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Christopher Lavender

Chris Lavender holds a BA from the Berklee College of Music where he specialized as a mallet percussionist and is currently an MFA candidate at UC Irvine in the Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology program. He has performed professionally as a percussionist and guitarist across North America and northern Europe. He is also an award winning composer and has written music for jazz/rock ensemble, chamber ensemble, string quartets, percussion ensemble, and marching percussion ensemble as well as various video projects. In addition to music performance and composition, Chris also does interactive arts programming via the Max/MSP/Jitter programming environment. Chris currently resides in Southern California with his wife and three dogs.

Awards

• Recipient of the UC Irvine Medici Grant (2010) • Recipient of a UC Irvine Graduate Research Grant (2009) • Recipient of the Leo Freedman Fellowship (2009) • Recipient of a Berklee College of Music merit based scholarship. (1993-1998) • Recipient of the Berklee College of Music Most Active Mallet Performer award. (1995) • First place winner of the United States Copyright and Patent Office's "National Young Inventors and Creators Competition" in the area of non classical composition. (1992) • First place winner of the "Disney Creativity Challenge" award for composition. (1991)

Gear

Warr TGSS 8-string touch-guitar, Mesa-Boogie Walkabout Amplifier


Tags

"The touch-guitar could have easily been merely used as a gimmick instrument. However, Lavender is in such good musical connection with Fabricius that he supports Fabricius’ quite other worldly vibraphone playing." -Niels Overgård, http://jazznyt.blogspot.com
Primary Instrument

Guitar, 8-string

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

20 years teaching experience in the areas of percussion, guitar, improvisation, ear training, and music theory.

Music

Videos

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