Fresh Ink approaches new music as a living art influenced by the ever-changing world. Presented in an intimate and informal environment, Fresh Ink concerts erase traditional boundaries - boundaries between the audience and the performers, boundaries between “classical” and “popular” forms of music - and bring listeners inside the music-making experience. Fresh Ink focuses on the music of living composers who draw from contemporary ideas and an eclectic sound world to create works that forecast an exciting new direction for concert music.

 

Scott Christian has a diverse career as Principal Timpanist with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and as founder, Artistic Director, and a performer with Fresh Ink; a Charlotte based new music chamber series.

 

Other recent chamber music and solo performances have included concerts with Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Charlotte Chamber Music, UNC Charlotte Percussion Ensemble, Kanawha Forum, Bechtler Ensemble, Tyler-Tallman concerts at Davidson College, and at West Virginia and Frostburg State Universities. Upcoming Summer performance include concerts with Charleston Chamber Music Society, ChamberFest Cleveland, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, and Joseph Schwantner’s new trio Taking Charge for flute, piano, and percussion at Baylor University.

 

As a concert designer, Scott enjoys working with other artists to create interdisciplinary concert experiences. He worked with a videographer to transform Xenakis’ unique graphic notation score to the solo percussion work psappha into a scrolling video that the audience could read during the performance. In another recent collaboration he worked with digital artists for a performance of Morton Feldman’s Crippled Symmetry where concertgoers were reclined on lounge chairs viewing abstract images that were projected on the ceiling and interacting with the music in real time.

Before working in West Virginia, Scott held timpani posts with the Huntsville and Charlotte Symphony Orchestras. He has appeared as a substitute Principal Timpanist with Cleveland, Atlanta Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber, San Diego Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Charleston Symphony Orchestras. He is passionate about making room for the timpani to be used in chamber music and has recently commissioned and premiered 4 works scored for wind quintet, piano, and timpani.