Department of Music
145 Powell Hall

Post Office Box 6968
Radford, Virginia 24142

Phone (540) 831-6493
FAX (540) 831-6133
ckwhite@radford.edu

Office hours: Monday 9-10, Wednesday 11-12, Tuesday & Thursday 9-11 and Friday by appointment

Christopher White (Saxophone, Flute, and Clarinet) is currently Director of the Jazz Ensemble and Instructor of Music Education and Saxophone at Radford University in Virginia. Previously he served as Professor of Instrumental Music at Dodge City Community College (KS) where he directed the Jazz Groups, Wind Ensemble, and taught woodwinds and jazz history. Past positions include Director of Bands (5-12) for the Waterville (ME) Public Schools, Head of Jazz Activities for the Maine Music Educators Association, Director of Bands and Instructor of Saxophone and Jazz Improvisation at Colby College in Waterville, ME, Lecturer in Music Pedagogy, Music Business and Woodwinds at the University of Maine, Augusta, Director of Music Programs for the Boston University/ Chelsea (MA) Schools Project, Director of Bands and Head of Music Education at Rocky Mountain College (MT), and Associate Director of Jazz Groups and Instructor of Saxophone at the University of Louisiana - Lafayette.

He holds a Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance from California State University, Northridge, and a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and is currently working to complete his Ph.D in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University.

Christopher has studied arranging and improvisation with Ladd McIntosh and Hank Levy and has performed with Cheryl Bentyne, Dionne Warwick, Ben E. King, Lou Christie, Leslie Gore, the Temptations, the Spinners, Ringling Brothers Circus, the Stan Kenton Orchestra and was active in the studio and club scenes in Los Angeles and Boston. He has recorded four albums as a solo artist or director including the recently released Old Friends – Together Again with guitarist Tom Hoffmann.

As a woodwind specialist, Mr. White has studied saxophone with Kenneth Radnofsky, Ladd McIntosh and William Calkins, flute with John Heitman, Angelita Floyd and Andrea Loewy, and clarinet with Charles Bay and J. Roger Cole. Christopher has also studied conducting with Lukas Foss, David Whitwell, Allan McMurray and Robert Spevacek. He has performed with orchestras throughout the nation including the Baton Rouge Symphony, Billings Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra.

As an educator, Mr. White has sent students to the Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin, Hartt and New England Conservatories, New School and Manhattan Schools of Music and numerous universities throughout the country as both education and performance majors. Christopher has many former students enjoying careers as both educators and performers with such groups as the U.S. Military Bands and the Philip Glass Ensemble.

Professor White’s educational philosophy is direct and simple. “I believe in developing thinking, feelingful musicians, not only skilled performers but literate communicators able to share their joy and passion. It is essential that I engage them in finding their own musical voice.”

Christopher continues to be active as a clinician and performer, presenting workshops in Jazz Studies, Improvisation, Program Building, Student Leadership and Conducting. He lives in Christiansburg, Virginia with his wife Rochelle and daughters Kathryn, McKenzie, and Brianna.

Jazz Ensemble Performances:

November 8 (Thursday) Jazz Concert University Jazz Ensemble
8:00 P.M. Preston Hall\Ken Bondurant Auditorium

April 8 (Tuesday) Jazz Concert University Jazz Ensemble
8:00 P.M. Preston Hall\Ken Bondurant Auditorium

Keep checking for other events

Links of interest:

RU Jazz Ensemble
University Bands

Music Educators National Conference
International Association of Jazz Educators
National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors
North American Saxophone Alliance

The reviews are in . . .

"Mr. White is a very special musician. He plays the clarinet and saxophone very well indeed - he conducts with great skill. He has a real power of communication and is articulate." - Lukas Foss, composer and conductor.

"...a very talented jazz musician and teacher of music - an excellent writer, knowledgeable scholar and music educator as well." - Jana Fallin, author of Face the Music, University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Kansas State University

Of his recent CD Old Friends-Together Again…

"...two kindred spirits reuniting in charmed conversation as though no interval of absence had ever taken place. It's a dialogue worthy of eavesdropping, and each successive listen brings out more; where they've been, where they are--and where they may be going." - Rich Tozier, host of MPBN's Riffs and Rhythms

Schedule

 
Classes Taught:

MUSC 119 Jazz Improvisation I (fall semester even numbered years)
MUSC 219 Jazz Improvisation II (spring semester odd numbered years)
MUSC 134 Jazz Combo
MUSC 237 String Class (spring semester of even numbered years)
MUSC 277 Woodwind Class (fall semester of odd numbered years)
MUSC 287 Brass Class (spring semester of even numbered years)
MUSC 354 Introduction to Conducting
MUSC 364 Jazz Ensemble Methods (spring semester of even numbered years)
MUSC 434/534 Jazz Ensemble
MUSC Applied Saxophone