Biography

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Photo Credit: BPR Creations

CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL has received international attention and accolades for his conducting, innovative programming, lectures on music, and his work teaching young conductors. He has conducted orchestras on five continents in a wide range of music from standard repertoire to world premieres to forgotten classics of the past. His repertoire of American orchestral music encompasses over 50 different composers. The Los Angeles Times called him “a forcefully dramatic conductor with a strong technique”. 

His guest conducting and other musical activities have often taken him to China including concerts with the Shanghai Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony, Harbin Symphony, and Zhengzhou’s Yellow River Symphony. He has lectured and judged festivals in other Chinese cities including Beijing, Dalian, Harbin, Hong Kong, and Qingdao including serving as a judge at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin and multiple times at the Hong Kong International Music Festival.

In July 2026, he conducted Mahler’s 2nd Symphony at the Alfredo de Saint-Malo Festival in Panama, marking the first time that symphony has ever been performed in Panama.  Additional guest conducting appearances include the Filharmonia Sudecka in Poland, the Bursa State Symphony in Turkey, the Orchestra Sinfonica Basilicata in Italy,  the Orquestra Sinfônica Heliópolis in São Paulo, Brazil, the MasterWorks Festival in Ohio and Indiana, the Thames Youth Orchestra of London, and the Australia’s Sydney Youth Orchestra Philharmonic. Russell conducted at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and famous concert halls in London, Vienna, Prague, Moscow, Shanghai, and Saint Petersburg.

Russell serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the School of Music at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in Southern California. He conducts the APU Symphony Orchestra and leads their graduate instrumental conducting program.  He frequently adjudicates and is a masterclass artist in music competitions and festivals both in person and online.

A new music advocate, Russell conducted numerous premieres including the first U.S. performances of works by Tansy Davies, Brett Dean, Jonathan Harvey, Anders Hillborg, Jia Guoping, Magnus Lindberg, Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho, and Éric Tanguy. He led the U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Stockholm Diary for string orchestra with the APU Symphony.

Russell’s musical interest also extends to performing rarely-heard older music including the U.S. or California premieres of many works from the early and mid-20th century including music by Havergal Brian, Rued Langgaard, Bohuslav Martinu, and Allan Pettersson. Actively conducting American music abroad, he led the Australian and Brazilian premieres of Ives’ 2nd Symphony, the Austrian and Slovak premieres of Ives’ Decoration Day, and Russian premiere of Peter Mennin’s Symphony No. 5. Russell conducted the world premiere of the Symphony in A composed in 1878 by Leopold Damrosch with the APU Symphony, which they recorded for the British record label Toccata Classics.

Photo Credit: Lauren Kovacik Photography

For over 20 years until 2019, he conducted the Orange County School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra garnering frequent accolades for the orchestra’s quality and adventurous programming. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers has awarded him their prestigious Award for Programming of Contemporary Music for youth orchestras on ten occasions. Seven of those times, he was awarded first place in the United States.

He is a regular pre-concert lecturer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic where he has interviewed many famous classical artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jaap van Zweden, Emanuel Ax, Alisa Weilerstein, and composer John Adams.

Russell’s conducting students have been appointed as Assistant Conductors or cover conductor for major orchestras. Additionally, they entered doctoral programs at prestigious institutions and were accepted to renowned summer festival and competitions.  They conducted professional orchestras around the US, South America, Europe, and Asia.