Christian Carichner, originally from New
York, has been surrounded by music his entire life. His father a band
director and his mother a singer, Christian eventually went on to major
in music education and performance, graduating Magna Cum Laude from
Ithaca College in 2005. After graduating from Ithaca, Christian moved
to Arizona to begin work on a Master of Music degree in tuba performance with Professor Sam Pilafian at Arizona State University, and
graduated in 2007.
Currently, Christian is the Instructor of Tuba and Euphonium at Northern Arizona University and concurrently, Mesa Community College where he also serves as the assistant band director. He is also the
Low Brass Instructor at Glendale Community College,
as well as an instructor for the ASU Sun Devil Marching Band. During
the summer months, Christian is a staff member with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps (2006 Division II World Champions) and Phantom Regiment (2006 Division I Second Place). Previously,
Christian was the band director at a private school in Phoenix and a
teaching assistant at Arizona State University.
Christian is a highly sought-after clinician because of his intimate knowledge of The Breathing Gym, a pedagogy developed by his primary teachers, Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan. Christian has presented clinics on breathing and various other topics at Estrella Mountain Community College, Paradise Valley Community College, the East Valley Youth Symphony, and public schools in Las Vegas, Tucson, Austin, and Ithaca.
In addition to his teaching, Christian
also has an active international performing career. Recent
performances include solos with the North High School Band, Horseheads High School Wind
Ensemble, and a performance at the Southwest Regional Tuba-Euphonium
Conference. Christian has
performed with the Arizona Musicfest Orchestra, the Tampa Tradewinds, the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Pinnacle
Brass, Rhythm and Brass, Proteus 7, Salt River Brass, and also has
performed with the national tour of the hit Broadway musical Chicago.
Christian is also the founder of iMarch, a partnership dedicated to improving the world of marching music, and a member of both the Southwest Brass and the Phoenician Brass.
Christian performs on Besson 995CC and Yamaha YFB-621 tubas.