Biography

Chris' music career began in the third grade playing acoustic bass and performing in the Allen School Orchestra in San Jose CA. By age nine he was playing guitar and recording his own music on a cheap cassette recorder in his bedroom. Learning drums at age eleven he helped form his first band in which he was a featured lead vocalist and started doing various gigs in his South San Jose neighborhood and local schools. Throughout Junior High and High School he performed in the jazz band, marching band and symphonic band while continuing to play in local rock bands at various events. He started his teaching career at age 20 when his instructor retired and gave Chris all of his students and the job at the local music store. His passion for music motivated him through years of practice, study and eventually ended up earning his Bachelor degree at San Jose State University. While there he had the privilege of studying orchestral percussion under Anthony Cirone, electronic music with Alan Strange, studio production with Dan Wyman and performed in various ensembles including the latin jazz band and the jazz vocal ensemble.

As a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Chris has performed classical music to rock and everything in between including various ethnic styles. He has played in numerous Bay Area concert halls, festivals, nightclubs and has performed with Bobby McFerrin, Shelia E., Jerry Garcia, Pete Escovedo, Chris Cain, Tobie Keith and Ritchie Cole to name a few. In local jazz, rock and variety groups he has opened for Bryan White, Foghat, Leroy Parnell and Lari White. He performed as house band drummer/singer for several years in California's largest night club "The Saddle Rack". And In a drum solo competition sponsored by Guitar Center, a panel of judges gave him 2nd highest score out of 200 Bay Area Drummers.

As a multi-instrumentalistand vocalist, Chris has performed classical music to rock and everything in between including various ethnic styles. He has played in numerous Bay Area concert halls, festivals, nightclubs and has performed with Bobby McFerrin, Shelia E., Jerry Garcia, Pete Escovedo, Chris Cain, Tobie Keith and Ritchie Cole to name a few. In local jazz, rock and variety groups he has opened for Bryan White, Foghat, Leroy Parnell and Lari White. He performed as house band drummer/singer for several years in California's largest night club "The Saddle Rack". And In a drum solo competition sponsored by Guitar Center, a panel of judges gave him 2nd highest score out of 200 Bay Area Drummers.

As a composer and producer, Chris has written and arranged lots of music in various styles. He has two self produced solo albums (on which he played all the instruments) and has composed music for television and radio. His music has been selling for several years on the iTunes music store as well as other online steaming services. A lot the sounds heard on his recordings were either designed or edited by himself and some of these custom patches have been published in Keyboard Magazine.

Before retiring from his day job to pursue a full time career in music, Chris was a manager at GPI Publications (home of Guitar Player, Keyboard, Drums & Drumming and Bass Player Magazines) where his duties included musical product reviews. Presently, he owns and operates his own studio where he is currently teaching and working on a new solo album. Since 2017 he has been teaching percussion at Christopher High School and recently at South Valley, Ascension Solarsano and Brownell Middle Schools. Chris has written drum method books as well as music and worksheets for his students. Chris is still performing and is currently a percussionist for the South Valley Symphony.