Christopher Keach, a New York-based professional musician, educator, and researcher, is the Lecturer of Trumpet at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. He is a multi-talented performer with experience in classical, jazz, and Afro-Cuban music. Christopher has performed with the Syracuse Orchestra, Segal Centre Theatre organization, the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, the Orchestra of Northern New York, the Northern Symphonic Winds, and in the New Works Recital at the 2023 International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference. As a soloist, Christopher had the honor to open for the Nakariakov-Kashimoto-Meerovich trio and perform with the McGill Wind Orchestra, Crane Symphonic Band, and Crane Latin Ensemble. He has worked with artists such as Ashley Hall-Tighe, Tony Glausi, Ed Carroll, Sergei Nakariakov, James Thompson, Septura Brass Septet, Fabio Brum, Caleb Hudson, Jim Wilt, Nikki LaBonte, and Anthony Plog. He currently performs as the Co-Principal of the Orchestra of Northern New York, section leader of the Northern Symphonic Winds, and as a member of the Potsdam Brass Quintet. 

Christopher is as versatile an educator as he is a performer. He has experience teaching a variety of age groups and settings, including K-5 general music, as well as 9-12th grade jazz band and symphonic band. At the 2021 MasterWorks festival, Christopher performed with the faculty brass quintet, the symphony orchestra, and the brass ensemble, and had the privilege of coaching one of the collegiate quintets. Since the summer of 2022, Christopher has taught at the Bay Shore High School Summer Music Program where he teaches lessons to beginning and high school instrumentalists. He continues to expand on the knowledge and experience of high school musicians and creates a curriculum for beginning musicians to learn and explore musical literacy on a new instrument. Additionally, in his private studio he teaches both jazz and classical trumpet lessons to students of all ages. 

Along with his teaching and performance experience, Christopher has a great interest in research, specifically in the fields of performance science and electronic music. He worked as the research assistant for McGill’s Applied Performance Sciences Hub where he explored healthy learning and stress management techniques for musicians. Additionally, his doctoral research focused on the realm of performance science, where he researched different practice techniques and their effect on long-term memory and retention. Christopher received the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT) Student Award to pursue research in electronically augmented trumpet performance.

Christopher has received world-renowned recognition for his performances and research. He was awarded second place in the 2022 ITG Wind Band Excerpt Competition and was selected as a finalist for the 2024 McGill Concerto Competition and performed the Pakhmutova Trumpet Concerto with the McGill Wind Orchestra. Additionally, Christopher was a finalist in the first Trumpeter’s Multi-Track Competition (TMTC) and competed at the 2022/23 National Trumpet Competition Small Ensemble Division with McGill University’s trumpet ensemble. Christopher was also the recipient of the 2024-2025 Dean’s Essay Prize and 2020-2021 International Grant Writing Competition for Music Performance at McGill University.

He is completing his DMus and MMus degrees in trumpet performance at McGill University, Schulich School of Music, in the studio of Professor Richard Stoelzel. Christopher also holds his B.M. in Trumpet Performance and B.M.E. from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he studied with Dr. John R. Ellis. 

Find Christopher’s full CV here.