Long Bio

Chris Gekker is Professor of Trumpet at the University of Maryland School of Music and currently lives in the Washington, DC area. He has been featured as soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. After performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 at Carnegie Hall, the New York Times praised his “bright virtuosity” and described his playing as “clear toned and pitch perfect.” Chris appears as soloist on more than thirty recordings and on more than one hundred chamber music, orchestral, and jazz recordings. CD Review called his recording of Copland’s Quiet City “a model of quiet perfection” and in an overview of several solo recordings Gramophone Magazine described his performances as “astonishingly poised.” Of his recording of Eric Ewazen’s Sonata for Trumpet and Piano American Record Guide states “Ewazen writes that he had Gekker’s sound in his mind when he wrote the Sonata, and I can understand why. It is round, soft edged, and gorgeous at soft dynamic levels, and always full and well controlled at fortissimo.” Chris is one of the featured artists on Deutsche Grammophon’s 2005 compilation “Masters of the Trumpet.”

Chris’ many solo recordings include the Bach 2nd Brandenburg Concerto and Winter, a CD of music for trumpet and piano by Eric Ewazen and David Snow. Of the Bach, Classics Today writes “Chris Gekker plays with brilliance and panache,” and BBC Magazine states “the trumpeter gives a secure and glittering account.” On Winter American Record Guide writes “I cannot think of another trumpet player I’d rather listen to than Gekker, and he is at his sweet, velvet-toned best in these pieces.” Of the 2009 recording Unchanging Love (music of Larry Bell), Fanfare magazine wrote "Chris Gekker has made himself known over the years as a superb trumpeter who is able to produce meltingly flute-like tones at one extreme, and to bring down the house at the other."

In a 2017 review of Ghost Dialogues, solo music for trumpet, Fanfare wote“Chris Gekker is a master of the trumpet. His technique is impeccable: the Metier recording is so clear one can hear every detail of attack, and one would hear every smudged slur (if there were any – that suggestion is hypothetical). In addition, there is real musical intelligence at work, here coupled with a fervent belief in the music he plays.” Ghost Dialogues (2017) and Moon Marked called “an album of mellow and evocative trumpet music”(2020), both won 2nd Place in the Solo Artist Category of the American Prize. Reviews for Moon Marked praise “Chris Gekker’s honeyed legato and the beauty of his tone throughout all of the instrument’s registers” and have stated “Gekker’s playing is notable for the warmth of his tone and the suppleness of his phrasing.”

Chris was a member of the American Brass Quintet for eighteen years, and on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia University. He was principal trumpet with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, frequently performed and recorded as principal with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and often a guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has been a guest principal with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and the Santa Fe Opera. Chris has performed and recorded with many jazz and contemporary artists, and often for television and movies. In 2009 he was invited to record and perform with Sting, and is featured on the DVD A Winter’s Night which was recorded live at Durham Cathedral in Durham, England.

In the Washington DC area, Chris serves as principal trumpet of the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, the Washington Ballet, Washington Concert Opera, and the Post Classical Ensemble. During the summer he is principal trumpet at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Chris has been committed throughout his career to education and community service. In 2013 the Maryland Classics Youth Orchestra awarded him the Chester J. Petranek Community Award “for outstanding community service in enriching the musical life in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area.”

Many of his former students occupy orchestral positions in major symphonies throughout the world, as well as being prominent in jazz, chamber, and commercial music. His Articulation Studies, 44 Duos, Endurance Drills, Piccolo Trumpet Studies, 24 Etudes, Slow Practice and Focal Point Exercises are available from Charles Colin Publications, and are sold worldwide. Slow Practice (2016) has been translated to Japanese. Chris was born in Washington D.C., grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Maryland. His teachers include Emerson Head, Sidney Mear, Adel Sanchez, and Gerard Schwarz.

In 2018 the University of Maryland awarded Chris the rank of Distinguished University Professor. He is the first professor from the School of Music to receive this honor.