Christopher Unger, DMA
Christopher Unger, DMA
Associate Professor of Music; Conductor of the Augustana Band and Augustana Orchestra
School of Music
Education
DMA in Conducting, 2013, Eastman School of Music; M.M. in Conducting, 2010, Western University; B.Ed., 2003, University of British Columbia; B.M., 2002, University of British Columbia
Biography
Dr. Christopher Unger is the fifth conductor of the Augustana Band. He began his tenure at the university in September 2015.
Unger served as the interim director of bands at the University of British Columbia. Prior to that, Unger served as the assistant conductor of both the Eastman Wind Orchestra and Eastman Wind Ensemble. At Eastman, Unger was honored with the Frederick Fennell Fellowship for Advanced Conducting Study, Evan Whallon Conducting Award and prestigious Walter Hagen Conducting Prize. His role at Eastman provided him with the opportunity to act as a producer on the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s 2013 release on Avie Records titled "Stravinsky-Octet/L’Histoire du Soldat." In addition to conducting the wind ensembles, Unger worked with the brass guild, trumpet ensemble and graduate chamber orchestra. He was also chosen to conduct a featured performance of "Imis" by Massimo Luaricella, the 2011-12 OSSIA International Composition Competition winner, with the Ossia New Music Ensemble.
Prior to his graduate studies, Unger was the instrumental music teacher at G.P. Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay, British Columbia. Under his baton, the instrumental ensembles at Vanier participated in regional and national festivals and received national recognition for their performances at Musicfest Canada. In his final year at Vanier, Unger was nominated for the CARAS/MUSICAN Teacher of the Year Award.
Unger won the American Prize in Conducting in the Wind Ensemble Division in 2013. The American Prize is a series of new, nonprofit national competitions in the performing arts — unique in scope and structure, providing awards, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition. Each year, The American Prize rewards the best recorded performances by individual artists and ensembles in the United States.
Unger’s principal conducting teachers were Drs. Mark Scatterday and Colleen Richardson. He has attended a number of influential conducting symposiums where he worked with master wind conductors such as Donald Hunsberger, Frank Battisti, Charles Peltz, Michael Haithcock, Allan McMurray, Craig Kirchhoff, Michael Votta, Gary Hill and Rodney Winther. He maintains professional affiliations with the College Band Directors National Association, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles and Conductor’s Guild.
Unger earned a DMA in conducting from the Eastman School of Music in 2013. Additionally, he holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and University of British Columbia.