... the obligatory 'third-person' biography
In the present, Chris Trinidad continues to live an adventurous, eclectic, and diverse life as a musician, producer, teacher, scholar, and conductor. As an advocate of lifelong learning, Chris's varied experiences and knowledge from these fields allow him to bring a wide range of ideas, insights, skills, and solutions to bear on various endeavors and creative projects. This website is an active, dynamic document and portfolio of his professional life-in-progress. Welcome!
... as musician
Following high school graduation from Vancouver College, Chris earned a Bachelor of Music degree and a Diploma in Jazz Studies from Capilano College where he studied bass guitar with Andre Lachance and Chris Tarry, drum set with Ken Moore, Graham Boyle, and Dylan van der Schyff, voice with Steve Maddock, and improvisation with Ihor Kukurudza. During this time, he freelanced in the Vancouver music scene primarily playing Latin Jazz and Salsa with such groups as Johnny Montuno/the John Korsrud Latin Jazz Quartet, Orquesta BC Salsa, Orquesta La Clave, Orquesta Tropicana, Raphael Geronimo's Rumba Calzada, Jack Duncan's Shango Ashe, Malcolm Aiken's Tanga, Ramon Flores's Xarabanda, and the Benavides Brothers/Somos Collective. He has appeared in the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Festival Vancouver as well as on the old VTV Morning Breakfast Show, Shaw Cable's Urban Rush, and the CBC Radio One/Sounds Like Summer series. In between school semesters, he worked as a bandleader, musician, and entertainer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.
... as producer
In addition to freelancing, Chris found time to hone his production skills with such groups as Painted Blank, Dramatic Adrift, and Brave Waves, as well as artists Mark Berube and Amalia Townsend. Concurrent to his music studies at Capilano College, Chris also completed a Certificate in Online Publishing. He began documenting personal projects and formed Iridium Records, Iridium Publishing, and Elemental MusicWorks to support and manage his work in record production, net distribution, pop songwriting, jazz composition, choral arranging, and web design. Chris continues his work in this field producing choral recordings for the Jubilate! Chamber Choir from Vancouver and Saringhimig Singers from San Francisco and with his own Common Themes and Certain Times project series dedicated to exploring his take on contemporary jazz.
... as teacher
Desiring change, Chris went back to school in 2002 and enrolled in the University of British Columbia Teacher Education program graduating with a Bachelor of Education degree, attaining his certification from the British Columbia College of Teachers, and receiving the 2003 Don Wright Scholarship in Instrumental Music Education. Early in 2003, he was hired by St Thomas More Collegiate to establish and develop the music department. Chris formed various instrumental groups and choral ensembles including the Collegiate Chorale, Twelfth Avenue Vocal Jazz, and the Voices Utopia Chamber Choir. During his tenure as department head and director of choral studies, the latter group won the David Ouchterlony Award and the Charles and Helen Young Scholarship from the Vancouver Kiwanis Festival in 2007. Later that year, Performing Arts British Columbia awarded the group a first place ranking as top choir in the province in their division. This award included a nomination to the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals National Music Festival where they earned a second place national result. In 2008, the group won the Jean Beaty Memorial Scholarship from the Vancouver Kiwanis Festival. They travelled to Ottawa to compete in MusicFest Canada where they were awarded a gold standing. Five years of choral music making at the school is documented on three compact discs.
... as scholar
While sharing his passion for music through teaching, he began graduate work at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2005. Under the guidance of Dr J Scott Goble, Chris is currently completing his Master of Arts in Music Education thesis. Exploration in this field led him to the MayDay Group, an international assembly of scholars and music teachers dedicated to applying critical theory and critical thinking to the purposes and practices of music education. Shortly after joining this group as webmaster later that year, he began revamping the MayDay Group website and gained a tremendous amount of insight about praxial music education that continues to affect his scholarly and pedagogical work. He is also a member of the production team and webmaster for the MayDay Group's associated eJournal called Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education. At the provincial level, from 2006 to 2008, Chris found time to coedit five issues of the British Columbia Music Educator's Journal. Some of his writing has also been published nationally in the Canadian Music Educators's Journal. The culmination of his scholarly work and service to the field was recognized with the 2006 Dean of Education Scholarship.
... as conductor
In the summer of 2007, thanks to a Professional Development Grant from St Thomas More Collegiate, Chris pursued studies in Gregorian Chant and Chironomy with chant expert Scott Turkington at MusicaSacra Colloquium XVII held at the Catholic University of America. Chris has also formally studied conducting with Dr J Scott Goble and Dr Wayne Jeffrey at UBC, and privately with John Trotter of the University of Michigan, and Jonathan Velasco of the Ateneo Chamber Singers. As a supporter of community music making, Chris found time to enhance his conducting and rehearsal techniques by singing with the Jubilate! Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr J Scott Goble, with the Corpus Christi College Chamber Choir led by Tony Araujo, the St Jude Schola Cantorum formed by Fr Lawrence Donnelly, and the Philippine Saringhimig Singers founded by George Hernandez. An interest in exploring Filipino culture led him to form the Kaisahan Voice Ensemble, a youth-oriented community choral group dedicated to performing choral music produced, written, or arranged by Filipino composers. They were featured on the CBC Radio One/Early Edition Asian Heritage Month 2008 special entitled Under the Radar: From Manila to Metro Vancouver and in ExplorAsian 2008.
... in the present
Continuing on his path of lifelong learning, Chris relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California to pursue in greater depth a variety of interests. Chris received a Tuition Scholarship to pursue a Master of Theological Studies degree in Liturgical Studies at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California. In addition to his studies, Chris serves the school as Liturgical Music Coordinator and the St Albert the Great Catholic Church community in Alameda, California as Director of Music. He also received a 2008 British Columbia Arts Council Grant to study North Indian/Hindustani Music at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California and completed a week long Guitar Craft Beginner's Course held on Raft Island, Gig Harbor, Washington led by Robert Fripp in June of 2009. In the fall of 2009, Chris will assume the role of Director of Campus Ministry for St Mary's College High School in Berkeley.
In what remains of his spare time, Chris enjoys exploring the San Francisco Bay Area, reading voraciously, learning to cook Filipino food, keeping fit, cheering for the Vancouver Canucks via satellite, and improvising excessively using the New Standard Tuning in the saddest of all keys, D Minor. ;)
... for a linear account, click here
