Chris Wild - Cello

Chris Wild’s performances have been lauded as “insatiable” (New York Times), resulting from his enthusiastic pursuit of musical connections. A cellist and conductor, he now resides in Indianapolis where he is Artistic Director/Conductor of the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony and serves on the conducting faculty for Purdue University Orchestras. Recognized for his performances and recordings of contemporary music, he has been amember of Ensemble Dal Niente since the group’s second season in 2007. His debut cello album, Abhanden, is described by New Music Box as “a virtuosic tour-de-force for solo cello... Wild’s approach to the material is soaring, lyrical, and bold... confirms that Wild is not only an exciting performer to watch, but also a wise programmer and collaborator.” Recent solo and chamber performances have taken him to Walt Disney Concert Hall, Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, Symphony Center (Chicago), Teatro Colón (Argentina), and the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico).

Chris began studying the cello in British Columbia, Canada, where he went on to win first place in the strings category of the Canadian Music Competition and performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He holds bachelors and masters degrees in cello performance and music education from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Erling Blöndal Bengtsson and Richard Aaron and won first place in the school’s Concerto Competition, performing Pärt’s Pro et contra. After working in Chicago for a decade, he completed a DMA in orchestral conducting at Northwestern University. In addition to his performing and teaching schedule, he occasionally creates new episodes for his YouTube channel Great Moments in Orchestral History and enjoys being a Hoosier with wife Eliza Brown.