Chris Hemingway - alto saxophone

Born in Florence, SC, Chris grew up listening to the sounds of gospel, soul r&b, and blues, though he and his friends weren’t quite accepting of this “old people’s” music while growing up.  However, as a product of his own environment, Chris eventually came full circle and would later pull from these early listening experiences to develop his overall approach to music.

Chris’ natural fluency in both classical and jazz styles separates him from most chamber musicians. Now in his ninth season with the New Century Saxophone Quartet, his performing career is complemented equally with an active freelance jazz career in NYC. Chris has performed and recorded with Azucar Pittsburgh's premier salsa band, the Roger Humphries Big Band, Dwayne Dolphin, Poogie Bell, Tony Depaolis and with New York City jazz trumpeter Sean Jones, who has just recently released his sixth solo recording. Chris won an Emmy Award in 2007 as performer of WQED's (PBS affiliate station) "Live FromStudio A". As a sophomore at Duquesne University, Chris won the School of Music's prestigious concerto competition.  At the young age of 21, he was also a featured soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Chris has studied with James Houlik at the North Carolina School of the Arts and at Duquesne University.

E-mail: chris@newcenturysax.com