Christopher Rountree
“Christopher Rountree, wild Up’s 27 year old Artistic Director conducted with infectious enthusiasm…it was magnificent.” – Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times
Known in Los Angeles for his work as Artistic Director and Conductor of the wildUp modern music collective, Christopher Rountree is quickly gaining a reputation for his eclectic programming and powerful music making. He joined AYS in October 2011 to support the Music Director, help develop new music programming, lead pre-concert discussions, and explore new formats for these popular events.
In the last 10 years, he has conducted orchestras in Europe, Canada and the U.S., including the Winnipeg Symphony, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonie in the Czech Republic, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in Santa Cruz, Medomak Festival Orchestra in Maine, and the Rose City Chamber Orchestra in Portland, Oregon. He is an alumnus of world-class conducting programs and has studied with the top teachers in the country, including Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff, Gustav Meier, Kenneth Kiesler, Catherine Comet and Joana Carneiro.
As an advocate for new music and contemporary performance practice, Rountree has conducted numerous world premiers and worked closely alongside many prolific contemporary composers. At home equally in baroque music and indie-rock, with Brahms and Charlie Parker, Stravinsky and the avant-garde, his programming is centered around the belief that all music is valid and that any experience of art can be transformative.
Christopher has worked with thousands of students at some of the best high school and college music programs in the United States. Since returning to Los Angeles, he has been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California‘s Thornton School of Music, Director of Orchestras and lecturer in conducting at the University of California at Santa Barbara, on the conducting faculty at the Orange County High School for the Arts, and guest conductor at the California Institute of the Arts where he conducted an acclaimed performance of Sofia Gubaidulina’s violin concerto Offertorium at REDCAT at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
In 2007 while earning his masters in conducting at The University of Michigan, Rountree was named Music Director of the Michigan Pops Orchestra. In Ann Arbor, he conducted more than 30 concerts, including numerous world premieres, and served as Conductor of the University Philharmonia and Assistant Conductor for the University Symphony, Campus Symphony and Life Sciences Orchestra.
Christopher began studying music at age four and had his conducting debut at 17. First a student of Joana Carneiro, then-Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Christopher created an acclaimed recital series including a full staging of Copland’s Appalachian Spring and at 22 was appointed Principal Conductor of Southern California’s La Primavera Youth Orchestra.
Christopher is a seventh-generation Californian. He first fell in love with music playing bass in a garage band, trombone in a brass band, and watching the Berlin Philharmonic play Brahms and Bartok. In his spare time, Christopher can be found doing yoga, running, chopping vegetables, performing complementary psychoanalysis of friends, producing indie-rock and studying scores at coffee shops around the east-side of Los Angeles.
Found:
On the web: www.wildUp.la
Audio: http://wildup.bandcamp.com
Video: http://vimeo.com/10164922
