Christian Dillingham

Grammy Award-winning bassist Christian Dillingham is equally at home in two musical worlds. His parents spun jazz records around the house, while his mother was an avid pianist who loved to play Chopin and Debussy. These childhood experiences left a deep impression and ended up as the foundational philosophy of his career in music. Dillingham is that rare musician who excels in an orchestral setting, yet has an intuitive feel for nuance and the improvisational skills necessary to play jazz.

A native of Brookfield, Ohio, Dillingham played in rock and jazz bands throughout high school. He became serious about music as a career while at Youngstown State University, studying under the instruction of Tony Leonardi and Micah Howard. After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Music degree in Music Performance with an Emphasis on Jazz, Dillingham’s education continued at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he worked with Jeffrey Turner, principal bass of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and subsequently received a Master’s of Music degree in Music Performance. He also attended the National Repertory Orchestra Festival in Breckenridge, Colorado and the School for Improvisational Music in New York.

Upon graduation, Dillingham was invited to play in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and moved to the city to perform with them for the next two seasons. Since then, he has made frequent appearances in Chicago’s vibrant classical scene, playing with the Lyric Opera, the Grant Park Symphony, and the Chicago Opera Theatre. Dillingham is also a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta, Present Music (Milwaukee), Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Matt Jones Orchestra, and the Chicago Philharmonic. He has performed with Alarm Will Sound and appears on albums by the Chicago Sinfonietta and Camerata Chicago.

At the same time, he became a regular presence in Chicago’s rich jazz community, performing at Fred Anderson’s iconic Velvet Lounge, the Green Mill, the Jazz Showcase, Constellation Chicago, Hungry Brain, Andy’s Jazz Club, Elastic Arts and other Chicago venues as well as at the Chicago Jazz Festival. Dillingham has played and recorded with dozens of musicians, including Terreon Gully, Jeff “Tain” Watts, John Legend, Kirk Franklin, Herlin Riley, Peter Bernstein, Kevin Mahogany, Willie Pickens, Dee Alexander, Victor Goines, Bobby Broom, Sean Jones, Greg Ward, and Mike Reed.

He currently performs with a number of diverse projects crossing genres from jazz, classical and roots to the avant-garde and leads his own band, which features his original compositions. In fall of 2020 he joined the faculty at Indiana University teaching jazz bass.

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