz guitar trio. With the extraordinary Steve Koch on drums, and the spiritual virtuosity of the late Chris Penzimer on bass, Chris further developed his free playing concepts. The goal was to play "beyond the changes" and to sink into the primal essence of what the music was composed to convey. Chris continues to perform and work with many world-class jazz artists and visual artists locally, nationally, and internationally. Chris performs solo concerts for art galleries along the eastern U.S. and abroad, each time creating a special performance program to reflect the spirit of the artist's work and mood of the room. Chris has recently released a solo record entitled "At Night, We Speak" which demonstrates many of his "new jazz" concepts such as: bi- tonal and multi-tonic systems, free- form improvisation, arranging based on 2nds and 7ths, and improvised counterpoint. This album is an auditory ride, based on the concept of one night's introspection regarding the last two years of life experience, all of it's losses, and beautiful gains. Beginning with "Dusk", and ending with the last visual "Morningstar," Chris paints a sonic picture. Chris is also working on a series of books, the first of which will be released in late summer 2010. The first book will focus on longstanding theory questions and explanations, in simple terms, particularly on the chord/scale relationship.The book will also "simplify" commonly misunderstood musical concepts and act as a "reference" so that the professional and novice alike can appreciate the structure of music.
Chris is on the faculty at Northern Virginia Community College where he teaches guitar and jazz studies.
