Chris O'Hara
Chris O’Hara is an internationally renowned trumpet soloist, chamber musician, and educator. His playing is described as “virtuosic and impressive in every way” (Chicago Music Examiner), and “a treat beyond measure” (Arlington Advocate), and the International Trumpet Guild Journal hails him as a “true master of [the] instrument.”
Already in his young career, Chris has performed over 3,000 events covering 47 states and 11 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. His performance schedule has taken him to notable venues such as the Ravinia Music Festival, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Bethlehem Musikfest, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Festival de Camara de Musica in Aquacalientes Mexico, the Nagoya Conservatory of Music, and Millennium Hall in Japan.
Chris performs regularly across the country and beyond as a soloist but his true passion has always been the art of chamber music. At the age of 16 in his home town of Bensenville, Illinois, he had already formed his first brass quintet; in 1995, he was honored by WGN television for his efforts with this ensemble. Then, at 17, he formed his second brass quintet, the internationally acclaimed Synergy Brass Quintet. As founder of the Synergy Brass Quintet, he has been a regular guest on NPR’s The Front Row
As an advocate for new music, Chris has commissioned several works including Robert Martin’s Four Places in New York for two trumpets and Karl Henning’s The Angel Who Bears a Flaming Sword
Chris has served on the faculties of the Shenandoah Arts Academy (Winchester, VA), the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (Lenox, MA), The Festival de Musica de Camara (Aguascalientes, Mexico), the International Institute and Festival at Round Top (Round Top, TX), and the Brass Department Chairman of the South Shore Conservatory (Hingham, MA) where he founded the South Shore Conservatory Trumpet Workshop, a summer music seminar for talented New England trumpet students.