Christian Kaltwasser | Western Oregon University (original) (raw)

“Music fills a basic human need for beauty and expression. I love music profoundly for its power to bring people together and help us to reconnect positively with ourselves and the world. Great music engages the whole person. My hope is to contribute through my music to the enrichment and enjoyment of others.”

Christian has been recognized several times for his music talents and scholarship, including the WOU Outstanding Composer Award in 2012.

The focus of Christian’s music to date has been film scores and acoustic chamber works for voice, piano, strings, winds, brass, and guitar, including several art songs, a modern piano sonata, string quartet in four movements, and two concert works for piano trio. He has long been interested in the combination of instrumental and vocal works for film or other visual media, and recently set his piano work 'Moonshot' to images and footage from the Apollo 11 mission.

He plays violin and sings, and has recently premiered his own compositions, including 'Brave Little Boy,' 'Epigram,' and 'Rondo for String Quartet,' as well as singing and playing with the WOU Singer-Songwriter ensemble.

Christian writes in many styles and genres, a Latin groove here, a romantic ballad there, always experimenting with contemporary modal counterpoint, mixing in extended chords and rhythms. He is also versed in serialism, interval set, and minimalist composition techniques.

His compositions have been featured in master classes with Chamber Orchestra Kremlin and guitarist-composer Andrew York, and he has participated in composer clinics with the Ascendo3 trio (Joseph and Anna Marie Wytco, Walter Cosand), Hollywood film composer and orchestrator Dave Metzger (Avengers, How to Train Your Dragon), and Halcyon Trio Oregon (soprano Jackie Van Paepeghem, trumpeter Joan Haaland Paddock and pianist/organist Debra Huddleston).

Christian began singing and playing violin in grade school, and discovered poetry and songwriting not long after. He has a Master of Music degree from Western Oregon University, and studied music composition and jazz arranging with Dr. Kevin Walczyk, Dr. Bill Whitley, Dr. Keller Coker, Dr. Tom Bergeron, and Matthew Svoboda.
Address: Oregon

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