Entertainment - Entertainment News

POSTED: Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Artist profile: Christopher Bianco

Christopher Bianco, 37, is director of bands and coordinator of winds and percussion at Western Washington University's department of music. He'll conduct Western's Wind Symphony on Nov. 19 at WWU's Performing Arts Center in an eclectic mix of wind-band classics and cutting-edge contemporary repertoire, featuring the compositions of guest artist Roshanne Etezady.

Etezady will present a master class for composers, open to the public, at 4 p.m. Nov. 18 at the PAC. Bianco, who grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., shares thoughts of his career, the students at Western and the upcoming concert with The Bellingham Herald.

Question: Were you involved in all-things musical as a child?

Answer: I started playing the trumpet when I was 8 years old. My family was very musical. Both my mother and father went to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. My mother was a vocalist and my father was a conductor.

Q: What's your professional background?

A: For my undergraduate degree I went to Northwestern University to study trumpet with Vincent Cichowicz. I was sure that I would eventually be in the Chicago Symphony.

As it turns out, it's pretty hard to get into the Chicago Symphony, or any professional orchestra, for that matter. My junior year in college I became inspired by the Wind Ensemble conductor at NU, John Paynter. He scared the hell out of me. But I was totally blown away by the way he could turn up the intensity in rehearsal. I decided to switch my major to music education and have been conducting bands ever since. Before coming to WWU I held the position of assistant director of bands at Baylor University in Texas. At Baylor I learned a lot about how to handle the pressures of a huge band program. Baylor sports teams played in the Big 12. I conducted bands live on national TV at big sporting events several times while I was there. It was a great experience.

Q: What inspires you?

A: I am inspired by beauty in everyday life. I have a wonderful wife, Laurie. and two beautiful little girls. Sophie is age 6 and Elena is age 4. When I am not at work I am at home being a regular dad. I would love to say that on the weekends and the evenings I am curled up by the fire reading Tolstoy and listening to Mahler. But I'm not. I am taking the kids to dance class, going to the grocery store and reading princess stories. It is busy. So I have to find my artistic inspiration in quick-little, drive-by sightings of beauty. So thank goodness I live in Bellingham. I love it here.

Q: What brought you to Western?

A: I came to Western to be the director of bands. This position allows me to do more of things I love than I was able to do at Baylor. My primary responsibilities are to conduct the Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band, teach undergraduate and graduate conducting, and to coordinate the wind and percussion area. It is a really great job with talented and cool students and colleagues. Music at Western is very good and loaded with potential to keep getting better. In addition to my academic duties I spend a lot of time out-and-about in the region. I do lots of clinics at high schools up and down the Puget Sound region. This year the Wind Symphony will be touring near Tacoma and Portland, Ore. That will be a great experience for our students and a chance to share the high performance quality of the ensemble with some of the best high schools in the state.

Q: What's it like working with the students in preparation for performance?

A: We don't charge anything for concerts. It's all about trying to create a positive learning environment for my students. The bigger the house for these concerts the better! It validates their efforts in the classroom as well as prepares them for higher pressure situations in the future.

Q: What do you enjoy outside of music?

A: In the summer there is a little more free-time. I love to mountain bike. The single-track trails up on Galbraith Mountain have given me hours of enjoyment plus the occasional cracked rib via a nasty "endo." Late at night, when I'm tired, I watch TV. My wife and I are getting caught up on DVD's of the TV show "Entourage." I love the guys on that show. Who lives like that?

Q: What's the Nov. 19 concert all about?

A: It's the fall concert for the Western Washington University Wind Symphony. This ensemble is made up of the best wind and percussion players at WWU. The wind band medium is relatively new in the world of classical music. We have really only been in existence in our current form for about 100 years. Most of the greatest works for our type of ensemble have been written in the last 10 to 20 years. So, as you can imagine, they are very contemporary. But not in a way that is difficult to listen to. That's what I love about our upcoming concert. The music is clearly contemporary, groove oriented with lots of percussion, new ideas and references to pop-culture. But it is also very tonal. Audiences should be able to identify with this music and really have a good time at our concert.

Q: And your guest composer?

A: Roshanne Etezady will be here to work with our student musicians and composers. Roshanne is a super-cool composer who is on the faculty at Arizona State University. Her music is contemporary and rhythmic, with moments of real groove and muscular energy. But occasionally I get glimpses of Respighi and delicate Mahler too. We are so lucky to have her here for a couple of days.

Reach Margaret Bikman at margaret.bikman@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2273.