Christopher Rose has been the principal percussionist with the Harrisburg Symphony since February of 1998. He is also a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in Washington, DC. He has been a percussionist with the band since 1997 and has held the title of assistant principal percussionist since 2001. He currently holds the rank of Master Sergeant.
Christopher has gained extensive experience as a soloist, to include Concerto for Four Percussionists by William Kraft, Déjà vu by Michael Colgrass and Converging Worlds by Jonathan Leshnoff. He was most recently featured as soloist on William Childs’ Concerto for Percussion and Concert Band and Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto. As an international soloist, Christopher had an opportunity to perform Joseph Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2001. One critic described Christopher’s performance as “…virtuosity put at the service of music, not just entertainment, though it certainly achieved that as well.” He performed the Schwantner Concerto again at the 2004 Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. Rose has performed with symphonies in Houston, Chicago, Kansas City, Annapolis, Hagerstown (MD), Alexandria, Fairfax, and Galveston, as well as the National Symphony, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the New York City Opera. Additionally, he is a returning member of the Grand Teton Music Festival. He also spent five years as percussionist for Andy William at his famous “Moon River Theater” in Branson, Missouri. While with Andy Williams, he toured extensively throughout the United States, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia.
He is fluent in many musical styles including classical, jazz, rock, and Latin jazz, having performed and recorded with such artists as Kimberly Locke, Sheri Lewis, The Three Irish Tenors, Frank Russo, Bob Boguslaw, Ann-Margret, Placido Domingo, Andy Williams, John Williams, and the Summit Brass.
Rose graduated Magna Cum Laude with his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in percussion performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Under the tutelage of Richard Brown, he became a founding member of the Continuum Percussion Quartet, whose debut album on New World Records was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990. The quartet was also the first percussion ensemble to be asked to compete in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition. He currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Danielle.
His performances with the HSO are in a civilian capacity and neither the United States Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed or authorized this activity.
