Christopher Russell
educator
About this Artist
Christopher Russell has received international attention and accolades for his conducting, innovative programming, lectures on music, and his work teaching young conductors. He has conducted orchestras on five continents in a wide range of music from standard repertoire to world premieres to forgotten classics of the past. His conducting repertoire of American orchestral music encompasses over 50 different composers. The Los Angeles Times called him “a forcefully dramatic conductor with a strong technique.”
His guest conducting and other musical activities have often taken him to China, including concerts with the Harbin Symphony, the Shenzhen City Philharmonic, and Zhengzhou’s Yellow River Symphony. He has lectured and judged festivals in other Chinese cities including Beijing, Dalian, Hong Kong, and Qingdao. In 2023, Russell returned to China to another engagement with the Harbin Symphony, serving as a judge in the fifth Schoenfeld International String Competition. He made his debut with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in July 2024.
Other guest conducting appearances include the Orquestra Sinfônica Heliópolis in São Paulo, Brazil, the MasterWorks Festival in Ohio and Indiana, the Thames Youth Orchestra of London, and the Australia’s Sydney Youth Orchestra Philharmonic. Russell conducted at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and famous concert halls in London, Vienna, Prague, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg.
Russell serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the School of Music at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in Southern California. He conducts the APU Symphony Orchestra and leads its graduate instrumental conducting program. He frequently adjudicates and is a master-class artist in music competitions and festivals.
A new music advocate, Russell conducted numerous premieres including the first U.S. performances of works by Tansy Davies, Brett Dean, Jonathan Harvey, Anders Hillborg, Jia Guoping, Magnus Lindberg, Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho, and Eric Tanguy. He led the U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Stockholm Diary for string orchestra with the APU Symphony.
Russell’s musical interest also extends to performing rarely heard older music including the U.S. or California premieres of many works from the early and mid-20th century including music by Havergal Brian, Rued Langgaard, Bohuslav Martinů, and Allan Pettersson. Actively conducting American music abroad, he led the Australian and Brazilian premieres of Ives’ Symphony No. 2, the Austrian and Slovak premieres of Ives’ Decoration Day, and Russian premiere of Peter Mennin’s Symphony No. 5. Russell conducted the world premiere of the Symphony in A composed in 1878 by Leopold Damrosch with the APU Symphony, which they recorded for the British record label Toccata Classics.
Russell conducted the Orange County School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years, garnering frequent accolades for the orchestra’s quality and adventurous programming. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers awarded him a prestigious Award for Programming of Contemporary Music for youth orchestras on 10 occasions. Seven of those times, he was awarded first place in the United States.
Many of Russell’s conducting students have been appointed as assistant conductors or cover conductor for major orchestras. Additionally, they have entered doctoral programs at prestigious institutions and were accepted to renowned summer festivals and competitions. They have conducted professional orchestras around the U.S., South America, Europe, and Asia.