Bassoon
Relocating from New York to Vienna, bassoonist Christopher Foss (he/they) is a contemporary performer noted for “aggressively imaginative contributions” by the NY Classical Review (Grella, 2024) and has extensive repertoire in Wandelweiser, experimental classical, improvised music, film music, and the orchestra. They have performed on stages around the world including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center as part of the inaugural Broadway touring company to present within India in 2023. He was formerly contrabassoonist with the American Youth Symphony and has played in regional Orchestras from Maine to California in addition to having been awarded the Future Music Lab Fellowship with Atlantic Music Festival in 2015, Lynn Philharmonia in 2016-17, and presenting alongside numerous festival orchestras, freelance ensembles, WildUp and Petr Kotik’s SEM Ensemble.
Shakuhachi
Beyond the bassoon, Christopher Foss (he/they) is a devoted practitioner of the Japanese shakuhachi flute. Following an introduction during his MFA at CalArts, he became captivated by the music of the shakuhachi and began study of Kinko-ryu repertoire with teachers Ralph Samuelson and composer Elizabeth Brown in 2018. Since then he has had the chance to travel extensively in Southeast Asia meeting koto players and Japanese musicians in Singapore, the Philippines, and finally beginning study with the head of Tokyo’s Chikumeisha school, Mizuno Koumei in 2023.
Presenting alongside his teachers he has performed extensively with the Hudson Valley Shakuhachi Choir and at the World Shakuhachi Festival 2025. His repertoire includes early American modernism, contemporary works by Kinko-ryu performer-composers, Jiuta, Ikuta-ryu sankyoku, and honkyoku works acquired through traditional instruction.
Teaching, Research, and Ideas
This page features occasional posts and ideas related to somatic learning, wind pedagogy, and more.
Christopher Foss is faculty with the City University of New York (CityTech campus) and the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. He began teaching artist work in 2010, and most recently has worked with Midori and Friends, Little Orchestra Society, Kaufman Music Center, and various schools and summer programs in New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Florida, and California.
