Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Percussionist Chris Thompson is a member of Alarm Will Sound, The American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Line C3 Percussion Group and has performed as a guest with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and for On- and Off- Broadway theater, including the New York Productions of Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He has recorded for Nonesuch, Sony Classical, and various independent chamber music projects. Chris received his B.A. from UCLA in 2001 as a student of Mitchell Peters, and his M.M. from The Juilliard School in 2003 as a student of Daniel Druckman.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
Around age 13 I was intensely inspired to become a musician when I saw this and this. Shortly thereafter, I got my start here. It turned into a career my first day of remedial music theory at UCLA, my freshman year. Prof came in the room and said “you are all in this class because you don’t have what it takes to be professional musicians. I recommend you change your major now. For those of you who are stubborn, go home and draw 500 treble clefs.” I didn’t get paid for those treble clefs but that was definitely the day that turned it into a career!

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
For my most satisfying musical experience I still think back to the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, the summer before I moved to New York – playing timpani on the Rite of Spring with Charles Dutoit conducting. That orchestra blew the roof off! Later, the whole process of putting together Nico Muhly’s Elements of Style premier at the NY Public Library inspired me that concerts could actually be interesting and multifaceted events.

What gets you interested/inspired/excited about playing a new piece of music?
Show me a piece that has well crafted and implicitly playable individual parts, but with virtuosic ensemble demands, and I will be very excited!

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
Dance music with smooth open-filter synth sounds playing parallel major and minor triads. In real life, I listen to more of this than just about anything else. By like 175%. But nobody knows that.

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
Like, there are a couple things? But I’m pretty free in general? Call me, lets do something! Yay!

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
I try not to think about it… person who receives benefits? I dunno…

More links and fun tidbits from Chris:
My website is www.thisischristhompson.com, I tweet @chrispthompson and post videos on the tube.

My group www.linec3.com, also has a channel on the tube, and the ultra-abstract @LineC3 twitter feed of funny and/or slightly naughty sounding Things Percussionists Play (submissions welcome!).